Authorities urged to be careful about GM foods

Authorities should be careful about genetically modified (GM) foods, as such foods could be cause of various health problems, including accelerated aging, immune dysfunction, insulin disorders, organ damage and reproductive disruption, said environmentalists.

Fearing environmental disasters, they also said that the genetically modified foods and crops in the country would change the genetic characters of the indigenous species of crops and plants, reports UNB.

"We are very scared about the genetically modified foods. The main reason is uncertainty. As we don't know how much harm these foods can cause us," Abu Naser Khan, Chairman of Paribesh Banchao Andolon (Save Environment Move-ment) told the news agency Saturday.

He said the genetically modified foods could destroy not only nature but also humanity. Such foods were produced with the use of harmful chemicals.

Khan also said that indigenous species of crops should be produced more to meet the increasing food demands. "We'll have to stress on producing selected high-yielding breeds of paddy to produce more crops."

Referring to the warning by American Academy of Environmental Medicine, Dr Mohammed Ataur Rahman, Director of Centre for Global Environmental Culture (CGEC) and Program on Education for Sustainability of IUBAT, said the public should avoid genetically modified foods, as there was more than a casual association between such foods and adverse health effects.

He said researchers had found black patches in livers and intestines of dead animals feeding on genetically modified crops and plants as well as signs of internal bleeding and poisoning.

"Farm workers in India have begun developing allergic reactions upon handling corn, similar to the effects experienced by people exposed to chemical spraying", he added.

Mentioning the biotech industry's claims, Ataur Rahman mentioned that Bt-toxin was harmless to humans and mammals because the natural bacteria version had been used as a spray by farmers for years.

Genetically modified food supplement caused deadly epidemic, he said that in the 1980s, a contaminated brand of a food supplement called L-tryptophan killed about 100 Americans and caused sickness and disability in another 5,000-10,000 people.

The source of contaminants was almost certainly the genetic engineering process used in its production. The disease took years to find and was almost overlooked. It was only identified because the symptoms were unique, acute, and fast-acting. If all three characteristics were not in place, the deadly supplement might never have been identified or removed.

Dr Ataur said if genetically modified foods on the market are causing common diseases or if their effects appear only after long-term exposure, "we may not be able to identify the source of the problem for decades, if at all."

"There is no monitoring of Genetically Modified Organisms (GMO) related problems and no long-term animal studies. Heavily invested biotech corporations are gambling away the health of nations for profit", he added.