Safe Food: The Politics of Food Safety (30 page)

In this statement, Mr. Conway also expressed a common theme: Golden Rice holds so much promise that no questioning of its value is justified.

As it turns out, if Greenpeace activists had known a bit more about basic and applied nutrition, they could have provided even further cause for skepticism about the promise of Golden Rice. To begin with, the “bioavailability” of beta-carotene, the amount that is absorbed and converted to vitamin A, is quite low—10% or less by some estimates—which explains why conversion ratios to vitamin A may be as high as 12 to 1. Also, an enzyme (from the intestine or liver) splits beta-carotene into two molecules of vitamin A (see
figure 13
). Like all enzymes, this one is a protein that must be synthesized in the body. Beta-carotene, like vitamin A, is fat-soluble, meaning that it requires some fat in the diet to aid its absorption and transport. People whose diets are adequate in fat and protein are able to use beta-carotene more efficiently than those who are malnourished. Furthermore, vitamin A deficiency is often the most visible manifestation of generalized protein-energy malnutrition, in part caused by intestinal or parasitic infections that interfere with the absorption of beta-carotene and its conversion to vitamin A.
³⁰
We do not yet know the extent to which malnourished children—those most at risk of vitamin A deficiency—can absorb and use the beta-carotene in Golden Rice. In addition to such doubts, Golden Rice may prove costly. The companies may be donating the
technology
to create the rice, but farmers will still have to sell it, and people will still have to pay for it. Moreover, in many countries where vitamin A deficiency is common, food sources of beta-carotene are plentiful, but people believe the foods inappropriate for young children, do not cook them enough to make them digestible, or do not consume enough fat to permit much in the way of absorption. It remains to be seen whether the beta-carotene in Golden Rice will fare better under such circumstances. Overall, vitamin A deficiency is a complicated health problem affected by cultural and societal factors as well as dietary factors. In this situation, the genetic engineering of a single nutrient or two into a food, while attractive in theory, raises many questions about its benefits in practice.

In 2001, I sent a brief letter outlining these nutritional points to the
Journal of the American Dietetic Association
.
³¹
An electronic copy appeared on the Internet and drew responses from colleagues around the world. A British scientist (who identified himself as a Fellow of the Royal Society) wrote, “It would seem to me that the simplest way to find out if vitamin A rice [
sic
] works as a vitamin supplement is to try it out. If it doesn’t then what has been lost except a lot of hot air and propaganda; on the other hand if it does work and your letter has delayed its introduction, could you face the children who remain blind for life as a consequence?”

The writer seems to suggest that even if beta-carotene contributes just a little to alleviating vitamin A deficiency, no questioning of the theoretical premise of Golden Rice—and, by implication, food biotechnology—is acceptable. Anyone who raises questions about the potential value of Golden Rice bears moral responsibility for 500,000 cases of childhood blindness and millions of deaths from vitamin A deficiency each year. What I find most striking about such views is their implication that complex societal problems—in this case, malnutrition—are more easily solved by private-sector, commercially driven science than by societal decisions and political actions.

We already know that questions about the ability of Golden Rice to help people overcome deficiencies of vitamin A will not be answerable for several years. While waiting for the results of future research, it is worth considering more immediate ways to solve problems of vitamin A deficiency. Taken together, the many nutritional, physiological, and cultural factors that affect vitamin A status suggest that the addition of a single nutrient to food will have limited effectiveness. Instead, a combination of supplementation, fortification, and dietary approaches is likely to be needed—approaches such as promoting the production and consumption of fruits and vegetables rich in beta-carotene, educating people about how to use such foods, and improving the quantity and variety of foods in the diet (so beta-carotene can be better absorbed). Perhaps most helpful would be basic public health measures such as providing adequate supplies of clean water (to prevent transmission of diarrheal and parasitic diseases). Long-term solutions to the problem of vitamin A deficiency in particular, and malnutrition in general, continue to depend on societal interventions such as education, housing, health care, employment, and income—all more difficult and complicated, but ultimately more likely to be effective, than genetic engineering. Can genetic engineering usefully contribute to such efforts? Possibly, but that question
cannot yet be answered.
³²
In the meantime, the industry’s public relations campaign continues.

One notable feature of the debates about Golden Rice is that its safety did not emerge as a major point of contention. Greenpeace found much to criticize without emphasizing safety issues but did raise one such issue—environmental effects: “GE rice, like other genetically modified organisms (GMOs) released into the environment, is a form of living pollution and its environmental impact is not only unpredictable and uncontrollable but also irreversible.”
²⁴
Dr. Potrykus responded to this charge by explaining that Golden Rice is no different from ordinary rice: “As the pathway [of beta-carotene synthesis] is already in rice (and in every green plant), and the difference is only in its activity in the endosperm, it is very hard to construct any selective advantage for Golden Rice in any environment, and therefore, any environmental hazard.” What most concerned Dr. Potrykus was the threat that Greenpeace might engage in ecoterrorism and interfere with test plantings. He warned Greenpeace, “If you plan to destroy test fields to prevent responsible testing and development of Golden Rice for the humanitarian purpose, you will be accused of contributing to a crime against humanity.”
³³

In the next chapter, we will examine environmental and other potential risks of genetically modified foods as a basis for evaluating the industry’s contention: if genetically modified foods are safe, no opposition to them is justified. We will also examine how Greenpeace and other groups concerned about broader societal issues use questions about safety to raise dread and outrage and rally public support for their goals.

WHO DECIDES?

IN JUNE 2001, THE PEW CHARITABLE TRUST’S INITIATIVE ON
Food and Biotechnology, a project devoted to establishing an “independent and objective source of credible information on agricultural biotechnology,” conducted a survey of public attitudes toward transgenic foods in the United States. In answer to the question “How concerned are you about the safety of eating genetically modified foods in general?” two-thirds (65%) of respondents expressed some level of concern, and the rest expressed little.
¹
These results seemed to indicate a fairly high level of anxiety about genetically modified foods. But do they? The answers to questions about food biotechnology sometimes depend on who is asking them. A few months later, in September 2001, the industry-sponsored International Food Information Council (IFIC) asked the question in a different way: “What, if anything, are you concerned about when it comes to food safety?” Only 2% of respondents thought to mention genetically modified foods (as compared to the 30% who mentioned microbial pathogens and the 25% who mentioned food packaging).
²
Regardless of the degree of concern expressed, the surveys suggest that relatively few people are likely to reject genetically engineered foods entirely on principle (but see
figure 15
).

Like most else about food biotechnology, surveys of consumer attitudes are political. Industry leaders worry deeply about public acceptance and want to reassure consumers that transgenic foods are safe. It is very much in their interest to demonstrate that the public is unconcerned, and very much in the interest of antibiotechnology advocates to demonstrate the opposite. Surveys matter, and those devoted to food biotechnology constitute their own growth industry. Researchers have developed careers based on asking people what they think about genetically modified foods.

FIGURE 15
. Peter Steiner’s drawing appeared in the
New Yorker
, July 24, 2000. The boy’s comment is a modern version of a dinner conversation depicted by Carl Rose in that magazine in 1928: “It’s broccoli, dear.” “I say it’s spinach, and I say the hell with it.” (© The
New Yorker
Collection 2000 Peter Steiner from cartoonbank.com. All rights reserved.)

My personal collection of consumer surveys dates back to 1987, when the now defunct congressional Office of Technology Assessment (OTA) commissioned the Harris organization to convene focus groups and conduct telephone interviews on the topic. Since then, government agencies, university groups, industry groups, professional groups, national magazines, Internet sites, survey organizations, and individual researchers have all tried their hand at figuring out what consumers think about genetically modified foods. Groups like the Pew Initiative and IFIC conduct frequent surveys to try to capture changes in attitudes over time.
³

FIGURE 16
. Sylvia’s dreams of science are based on some of the earliest and most attractive promises of agricultural biotechnology. (© 1990 Nicole Hollander. Used with permission.)

Despite substantial differences in the surveys—when they were conducted, who asked the questions, how the questions were worded, what they probed, and who answered them—the results are remarkable for their overall
consistency
. I think the following statements constitute a fair summary: Most people do not know very much about the scientific basis of food biotechnology but are intrigued by its promises. They expect the foods to produce benefits for society and, perhaps, for themselves. Although they are uneasy about the safety of the foods (a dread factor), they think the benefits likely to outweigh any risks. They are more likely to favor some genetically engineered foods over others, particularly those that seem to improve health or the environment, or that might save money or time. The cartoon in
figure 16
nicely captures these views. On the other hand, the surveys also reveal considerable doubt about the government’s ability to ensure the safety of the new foods and even greater doubt about the industry’s willingness to make decisions in the public interest—particularly because genetically engineered foods are not labeled (an important outrage factor). As we will see in the next chapter, people in other countries share these attitudes but are more explicitly outraged by the ways biotechnology companies exercise control of the food supply.
⁴

The results of these surveys come as no surprise. They are fully consistent with the research on risk communication discussed in the introduction, and they have considerable predictive value. Most people are
vaguely or somewhat uneasy about eating the foods, mainly because they are not convinced that the industry and government are doing much to ensure safety or act in the interest of consumers. The lack of labeling is a critical factor: “What are they trying to hide from us?” Food biotechnology leaders, however, behave as if safety is a sufficient reason for trust: if the foods are safe, there is no reason to reject them. The surveys reveal that other concerns—those summarized in
table 2
(
page 17
)—are just as important as safety and are often more important. Such concerns derive from personal values, perceptions, and beliefs that view biotechnology in general, and food biotechnology in particular, as morally, ethically, philosophically, or economically questionable.
⁵
As I discuss in
chapter 8
, many antibiotechnology advocates raise fundamental questions about protection of democratic institutions when they point out the ways in which the industry uses science and politics to achieve commercial goals.