ARLINGTON, Va., May 8 /PRNewswire/ -- Many genetically-engineered (GE)
foods are released onto the market before adequate studies are done to test
their risks to humans, according to the May 2000 issue of the Journal of the
American Chiropractic Association (JACA).   Alarmingly, scientists warn that
the long-term health impacts of the novel genes introduced into these foods
are impossible to predict, because they contain blueprints for proteins
never
previously consumed by humans in the quantities produced in GE crops,
according to the article.

"According to most estimates, 60 to 70 percent of all processed foods
contain
genetically modified ingredients, including proteins previously absent
from human diets," write Shirley Watson, DC, director of education for the
American Chiropractic Association's (ACA) Council on Nutrition, and Barbara
Keeler, a journalist and health and nutrition expert, in the JACA article.
"Some hazards from the GE process could directly impact patients who ingest
the food.  Other hazards are indirect, operating through pollution of other
food species or through unintended effects on local and global ecosystems."

Genetically engineered foods were quietly introduced into the marketplace in
1996.  In the past four years, they have spread rapidly.  Three varieties of
soy, ten varieties of corn, papaya, yellow neck squash, canola, potatoes,
tomatoes, dairy and animal products are already on the tables of most
consumers -- with more than a hundred expected soon.

Among the hazards of genetically engineered foods revealed in the article:
Toxin producers: The article quotes FDA documents that state, "Corn and
potatoes engineered to produce toxins that kill insects are now classified
by
the Environmental Protection Agency as pesticides, rather than vegetables."
These vegetables produce toxins designed to kill harmful insects, but
"non-target" insects and mammals have also been affected.

*     Herbicide-resistant genes: Seventy-one percent of last year's
genetically altered crops carried genes designed to tolerate a specific
herbicide made by the company engineering the seed.   This guarantees that
humans who ingest the foods will be exposed to herbicides "with a litany of
adverse health effects," the article explains.

*     Allergens: "Genetic engineering may transfer new and unidentified
proteins from one food into another, triggering allergic reactions. Millions
of Americans who are sensitive to allergens will have no way of identifying
or protecting themselves from offending foods," according to FDA documents
quoted in the JACA article.

*     A Host of Unintended Side Effects: Impaired sense of smell and
shortened lifespan in bees consuming pollen from GE plants; changed hormone
levels and altered milk content in cows eating GE soybeans; sickness in
cattle given bovine growth hormone; and toxicity moving up the food chain,
causing death or impaired health in non-target species consuming insects
that fed on crops with bacillicus
thuringiensis (Bt) toxins.