Are there any well known andor published examples of unintended, deleterious consequences from conventional breeding in foodrelated plants? Are breeders obligated by regulators to systematically look for deleterious consequences from conventional breeding?

Expert response from Gary Marchant

Regent’s Professor and the Lincoln Professor Emerging Technologies, Law and Ethics at the Sandra Day O’Connor College of Law at Arizona State University

Thursday, 06/11/2014 15:17

While no GMO food has been found to have harmful effects on human health, a number of conventionally bred foods have resulted in deleterious consequences. For example, in the late 1960s, the U.S. Department of Agriculture teamed up with Penn State University and the Wise potato chip company to breed a new strain of potato, called the Lenape, that was intended to produce the perfect potato chip. Unfortunately, the potato had an extremely high level of a naturally occurring pesticide called solanine that made the potato toxic to humans and quickly led to its demise.

An article in Smithsonian magazine documents a series of incidents in which various conventionally bred potatoes with high solanine levels caused death and extreme illness in dozens of victims. Similarly, some conventionally bred zucchini and cucumbers contain high levels of a toxic class of chemicals called cucurbitacins, which can cause severe health effects if eaten (these chemicals taste bitter, so they often but not always prevent most people from eating enough to become sick.

A National Academy of Sciences report documents a conventionally bred celery variety that produced high levels of a naturally occurring class of toxic substances known as psoralens, which caused irritation to the arms of farm laborers and grocery clerks who handled the celery.

Red kidney beans contain the naturally occurring toxin phytohaemagglutini, which can cause serious illness if the beans are eaten without adequate boiling, and apples, almonds, peaches and apricots contain a substance called amygdalin in their seeds that is processed into cyanide and has occasionally caused illness or death after it has been eaten in substantial quantities. Some organic foods have also been found to contain higher levels of toxic substances, such as the powerful natural carcinogenic and mutagenic compounds known as mycotoxins (e.g., E. Piqué et al., “Occurrence of patulin in organic and conventional apple-based food marketed in Catalonia and exposure assessment,” Food and Chemical Toxicology (2013)).

Dan Riskin has recently demolished the myth that “natural” or conventionally bred plants are safer than genetically modified foods in his fascinating new book Mother Nature Is Trying to Kill You (Touchstone Books, 2014). Even the European Union, the leading governmental skeptic of GM foods, has acknowledged that, based on over 500 studies it has commissioned or reviewed, there is “no scientific evidence associating GMOs with higher risks for the environment or for food and feed safety than conventional plants and organisms.”

While conventionally bred food crops occasionally result in deleterious health consequences, they are not subject to any premarket regulatory review in the United States. The Food and Drug Administration takes action only when health risks are discovered with conventional foods already on the market. In contrast, GM foods are subject to extensive premarket regulatory review and safety testing before they are placed on the market.