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Answers

Question

It has been said Monsanto is behind the hybridization of wheat, and that modern wheat has 14 more proteins than ancient wheat, thereby triggering more allergic responses for those that are susceptible. Is this true?

Submitted by: Transparency


Answer

Expert response from Community Manager

Wednesday, 11/03/2015 18:07

People have been breeding wheat for thousands of years.  Monsanto is currently developing and selling standard inbred wheat varieties, not hybrids. We are unaware of any data showing “that modern wheat has 14 more proteins than ancient wheat, thereby triggering more allergic responses for those that are susceptible.”

 

If by “modern” wheat you mean varieties developed since the “green revolution” spearheaded by Norman Borlaug in the 1960’s, then Monsanto was not involved in that work. That work was conducted by public organizations such as the International Maize and Wheat Improvement Center, or CIMMYT.  Before and since then, wheat varieties in the U.S. have been developed and released primarily by public University breeding programs. More recently, Monsanto and other companies have become involved in breeding and selling wheat varieties, but it is still true that a large portion of the wheat produced in the U.S. is from University-derived wheat varieties. 

 

Gluten allergy associated with celiac disease is a rare pathology affecting <1% of the population and is triggered by ingestion specific proteins found in wheat flour. These forms of ‘allergic’ gluten can be found in ‘modern’ wheat varieties and ‘ancient’ relatives of modern wheat. The current understanding of celiac disease points to multiple factors playing a role, including an individual’s genetic predisposition, the development of an actual gluten allergy and dietary exposure to specific types of gluten, whether it is modern or ancient in origin.

 

For a more detailed discussion of the supposed changes in wheat protein content over time, please review another response on GMO Answers authored by Brett Carver.