London (12 September, 2005) – An ongoing concern among opponents of foodstuffs derived from GM crops is that there might be allergic reactions among some people and that such products should therefore be banned.

Never mind that no such effects have appeared in ten years of use, or that many foods which certainly are allergenic for some people are freely on sale; there are no suggestions that strawberries, shellfish, milk, nuts and a host of other foods should be taken off the shelves because some people react to them. The allergy excuse for anti-GM statements appears very much a ritual response by those with political and commercial motives for trying to stop GM crops being planted and GM foods being available for those who want to use them.

A new study has failed even more conclusively to find an allergy problem. The study, by researchers in Portugal, adds to evidence that several widely-used strains of GM corn and soybeans do not promote food allergies. All the GM strains used for this evaluation had been on the market for up to ten years.

The researchers at Portugal's National Health Institute in Lisbon, gave 77 study participants – a group of allergy-prone adults and children who had consumed products containing the biotech foods at some point since their approval in Europe – allergy tests to see whether they reacted differently to three varieties of insect-resistant GM corn and one of herbicide-tolerant GM soya from the way they did to conventional varieties. None of them did so and none of the volunteers tested presented detectable IgE antibodies against pure transgenic proteins.

The scientists used skin prick tests to place protein extracts from the corn and soy strains under participants' skin. They found that though adults and children with a history of sensitivity to corn and soy had skin reactions to the extracts, their reactions were the same to GM and non-GM varieties.
"The transgenic products under test seem to be safe in terms of allergenic potential," Batista and her colleagues wrote. They do, however, call for routine postmarket testing to monitor the possibility of allergic reactions to GM foods.

Sources:

1. No allergy problems from GM corn or soy: study. Reuters (31 August, 2005). (http://today.reuters.com/news/newsArticle.aspx?type=healthNews&storyID=2005-08-31T195102Z_01_MCC171393_RTRIDST_0_HEALTH-GM-STUDY-DC.XML)

2. R. Batista, B. Nunes, M. Carmoa, C. Cardoso, H. São Joséc, A. Bugalho de Almeida, A. Manique, L. Bento, C. Pinto Ricardo and M. Oliveira (August 2005). Lack of detectable allergenicity of transgenic maize and soya samples. Journal of Allergy & Clinical Immunology, 116, 403-410 (http://www.jacionline.org/article/PIIS0091674905007244/abstract?browse_volume=116&issue_key=TOC%40%40JOURNALSNOSUPP%40YJACI%400116%400002&issue_preview=no&select1=no&select1=no&start=&startpage=&vol=)

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