DES MOINES, Iowa -- A nonprofit consortium of scientists says in a new report that food products from livestock that eat biotech crops don't present a risk to consumers.
A three-member task force of the Council for Agricultural Science and Technology (CAST) compiled the report, which looked at regulatory assessments and evaluated safety data.
"Meat, milk, and eggs produced by farm animals fed biotechnology-derived crops are as wholesome, safe and nutritious as similar products produced by animals fed conventional crops," said John M. Bonner, CAST's executive vice president.
The Ames, Iowa-based council, formed in 1972, is a consortium of 38 scientific and professional societies as well as company and nonprofit members and more than 1,200 individual members.
The group brings together agriculture experts from around the world to assemble, interpret and communicate scientific information and gets funding from its members, which include biotech companies.
Bonner said CAST is not beholden to its sponsors and did not send it's eight-page issue paper, released this month, "to any of the major biotech companies and say 'Is this OK?'"
"We assemble, interpret and communicate credible science," he said.
The issue paper is part of a series on animal agriculture's future through biotechnology, Bonner said.
Richard H. Phipps, chairman of the task force that wrote the paper, said production of biotech crops, including corn, soybean, canola and cotton, has increased dramatically during the last decade, and that biotech crops "are an important feedstuff in livestock production systems."
Animal products represent about one-sixth of humans' food energy and one-third of their food protein, the group said in a news release. "It is essential, therefore, to consider the safety of meat, milk and eggs obtained from animals fed crops derived from modern biotechnology," Phipps said in a statement.
The task force reviewed regulatory assessments on genetically modified crops, looked at results of feeding studies in farm animals and examined what happens when animals consume various proteins and DNA, among other areas.
The bulk of information it reviewed was from the late 1990s through last year.
The paper said evidence indicates that the possible presence of plant DNA fragments in animals tissue did not present a risk. In addition, it said the regulatory processes in place "have been effective in safeguarding the public health."
The task force recommends future research "to ensure continued safety and nutritive value of feeds in current and future crops derived from modern biotechnology," the news release said.
Bonner said CAST's paper is slated to be presented at international science symposiums.
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