Food Safety - The Oxford Topic of Food, Politics, and Society - page 607

consequently suffer from malnutrition. This number is expected to grow as popula-
tion and food prices rise unless reduction in poverty and enhancements in agricultural
productivity can be achieved. WHO estimates that more than 15 million children die
in the world each year because of malnutrition. In contrast, in many parts of the world
hundreds of millions of consumers suffer from the adverse health effects of overnutri-
tion and obesity (Sahn, this volume; Gaiha et al. this volume). There is also mounting
evidence that a large percentage of the world's population does not consume a diet that
ensures optimal health (Stein, this volume).
Food-borne and water-borne viral and microbial pathogens sicken hundreds of mil-
lions of people around the globe each year. WHO has estimated that more than 5 million
deaths per year can be attributed to food-borne illness (Chassy 2010, and http://www.
who.int/mediacentre/factsheets/fs237/en/) . Controlling food-borne illness requires
both improvements in technology and awareness. In the developed world, and increas-
ingly in the less developed world, the food-safety chain has become very complex as it
runs from the farm to the processor to the retailer to the consumer. A breach or failure at
any point in the system can lead to a disease outbreak.
There are a number of other food-safety risks that can kill, injure, or make con-
sumers ill. Naturally occurring compounds such as mycotoxins that are found in
foods can cause cancer, illness, and death (Chassy 2010). Allergens pose a special
hazard to sensitized consumers (Chassy 2010). Contaminants such as glass, metal
particles, or environmental chemicals—sometimes called chance or indirect addi-
tives—are other potential hazards that must be controlled and are accordingly regu-
lated (CFR 2002).
In summary, there are a number of material risks in the food and agricultural sys-
tems that could adversely affect the health of consumers; these have drawn the attention
of producers and regulators, though administrative oversight remains problematic in
many countries, as periodic outbreaks of food-related illnesses demonstrate. Opponents
of modern DNA technology argue that transgenic crops fall into the category of special
health-safety concerns, requiring special surveillance and regulation. The logic is based
on the premise that plants bred with molecular techniques are inherently different from
other plants in ways that mark them as unnatural. This chapter has briefly outlined the
reasons that there exists a scientific consensus that transgenic crops are as safe as any
other. Risk managers rank risks that cause illness, death, and economic loss and place
priority for regulation, research, training, and communication to the public on those
risks that do the most harm. By this criterion, a hierarchical ordering of food safety risks
based on scientific risk assessment would place genetic engineering and transgenic
crops in the category of least concern. Not a single death or illness has resulted from con-
sumption of transgenic crops. Resources diverted to regulating transgenic crops would,
therefore, almost certainly have higher returns if they were used to ensure the supply
of safe food and sanitary water. This is particularly the case for resource-poor develop-
ing countries in which resources invested in costly regulation of transgenic crops draws
down expenditures for other measures that could improve public health and economic
productivity.