October 6, 2014
Feeds from GMO crops have no ill effects on animals, study shows
Two researchers from the University of California-Davis have completed a comprehensive review of numerous studies on the effects of genetically engineered crops on food-producing animals, and found that feeds containing GE crops had no impact on the health or productivity of those animals.
The review, posted on the website of the Journal of Animal Science, presents evidence that the performance and health of food-producing animals fed GE crops are comparable to those of animals fed non-GE crops.
The researchers--Alison Van Eenennaam and Amy Young, both of the University of California-Davis Department of Animal Science--examined feeding data within a span of 28 years, from 1983 (13 years before GE crops were introduced) to 2011 (when GE feed use exceeded 90%).
The researchers noted that many experimental studies had consistently showed that the performance and health of GE-fed animals were comparable to those fed isogenic non-GE crop lines.
"No study has revealed any differences in the nutritional profile of animal products derived from GE-fed animals," they said, adding that the studies had seen "no detectable or reliably quantifiable traces of GE components in milk, meat and eggs following consumption of GE feed."
They said that US animal agriculture produces over 9 billion food-producing animals annually and that more than 95 percent of these consume feed containing GE ingredients.
From the review of the studies, the researchers concluded that feeding livestock diets containing GE crops had no impact on the health or productivity of the animals. They also found that the performance and health of animals fed GE crops were comparable to those of animals fed non-GE crops.
"No study has revealed any differences in the nutritional profile of animal products derived from GE-fed animals," the reviewers said.
Van Eenennaam and Young''s article appears in print in the October 2014 issue of the Journal of Animal Science.
It is also posted in full at the website of the American Society of Animal Science: www.cnchemicals.com/.