Regarding the Opinion by Henry I. Miller and Gregory Conko on genetically engineered foods,1 their criticisms of our recent report on food allergenicity research and our other efforts to promote dialogue and consensus on agricultural biotechnology issues are off the mark.
Miller and Conko argue that the report2 reflects an "antibiotechnology" bias because it fails to stress that conventionally processed novel foods can also pose food allergy risks. Actually, the report discusses at some length the significance of food allergies caused by conventional foods. It explicitly states, "[I]t is important to note that understanding food allergy and being able to test for safety is also an issue for new foods developed by conventional breeding methods or those introduced to the US population through expanded world trade in agriculture."
The report focuses on genetically engineered foods simply because they are the only new foods that are required to be assessed for ...
