According to this story, David Suzuki visibly bristles when current genetic engineering of food is compared to hundreds of years of man-created plant hybrids and animal cross breeds.

The celebrated Canadian scientist and environmentalist was in Ottawa yesterday for the launch of the latest book sponsored by his foundation, Greenhouse: The 200 Year Story of Global Warming. "Haven't we been altering food for centuries to resist disease, extend growing ranges and improve productivity?" I asked him, quoting from a listener's e-mail.

"No, absolutely not!" he replies, glaring into the microphone. " Selecting from a genetic diversity within a species is radically different from introducing genes into a totally unrelated species." Suzuki has the ability to simplify the most complicated science. He does not use the common Frankenfood analogy, he doesn't have to. "Taking genes from a fish," he explains, "genes which have evolved over millions of years within that species -- and introducing them on a mass scale into a totally unrelated species, a pig or a carrot, is just bad science. That introduced gene finds itself in a totally different surrounding. We're carrying out a massive experiment, and unlike a drug test where the patient gives informed consent, this is uninformed consent. We've had genetic engineering slipped into us. We're eating it now. No geneticist can predict the outcome."

Suzuki's warning comes at an opportune moment in the fight to prevent the further dismantling of Health Canada.

Health Minister Allen Rock argues that massive cutbacks in his department pose no threat to Canadians. Rock insists that Health department scientists, toxicologists, nutritionists and biochemists examine each and every novel food introduced in Canada.

Unfortunately, the professions he listed don't back his claim.

On the contrary they insist, in a petition signed by 200 Health Canada scientists, that Rock's proposed new Food Safety legislation, which moves food inspection from Health Canada to Agriculture Canada, will create a dangerous conflict of interest.

Rock's food inspection plans will again put the fox in charge of the chicken coup, by putting the vendor in charge of the regulator. Agriculture Canada's job is to sell Canadian food and technology. Its purpose is to improve production -- animals with higher yields from less feed, and quick growing crops more resistant to insects and harsh weather.

Genetically engineered food is Ag-Can's baby, and that's fine as long as medical scientists in Health Canada watch independently, truly at arms length, to ensure the safety of Canadians. Especially, when as Suzuki puts it, "we're being used as guinea pigs."

** NOTICE: In accordance with Title 17 U.S.C. Section 107, this material is distributed for research and educational purposes only. **