By Shawn James Leavey

"Why do they hide? What's there to hide?" asks Dr. Sabry Shehata, talking about the invisible and unlabeled genetically modified food that stocks our grocery stores and produce markets.

"For practical purposes, it's the people's right to know. That's my opinion," says Shehata, a UH-Hilo professor of agricultural economics. The professor's work on the issue of labeling genetically modified (GM) food has recently caught the attention of policy makers and could soon be empowering consumers to make informed purchases.

In July, Shehata released a study of Hawai`i consumers' attitudes toward GM fruit. Of the people surveyed, a high sixty-four percent responded that they knew very little or nothing at all about this new type of processed food. "Under the U.S. Department of Agriculture's Food and Drug Administration, there is no GM labeling requirement," Shehata says. While some European countries and other democratic nations require labeling, people in the U.S. are in the dark.

Genetic engineering is a new technology where scientists take the genetic material of one organism -- the basic blueprint or building blocks that make a fish a fish or a bug a bug -- and insert it into the genome of another completely different species of plant or animal. Most genetic engineering is designed to increase pest and disease resistance, increase herbicide resistance, and increase crop yields. In this search for new traits, the result is a transgenic, engineered life form called a genetically modified organism (GMO).

In the book Dinner at the New Gene Cafe, Gene Grabowski, vice president of Grocery Manufacturers of America, says that "in any grocery, as much as seventy percent of the processed foods might contain GMOs."

Shehata is cautious of the potential benefits, and unknown costs, of this new technology. "All GMO products -- you cannot predict the long term health impacts. It's a man-introduced change for a quick result, over Mother Nature's natural adaptation."

Shehata's concept of labeling is much like that required of packaged food, where the manufacturer writes down what ingredients are used to make each product. "It's a disclosure of how the product is made."

Currently, only certified organic foods are required to be free of GMOs, and organic growers are some of those most opposed to genetic modification because of the risk that any cross pollination with an altered strain would contaminate their premium crops. Many organic companies market their products with the label "GMO-Free."

"I'm a marketer," says Shehata. "Every consumer values products differently -- price, freshness, taste, if it's organic . . . They worry that the consumer will think it's bad. USDA, Monsanto -- what makes you worry?"

Monsanto, the agribusiness giant known for manufacturing Round-Up and the herbicide resistant GM seeds that go with it, spent $5 million lobbying against a GMO labeling initiative in Oregon, which was killed in 2002.

Shehata says "I am pro-consumer knowledge . . . It's very similar to voting . . . if you don't know what a candidate stands for, you're misinformed."

The key state senator who will be introducing the "Consumer's Right to Know" GMO labeling bill this coming legislative session is Mike Gabbard (D-19th, Waikele, Kapolei).

Shehata described Gabbard as someone who is "very conservative, strictly organic. If something were in his food that he didn't know about, he'd be very upset."

Gabbard said he has been a vegetarian for 30 years and ran a health food deli in the 1980s. Though his GMO labeling legislation is still in the works, and he has yet to "float it," it will be interesting to see if Governor Lingle -- a strong advocate for the free-market forces -- will support it. Without labelling, the consumer cannot make a= choice.

The issue is similar to cigarette labeling laws, according to Shehata. "I used to be a chain smoker. I don't smoke anymore." Just as in GM food, "if I eat it, it's my choice."

Public relations officials from Monsanto Co. were not available for comment.

As of press time, the secretary for Dr. Dennis Gonsalves, director of the Pacific Basin Agricultural Research Center and lead scientist and developer of the GM papaya, said he was under the weather and unavailable for comment.

An informational meeting on genetically modified organisms by outspoken critics Walter Ritte and Dr. Lorrin Pang will be held at UH-Hilo on Saturday, Oct 27 at 6p.m. in UCB 100. Call Hawai`i SEED at 557-6230 for more details