Salt Lake City is the first US stop on the world tour of author Steven Druker, an attorney who sued the US Food and Drug Administration over its policy on genetically engineered foods. He’s in town talking about his new book, “Altered Genes, Twisted Truth,” with a little help from primatologist Jane Goodall.
Goodall wrote the forward to “Altered Genes, Twisted Truth”, calling it one of the most important books of the last 50 years. In the book, author Steven Druker makes the case that genetically altered foods like corn, soybeans, and sugar beets have not been properly tested and pose a threat to human health. He says the potential harmful effects are difficult to trace and may take time to manifest.
“There are several kinds of disturbances that can occur to the organism that could result in new toxins, new allergens that could be within the food that would be very difficult to detect and really are not detectable by the kind of testing that’s currently in place,” Druker says.
He estimates 85 to 90 percent of the processed food in North America contains an ingredient from a genetically engineered organism. He accuses biotech advocates of subverting science and the US Food and Drug Administration of fraud.
“These foods are on the market without labels,” Druker says. “The citizens of Utah who really are concerned about health and live a good lifestyle should not have been exposed to these foods. They should learn the facts and stand up and do something to protect themselves and change things.”
Druker is speaking about his book at the Salt Lake City main library on Thursday evening. He’s also appearing with Jane Goodall at The University of Utah Guest House on Friday at 1:30.
