Monsanto close to FDA approval for fish oil soybeans

The biotechnology firm Monsanto stands just one FDA approval away from growing soybeans that have been genetically modified to produce those omega-3 fatty acids called stearidonic acid soybean oil. Monsanto plans to include SDA soybean oil in just about everything: baked goods and baking mixes, breakfast cereals and grains, cheeses, dairy product analogs, fats and oils, fish products, frozen dairy desserts and mixes, grain products and pastas, gravies and sauces, meat products, milk products, nuts and nut products, poultry products, processed fruit juices, processed vegetable products, puddings and fillings, snack foods, soft candy, and soups and soup mixes, at levels that will provide 375 milligrams (mg) of SDA per serving.

How did Monsanto coax soybeans to produce the oils? They inserted genes for two enzymes – one derived from a flower (Primula juliae), the other from a red bread mold (Neurospora crassa) – into a line of soybeans. SDA soybean oil contains 15 to 30 percent SDA and 5 to 8 percent gamma-linolenic acid (GLA), neither of which is present in conventional soybean oil. SDA soybean oil also contains slightly higher levels of alpha-linolenic acid (ALA) and palmitic acid than conventional soybean oil. SDA soybean oil contains lower levels of oleic acid and linoleic acid (LA) than those present in conventional soybean oil.

Steve - here's the big problem: this GMO soybean produces ALA and GLA, not EPA/DHA. ALA must be converted to EPA and DHA in order to be absorbed as such. A large part of the human population cannot perform this conversion.

In addition, where are the safety studies prior to approval? Especially with regards to allergy? Not only is soy a major allergen, but when you add genes from a flower and fungus, how much more allergenic does the soybean get? Of course, the safety studies are non-existent.