The Worst Emerging Disease of All

The Worst Emerging Disease of All
"I have had the misfortune to work with UN officials for many years, most recently at the meetings of the task force on biotechnology-derived foods of the Codex Alimentarius Commission, a creature of the UN's WHO and Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) that sets international food standards. The group established standards that were unscientific and excessively stringent and ensure that new, innovative foods will be so expensive to develop that they will remain largely unavailable to the poorest of the poor, who need them most.

During a meeting of the task force, Jorgen Schlundt, the director of the WHO department concerned with food safety, zoonoses [diseases that spread from animals to humans] and food-borne diseases, repeatedly exhorted the group to add ethical concerns about biotech foods to the regulatory barriers that already impede their adoption. He was more like a witless Monty Python character than an official entrusted with serious international responsibilities - including issues pertaining to swine flu, avian flu, West Nile Virus and SARS ."