Impact of the Precautionary Principle on the Nutrition of Current and Future Generations
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.62300/86130576Keywords:
Precautionary Principle, Risk Management, Food Security, Agricultural Innovation, Genetically Modified Organisms (GMOs), Food Irradiation, Pesticides, Regulatory Policy, Biotechnology, Global TradeAbstract
The precautionary principle (PP) has emerged as one of the most influential yet controversial concepts in environmental and food policy over the past two decades. Initially intended to promote prudent risk management under scientific uncertainty, its application has often been ambiguous, arbitrary, and biased against innovation. This paper reviews the historical development of the PP, its interpretations across jurisdictions, and its implications for agricultural technologies. Through case studies on pesticides, genetically modified (GM) foods, and food irradiation, the authors demonstrate that strict or poorly defined precautionary measures can hinder technological progress, reduce food security, and exacerbate global hunger. While precaution is essential in risk governance, the PP in its current form fails to provide a coherent, rational framework for decision-making. The authors argue for a balanced approach—“not too little, not too much”—to ensure safety without stifling innovation critical for feeding a projected global population of 9.1 billion by 2050. Ultimately, the PP’s legacy should be fostering deliberate, evidence-based precaution rather than imposing rigid barriers that compromise health, trade, and sustainability.
Downloads
References
Adenle, A.A., O.C. Aworh, R. Akromah, and G. Parayil. 2012. Developing GM super cassava for improved health and food security: Future challenges in Africa. Agr Food Sec 1:1–15.
Applegate, J. 2000. Precautionary preference: An American perspective on the precautionary principle. Hum Ecol Risk Assess 6(3):413–443.
Ashford, N.A. 2005. Implementing the precautionary principle: Incorporating science, technology, fairness and accountability in environmental, health and safety decisions. Int J Risk Assess Manage 5:112–124.
Ashford, N.A. 2007. The legacy of the precautionary principle in U.S. law: The rise of cost-benefit analysis and risk assessment as undermining factors in health, safety and environmental protection. In N. de Sadeleer (ed.). Implementing the Precautionary Principle: Approaches from the Nordic Countries, the EU and the United States. Earthscan, London.
Batista, R., N. Saibo, T. Lourenco, and M.M. Oliveira. 2008. Microarray analyses reveal that plant mutagenesis may induce more transcriptomic changes than transgene insertion. PNatl Acad Sci 105(9):3640–3645.
Beck, U. 1992. Risk Society: Towards a New Modernity. Sage Publications Limited, London.
Beyer, P., S. Al-Babili, X. Ye, P. Lucca, P. Schaub, R. Welsch, and I. Potrykus. 2002. Golden rice: Introducing the β-carotene biosynthesis pathway into rice endosperm by genetic engineering to defeat vitamin A deficiency. J Nutr 132(3):506S–510S.
Bodansky, D. 1991. Scientific uncertainty and the precautionary principle. Environment 33(7):4–5.
Bohannon, J. 2002. Zambia rejects GM corn on scientists’ advice. Science 298:1153.
Bradford, K.J., A.V. Deynze, N. Gutterson, W. Parrott, and S.H. Strauss. 2005. Regulating transgenic crops sensibility: Lessons from plant breeding, biotechnology and genomics. Nat Biotechnol 23(4):439–444.
Brock, W.J., J.V. Rodricks, A. Rulis, V.L. Dellarco, G.M. Gray, and R.W. Lane. 2003. Food safety: Risk assessment and decision-making criteria. Int J Toxicol 22:435–451.
Byrne, D. 2004. “The Regulation of Food Safety and the Use of Traceability/Tracing in the EU and USA: Convergence or Divergence?” Speech to Food Safety Conference, Washington, D.C., March 19, 2004.
Carpenter, J. 2010. Peer-reviewed surveys indicate positive impact of commercialized GM. Nat Biotechnol 28(4):319–321.
Chapman, P.M. 1999. Risk assessment and the precautionary principle: A time and a place. Mar Pollut Bull 38:944–947.
Codex Alimentarius Commission. 1983. Codex General Standard for Irradiated Food and Recommended International Code of Practice for the Operation of Irradiation Facilities Used for the Treatment of Foods. Vol. 15. FAO/WHO, Rome (rev. 2003).
Commission of the European Communities. 2000. Communication from the Commission on the Precautionary Principle. Brussels, COM(2000)1.
Commission of the European Communities. 2004. Communication from the Commission: Towards a European Strategy for Nanotechnology. Brussels, COM(2004)338 final.
Commission v. Denmark, Case C192/01 (Advocate General 2003).
Commission v. France, Case C-24/00 (ECJ 2004).
Committee on World Food Security (CFS). 2012. Global Strategic Framework for Food Security and Nutrition.
Convention on Biological Diversity. 2000. Cartagena Protocol on Biosafety.
Cranor, C. 2004. Toward understanding aspects of the precautionary principle. J Med Philos 29:259–279.
Crichton, M. 2004. State of Fear. Harper Collins, New York City.
EFTA Surveillance Authority v. Norway, Case E-3/00, 2 C.M.L.R. 47 (2001).
ENDS Europe. 2000. “Opinion divided on EU precaution paper.” ENDS Daily, March 2.
European Community (EC). 1999. Directive 1999/3/EC on foods treated with ionizing radiation.
European Court of Justice (ECJ). 2012. Pioneer Hi Bred Italia Srl v. Ministero delle Politiche agricole alimentari e forestali, Case No. C36/11.
European Union. 2001. Proposal for a Council Regulation on State Aid to the Coal Industry.
Falkner, R. 2007. The global biotech food fight: Why the United States got it so wrong. Brown J World Affairs XIV(1):99–110.
Farrow, S. 2004. Using risk assessment, benefit-cost analysis, and real options to implement a precautionary principle. Risk Anal 24:727–735.
Fedoroff, N.V. 1989. Maize transposable elements in development and evolution. Am Zool 29:549–555.
Finger, R., N. El Benni, T. Kaphengst, et al. 2011. A meta-analysis on farm-level costs and benefits of GM crops. Sustainability 3(3):743–762.
FAO. 2009. Global agriculture towards 2050.
Foster, K.R., P. Vecchia, and H. Repacholi. 2000. Science and the precautionary principle. Science 288:979–980.
Frank, T., R.M. Rohlig, H.V. Davies, E. Barros, and K-H. Engel. 2012. Metabolite profiling of maize kernels—Genetic modification versus environmental influence. J Agr Food Chem 60:3005–3012.
Freestone, D. and E. Hey. 1996. Origins and development of the precautionary principle. In The Precautionary Principle and International Law.
Fumento, M. 1994. “To save lives with safer food.” Washington Times, August 16.
Gallager, D. and A. Kwittken. 1994. Current meat inspection system “insufficient” for ensuring food safety, independent panel says. News release.
Global Harvest Initiative. 2012. 2012 GAP Report: Measuring Global Agricultural Productivity.
Godfrey, H.C.J., et al. 2010. The future of the global food system. Philos TR Soc B 365:2769–2777.
Goklany, I.M. 2001. Precaution without perversity: A comprehensive application of the precautionary principle to genetically modified crops. Biotechnol Law Rep 20:377–396.
Goldstein, B.D. and R.S. Carruth. 2004. Implications of the precautionary principle: Is it a threat to science? Int J Occup Med Env 17:153–161.
Graham, J. 2002. Speech by OMB Regulatory Chief John Graham on role of precautionary principle.
McGinnis, E.E., M.H. Meyer, and A.G. Smith. 2012. Analysis of U.S. genetically engineered crop regulation and litigation. Crop Sci 52(3):991–1002.
McHughen, A. and S. Smyth. 2008. US regulatory system for genetically modified crop cultivars. Plant Biotechnol J 6:2–12.
Miller, H.I. and G. Conko. 2001. Precaution without principle. Nat Biotechnol 19:302–303.
Morris, J. 2002. The relationship between risk analysis and the precautionary principle. Toxicology 181–182:127–130.
Morris, S.H. 2007. EU biotech crop regulations and environmental risk: A case of the emperor’s new clothes? Trends Biotechnol 25(1):2–6.
Oerke, E-C. and H-W. Dehne. 1997. Global crop production and efficacy of crop protection—Current situation and future trends. Eur J Plant Pathol 103:203–215.
OMB/OSTP. 2007. Updated principles for risk analysis.
OSTP. 1986. Coordinated framework for regulation of biotechnology.
Padmanaban, G. 2009. Bt brinjal—Ban or boon? Curr Sci 97(12):1715–1716.
Park, J., I. McFarlane, R. Phipps, and G. Ceddia. 2011. The impact of the EU regulatory constraint of transgenic crops on farm income. New Biotechnol 28(4):396–406.
Partridge, M. and D.J. Murphy. 2004. Detection of genetically modified soya in a range of organic and health food products. Brit Food J 106(3):166–180.
Pauly, C. and C. Schult. 2013. Trans-Atlantic rifts: European activists could thwart US-EU trade deal. Spiegel Online, February 26.
Pew Initiative on Food and Biotechnology. 2004. Issues in the Regulation of Genetically Engineered Plants and Animals.
Pingali, P.L. and G. Traxler. 2002. Changing locus of agricultural research: Will the poor benefit from biotechnology and privatization trends? Food Policy 27:223–238.
Potrykus, I. 2010. Lessons from the ‘Humanitarian Golden Rice’ project: Regulation prevents development of public good genetically engineered crop products. New Biotechnol 27(5):466–472.
Qaim, M. 2009. The economics of genetically modified crops. Annu Rev Res Econ 1:665–693.
Raffensperger, C. and P.L. deFur. 1999. Implementing the precautionary principle: Rigorous science and solid ethics. Hum Ecol Risk Assess 5:933–941.
Raffensperger, C. and J. Tickner (eds.). 1999. Protecting Public Health and the Environment: Implementing the Precautionary Principle. Island Press.
Raney, T. 2006. Economic impact of transgenic crops in developing countries. Curr Opin Biotech 17:1–5.
Ricroch, A.E., J.B. Berge, and M. Kuntz. 2011. Evaluation of genetically engineered crops using transcriptomic, proteomic, and metabolomic profiling techniques. Plant Physiol 155:1752–1761.
Ronald, P. 2011. Plant genetics, sustainable agriculture and global food security. Genetics 188:11–20.
Sandin, P. 1999. Dimensions of the precautionary principle. Hum Ecol Risk Assess 5(5):889–907.
Sandin, P. and S.O. Hansson. 2002. The default value approach to the precautionary principle. Hum Ecol Risk Assess 8(3):463–471.
Santillo, D., R.L. Stringer, P.A. Johnston, and J. Tickner. 1998. The precautionary principle: Protecting against failures of scientific method and risk assessment. Mar Pollut Bull 36(12):939–950.
Seifert, F. 2011. Sustainability and the EU controversy on agribiotechnology: Radical change or ecological modernization? Int J Technol Dev Studies 2(1):2–29.
Seufert, V., N. Ramankutty, and J.A. Foley. 2012. Comparing yields of organic and conventional agriculture. Nature 485:229–232.
Shelton, A.M. 2010. The long road to commercialization of Bt brinjal (eggplant) in India. Crop Prot 29:412–414.
Slovic, P. 1987. Perception of risk. Science 236:280–285.
Spielman, D.J. 2007. Pro-poor agricultural biotechnology: Can the international research system deliver the goods? Food Policy 32:189–204.
Starr, C. 2003. The precautionary principle versus risk analysis. Risk Anal 23(1):1–3.
Stokes, E. 2008. The EC courts’ contribution to refining the parameters of precaution. J Risk Res 11:491–507.
Sunstein, C.R. 2003. Beyond the precautionary principle. Public law and legal theory working paper no. 38. University of Chicago.
Sunstein, C.R. 2004. Safe and sorry: Another victory for the wrongheaded idea that risk is bad. Forbes 173(14):48.
Sunstein, C.R. 2005. Laws of Fear: Beyond the Precautionary Principle. Cambridge University Press.
Sunstein, C.R. 2006a. Irreversible and catastrophic. Cornell Law Rev 91:841–897.
Sunstein, C.R. 2006b. Irreversible and catastrophic: Global warming, terrorism, and other problems. Pace Environ Law Rev 23:3–19.
Taub, I.A. 1984. Free radical reactions in food. J Chem Educ 61:313–324.
Trouwborst, A. 2007. The precautionary principle in general international law: Combating the Babylonian confusion. RECIEL 16(2):185–195.
United Kingdom House of Commons Science and Technology Committee. 2006. Scientific Advice, Risk and Evidence Based Policy Making.
United Nations Conference on Environment and Development (UNCED). 1992. Rio Declaration on Environment and Development.
United Nations General Assembly. 1982. World Charter for Nature.
Urbain, W.M. 1986. Food Irradiation. Academic Press.
USEPA. 2008. Implementing the pesticide registration improvement act—Fiscal year 2007.
USEPA. 2011. Estimating the data generation costs for registration of a new conventional pesticide active ingredient.
USEPA. 2012a. Accomplishments under the Food Quality Protection Act (FQPA).
USEPA. 2012b. Food contaminants. America’s Children and the Environment.
USEPA. 2012c. Pesticide Reregistration Performance Measures and Goals; Annual Progress Report; Fiscal Year 2011.
USEPA. 2012d. Sulfuryl fluoride; second request for comment on proposed order granting objections to tolerances and denying request for a stay.
USEPA. 2012e. Accomplishments under the Food Quality Protection Act (FQPA).
Vinocur, B. and A. Altman. 2005. Recent advances in engineering plant tolerance to abiotic stress: Achievements and limitations. Curr Opin Biotech 16:123–132.
Wang, W., B. Vinocur, and A. Altman. 2003. Plant responses to drought, salinity and extreme temperatures: Towards genetic engineering for stress tolerance. Planta 218:1–14.
Wang, Z-Y. and E.C. Brummer. 2012. Is genetic engineering ever going to take off in forage, turf and bioenergy crop breeding? Ann Bot-London.
Weed, D.L. 2002. Is the precautionary principle a principle? IEEE Technol Soc Mag 21(4):45–48.
Weiss, C. 2003. Scientific uncertainty and science-based precaution. Int Environ Agreem-P 3:137–166.
Wiedemann, P.M. and H. Schütz. 2005. The precautionary principle and risk perception: Experimental studies in the EMF area. Environ Health Persp 113:402–405.
Wiener, J.B. 2002. Precaution in a multirisk world. In Human and Ecological Risk Assessment: Theory and Practice.
Wiener, J.B. and M.D. Rogers. 2002. Comparing precaution in the United States and Europe. J Risk Res 5(4):317–349.
WHO. 1966. The Technical Basis for Legislation on Irradiated Food.
WHO. 1981. Wholesomeness of Irradiated Food.
WHO. 1994. A Review of the Safety and Nutritional Adequacy of Irradiated Food.
WTO. 2006. European Communities—Measures Affecting the Approval and Marketing of Biotech Products.
Published
Issue
Section
License
Copyright (c) 2026 Council for Agricultural Science and Technology (CAST)
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License.
License Terms for CC Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0:
License URL: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/
License Terms Statement:
You are free to:
- Share — copy and redistribute the material in any medium or format
- Adapt — remix, transform, and build upon the material
Under the following conditions:
- Attribution — you must give appropriate credit, provide a link to the license, and indicate if changes were made
- NonCommercial — you may not use the material for commercial purposes
No additional restrictions — you may not apply legal terms or technological measures that legally restrict others from doing anything the license permits.
