Genetically Modified Foods on the Rise
Can animal genes be jammed into plants? Would tomatoes with catfish genes taste fishy? Have you ever eaten a genetically modified food? The answers are: yes, no and almost definitely. But according to a survey, most Americans couldn’t answer correctly even though they’ve been eating genetically modified foods - unlabeled - for nearly a decade.
“It’s just not on the radar screen,” said William Hallman, associate director of the Food Biotechnology Program at the Rutgers Food Policy Institute, which conducted the survey.
Today, roughly 75 percent of U.S. processed foods - boxed cereals, other grain products, frozen dinners, cooking oils and more - contain some genetically modified, or GM, ingredients, said Stephanie Childs of the Grocery Manufacturers of America.
These foods have been called “Frankenfoods.” Their detrimental effects on human health have not been traced yet because there is no system for reporting allergies or other reactions to GM foods.
Nearly every product with a corn or soy ingredient, and some containing canola or cottonseed oil, has a GM element, according to the grocery manufacturers group.
In the Rutgers survey, less than half the people interviewed were aware GM foods are sold in supermarkets.
By 1995, farmers in several countries had planted millions of acres of GM corn and soybeans, and processed products containing them were in grocery stores.
Genetic modification of crops involves transferring genes from a plant or animal into a plant.
More than 80 percent of the soy and 40 percent of the corn raised in this country is a GM variety. Global plantings of biotech crops - mostly corn and soybeans and much of it for animal feed - grew to about 200 million acres last year, about two-thirds of it in the United States.
The one billionth acre will be planted this spring, according to the Biotechnology Industry Organization.
Opponents say genetically modified foods could cause allergic or toxic reactions and harm the environment. Worries include the mixing of GM crops with regular ones either by handlers, or pollen - already documented - and GM foods being sold where they’re not approved.
A Swiss biotech company said it mistakenly sold U.S. farmers an experimental, unapproved GM corn seed, and tons of the resulting corn was sold between 2001 and 2004.
In 2000, recalls, lawsuits and public uproar followed disclosure that StarLink GM corn, approved only for animal use, had gotten into taco shells and chips.
But Margaret Mellon of the Union of Concerned Scientists, said there’s no system to track health problems caused by GM foods.
Her group, along with the Center for Science in the Public Interest, has long pushed for labeling - only required when GM products have properties different from ordinary foods, such as a higher nutrient content. They contend consumers deserve a choice if they want to avoid GM foods and they also want government regulation.
Currently, companies developing GM foods voluntarily send their data to the FDA, but there’s no official approval before products go on sale.
“It’s left up to the good nature of Monsanto or DuPont or other companies to do the right thing,” said Gregory Jaffe, director of the biotechnology project at CSPI.
-Rutgers study, Biotechnology Industry Association, Associated Press
Dr. Keith & Laurie Nemec comments on Genetically Modified Food:
This is mankind trying to be like God. With genetically modification, scientists are blending animal genes into plant food. What this means is they are altering the genetic structure of our food supply saying it will produce more resilient crops.
What they have not told you is that this could increase your risk of cancer, immune disorders, allergies and autoimmune disease.
The sad fact is the government is allowing them to do this and not even making it mandatory to label products as Genetically Modified (GM) for the consumer’s safety.
I do not think we should leave our health up to the “good nature” of Monsanto or DuPont to do the right thing. To do the right thing was not to tamper with God’s original design of the food.
What you can do is buy only organic, non-GM food whenever possible. To be certified organic means it is also non-genetically modified.