Essay on "GMO Food"

Essay 4 pages (1436 words) Sources: 2

[EXCERPT] . . . .

It was later found that Taylor was a former lawyer of Monsanto and under the current Obama administration, he is an adviser to the FDA and a "food safety expert" (U.S. FDA, 2010).

Currently, the FDA believes that it is Monsanto's responsibility to ensure that the foods marketed are safe and in compliance with the legal and regulatory procedures while Monsanto believes that its interest is to sell as much as possible and assuring the safety of these foods is the role of the FDA (organicconsumers.org, 2012). In this conflict, it is the consumers who are getting increasingly affected.

Should the FDA require food to be labeled as GM?

The FDA is not mandated by any law to label food as GM. Though mandatory labeling has been proposed by many advocates, there is no law at the state or national level that mandates it. Residents of California have the right to vote on November 6, 2012 to opt for the labeling of genetically modified foods sold in their state. People in favor of labeling believe that it will help customers to make informed choices about the foods they consume while the opponents of labeling think its a long and time-consuming process that has little significance.

Concerns regarding genetically modified foods

In the scientific community, there are three prominent concerns regarding genetically modified foods and they are its impact on the health of humans, environment and on the long-term supply of food. The effect on human health is profound as these genetically modified foods increase allergies ad health problems in people. Reports show that allergies to soy have increased by 50% in a single year and the only significant variety available in the market is Monsanto's GM soy (Institute of Responsible Technology, no date). Another problem is the lack of in-depth research on the impact of genetically modified foods on humans and this is one of the biggest concerns regarding the genetically modified foods.

The second concern is that of the environment. When genetically modified foods are consumed by other organisms, the impact on them is huge. A good example is the killing of monarch butterflies that consumed the pollen from Bt corn (Whitman, 2000). Similar instances are likely to affect the ecology of an area in the long run. Another environmental concern is that pests can become resistant to these GM crops in the long-run, thereby making them ineffective in the future. Also, there is a possibility that the gene transfer can have unintended consequences on weeds as well, thereby making it difficult to eliminate them.

The last concern is the long-term supply of these GM seeds and crops. It is expensive to produce GM crops because of the vast amount of research involved in it. So, companies like Monsanto are looking to patent these seeds so that they can make huge profits from it. Unfortunately, this is going to make it difficult for small farmers to procure them and this can impact the long-term supply.

Everyday foods that contain GMO

Some of the everyday foods that contain GMO are animal foods such as meat, dairy and eggs because the animals are fed GM corn and soy to increase their production. Many fruits and vegetables such as papaya, tomatoes and zucchini are genetically modified while corn is another major GM food. This GM corn is used in a whole lot of baked and processed foods, especially as a sweetener in the form of high fructose corn syrup. Soy foods and cottonseed oils are also made from GM crops.

A list of these products gives us a glimpse of the amount of GM food that we consume today and it is time we take charge of our health and say no to these products.

References

Organic Consumers Organization. (2012). Millions against Monsanto. Retrieved from: http://organicconsumers.org/monsanto/index.cfm

Institute of Responsible Technology. (no date). State-of-the-Science on the health risks of genetically modified foods. Retrieved from: http://www.saynotogmos.org/paper.pdf

US Food and Drug Administration. (01/04/2010). FDA News Release. Retrieved from: http://www.fda.gov/NewsEvents/Newsroom/PressAnnouncements/ucm170842.htm

Whitman, Deborah. (April 2000). Genetically Modified Foods: Helpful or harmful? Retrieved from: http://www.csa.com/discoveryguides/gmfood/overview.php

African Biosafety Network of Expertise. (2010). Process of developing GM crops. Retrieved from: http://www.nepadbiosafety.net/for-regulators/resources/subjects/biotechnology/process-of-developing-genetically-modified-gm-crops READ MORE

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