Essay On Gmo And Our Food

Gmo Fear! Advertisers are misleading the public. Sometimes this is intentional and sometimes it is out of ignorance or because data has not been collected yet. Either way, the public has been pulled and tugged in opposite directions on the GMO issues. People are against GMO foods for health safety, farming practices, technological reasons, fear, and some for religious reasons. A. S. Bawa states, “There are controversies around GM food on several levels, including whether food produced with it is safe, whether it should be labelled and if so how, whether agricultural biotechnology and it is needed to address world hunger now or in the future, and more specifically with respect to intellectual property and market dynamics, environmental effects of GM crops and GM crops’ role in industrial agricultural more generally”. This statement puts the GMO issue in a nutshell that marketers and advertisers must contend with. Advertisers for and against GMO foods are appealing to both sides of the debate, but as Bawa indicates, “If we want to put this technology on a proper scientific foundation and allay the fears of the general public considerable effort needs to be directed towards understanding people’s

Don’t you just love the smell of bread and butter and the delicious taste of brownies and muffins? Well, now more than 18 million Americans no longer can enjoy the great taste of these gluten foods, thanks to GMOs. GMOs (genetically modified organisms) are the result of a laboratory process where genes are taken from one species and inserted into another in an attempt to obtain a wanted characteristic, however, no one knows the long-term effect of GMOs. Genetically engineered foods are linked to gluten disorders and are known to cause birth defects. So why do people keep eating them? Consumers still inadvertently eat these foods, because there is no warning label to educate them otherwise. Foods with GMO genes need to be labeled so that people won’t unknowingly consume these genetically modified ingredients without their consent.

Whether or not to require labeling of GM foods is a major issue in the persistent debate over the risks and benefits of foods crops that are produced using biotechnology. Bills requiring compulsory labeling have been introduced and proposed in different levels, but not evenly implemented. Some of the common genetically engineered crops include soya beans, canola, corn and cotton. The US Food and Drug Administration policy on the labeling of GM food requires labeling is the food has significantly distinct nutritional property (US FDA par 2). Further, labeling is required if the GM food product includes an allergen that consumers may not expect to find in such a product, or if the product contains a toxicant that is beyond acceptable limits (US FDA par 3).

The theme of agriculture and even more specifically genetically modified organisms helped to critically examine the dangers and hazards of such GMOs. Knowing the potential issues with GMOs from class helped understand and effectively critique this article more. The examples and real world statistics in this article magnified the importance of GMO labeling and the dangers imposed upon consumers who eat such foods.

Genetically modified organisms should be labeled because there is a growing rate of people developing allergies to them. “Michelle Perro, MD, who is regularly named one of America’s top pediatricians, says she believes that the novel proteins found in GMOs “may be responsible in part for the profound increase in allergies and immune dysfunction that I am witnessing”” (Jeffery Smith). GMO’s are in everything from corn, to dairy and even cotton. There is no way to cure allergies all together, but labeling food items that were genetically modified somewhere in the process would help people be more aware of what they are consuming so that they are able to stay away from foods that contain GMO’s. Therefore, bringing down the rate of allergic reactions that are caused by genetically modified

Many people are unaware that there have not been sufficient tests conducted that prove GMOs are entirely safe. Therefore, people ought to consider the potential health risks they are taking when consuming a GM food product. However, since most biotech companies such as Monsanto, Cargill, Dow, Bayer and others do not advertise that their food products contain GMOs, consumers are not aware that most of the foods they purchase have been genetically modified. It is obvious to suspect that these companies are benefiting from the public’s lack of knowledge. Consumers need to be made aware when they are purchasing genetically modified products. Genetically modified organisms can potentially cause harm to our environment and have a detrimental effect on human health.

Recently, there has been controversy on whether GMOs are favorable, or synthetic and faulty. Although, many are not actually informed properly about what GMOs actually are. A GMO is a genetically modified organism, in which its DNA is taken and implanted into another plant or animal. Filmmaker, Jeremy Seifert, is quite precarious on the subject, considering there is not much we really know about these genes. Jeremy says “I suddenly felt uneasy about the food we were eating,” (Seifert). We are unaware of the health and safety risks that come with the use of these genes on everyday food items. It is evident that there is a mass amount of positives and negatives. However, the powerful weight of the negatives seem to have a larger impact than the positive ideas within it.

There is a general scientific agreement that food from genetically modified crops is not inherently riskier to human health than conventional food, but should be tested on a case-by-case basis.[138][139][140][141] No reports of ill effects have been proven in the human population from ingesting GM food.[138][142][143][144] Although labeling of GMO products in the marketplace is required in many countries, it is not required in the United States and no distinction between marketed GMO and non-GMO foods is recognized by the US FDA. In a May 2014 article

My own view is that whether or not GMOs are bad for human health, they should still be labeled. To this date, GMOs Mandatory labeling remains optional which has led to deceptive advertising. This kind of deception prevents consumer from knowing the exact ingredients of their foods, prevents scientists from identifying the effects of the consumption of GMOs and causes consumer’s mistrust of the Food and Drug Administration agency. In other words, Optional labeling of GMOs allows deceptive marketing, prevents people from recognizing GMOs side Effects, and causes mistrust towards the FDA.

Individuals with severe allergies need to be informed if the genetically modified food appears to be something they can eat without going into anaphylactic shock, is actually injected with a gene that can cause them an allergic reaction or death (GEF). This alone demonstrates a need for further testing requirements and labeling laws. The fact that labeling is not required on these products seems inhumane, as consumers have a right to know all ingredients in the food they are purchasing. If processed foods require labeling, then GMOs should be required to label as well. This puts a sense of suspicion and doubt over the GMO products, because if the safety is not compromised.

The use of GMO’s in our everyday foods has been a big debate these last few years. Many people disagree, and think that GMO labelling should be used when we sell modified foods in our stores; but, others agree with the use of GMO’s, and think that they are harmless to our health. With many protests, speeches, and riots around the streets of common ‘GMO cities’, some states have made it a law to label genetically modified foods. Today, only a few states have the law passed, but environmentalists still fight for the rights of labelling or to stop using GMOs in our foods.

However, it is understandable that manufacturers use alternative labeling methods to maintain customers. No consumer is going to want to want to purchase a food product that has the words “contains GMOs” slapped across the front. A poll done by ABC News found that “fifty-seven percent [of consumers] say they'd be less likely to buy foods labeled as genetically modified” (Langer). Manufacturers take advantage of the QR codes and 1-800 numbers to deter consumers from finding out the truth behind their genetically altered ingredients. GMOs are a smart business decision for large companies because they allow yields to be much larger compared to conventional foods. Above all, it is important to recognize that manufacturers are fully aware of how they are manipulating customers into purchasing their products.

Agriculture has existed for thousands of years and has been able to support the lives of many individuals through providing consumer goods. These consumer good are constantly being bought and sold between various countries in order to sustain life on earth. Although past agricultural methods were seen as natural from farmers working out in the field and growing food sustainably, the drive for economic gain that society possessed allowed for many corporations such as Monsanto to develop. The Monsanto Corporation is located in St. Louis Missouri and is known as an “American multinational agrochemical and agriculture biotechnology corporation.” (Monsanto Company, 2015). Monsanto was founded in 1901 and began to create herbicides between 1945 and 1976. With the success of the herbicide creations, Monsanto then began to develop plants that contained biotechnology traits known as genetically modified organisms (GMO) or genetically modified (GM) crops (Monsanto Company, 2015). These GM crops are “ used for agricultural purposes into which one or several genes coding for desirable traits have been inserted through the process of genetic engineering“ (Qaim, 2009, p.1). The use and expansion of GM crops continues to rise with the United States being one of the world’s largest leading producers (GMO compass, 2007). GM crops were introduced into society because many believed that this new technology would be able to improve the quality of the worlds food supply (Conner et al, 2003).

Hunger and malnutrition of the rapidly growing human population is one of the major problem faced by the present world. Genetically modified food (GM Food) is the solution offered by our scientific community to cope with this problem.The food produced on a massive scale, by direct or indirect involvement of genetically manipulated organisms is called genetically modified food.

Much of the public concern surrounding the safety of GMOs stems from the process of actually creating them. This is admittedly not a natural process, which is a surefire way to raise critic’s eyebrows in doubting their safety. However, there is no evidence that supports these myths. The Committee on Genetically Engineered Crops, The National Academy of Science, and the Board on Agriculture and Natural Recourses all agree after extensive testing and observation that there is no additional harm in the consumption of GMO food. The research conducted in animal studies, as well as chemical analysis of the crops, show no indication that GMOs are negatively affecting human health. The next allegation hurled at GMOs is that they may have