Genetically Modified Foods Essay

“Should We Care About Genetically Modified Foods?” by John N. Shaw appeared in Food Safety News issue of February 1, 2010, as a feature under the health section on the controversy between the pros and cons of genetically modified foods (Also known as GMO, genetically modified organisms). The main idea of this article is to inform people of the benefits of GMOs . The author, John Shaw received his Bachelor of Science degree in Finance with a minor in Marketing from the University of Arkansas in 2007, where he was a “leadership scholar.” In addition to his studies, he has worked as a research assistant with Food Law LL.M. Director Susan Schneider, interned with Wal-Mart Government and Corporate Affairs division, the Arkansas Attorney General Public Protection Division, and with United States Senator Blanche Lincoln. John has a passion for Food Law, sports, and outdoors. In the article, he states, “ I submit that I am no scientist; merely an interested student.” According to the article, he is passionate and has done sufficient research about the topic to support his argument.

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration approved a commercial selling and consuming of the first GM animal, a salmon fish. However, instead of taking this news favorably, the U.S retailers refuse to sell it in their stores. One of these retailers is Costco, the second-largest warehouse retailer in the world.

Farmers are using different technology for breeding. They used selective breeding to produce animals that exhibit desirable traits and they get more benefit from it. For example, using breeding techniques farmers makes cows which produce more milk with less lactose, and sheep which produce more wool. Farmers accept this new selective breeding technology because in the past, farmers would use growth hormones to promote such qualities. This became problematic when residue of the hormones remained in the meat, leaving it with a foul taste. When researchers began to clone transgenic animals, it became possible to develop certain traits in animals, which increased the quality of their yield. When a farmer would like to raise the standards of a herd, the breeding process is very slow and sometimes incomes can decrease (Wilmut 23). Many times when relying on sexual breeding alone to mass-produce these animals, there are chances of breeding out the desired traits (Freudenrich). Transgenic animal cloning will result in higher quality meats and dairies without the use of artificial hormones. The U.S. Food and Drug Administration released in January 2008 concluded “edible products from normal, healthy clones or their progeny do not appear to pose increased food consumption risks relative to comparable products from conventional animals.” After 2008, US Food and Drug Administrative agree to use

The genes of the foreign species may originally be from bacteria, viruses, insects, plants, animals and even humans. For example GMO potatoes and corn contain bacteria genes, GMO tomatoes are inserted with flounder genes, “super pigs” with human growth genes, fish with cattle genes and the list goes on with thousands of other genetically altered plants and animals (“About Genetically Engineered Foods”). Currently about 92% of corn and 94% of soybeans grown in the United States are genetically engineered (“About Genetically Engineered Food”). At an alarming rate genetically engineered food is taking over the food supply available to american consumers. However, without a label law in place, consumers are unaware of the dramatic changes in our food supply.

Ever since their entrance onto the consumer market in the last two decades of the twentieth century, genetically modified organisms (often referred to as GMOs) have been getting mixed reviews from the public. Genetically modified consumer products (primarily food) have pushed the barriers of some people's comfort levels. Born out of either a lack of knowledge or a sincere concern for public health or the environment, a consumer rights movement has been planted around the world pushing for labeling of genetically modified food products. This movement has matured in many places to a degree where interest groups have successfully lobbied governments into adopting criteria for labeling transgenic food

Genetically modified crops are harmful to humans and the environment and shouldn't be used. Agriculture should proceed in harmony with nature and nature only. That is why some people have decided to buy organically grown food. From their experiences with organic food, they believe that the organic system can be economically practical. This system also provides a wide range of environmental and social benefits, and most importantly, it enables consumers to make a choice about the food they eat. According to Diana Brander, an American biology teacher, we should have the choice of the type of food we eat.

Genetically modified food have been the subject of much controversy lately. Genetically modified organisms (GMO’s) are a broad group of plants, animals and bacteria that are engineered for a wide for a variety of purposes ranging from agricultural production to scientific research. The types of potential perils posed by GMO vary depending on the type of organism being modified and its intended purpose (EOH, 2003).

“High-tech tomatoes, Mysterious milk, Super squash. Are we supposed to eat this stuff? Or is it going to eat us?” why do we eat mysteries foods that we don't know why there made from. The quote means that we shouldn’t eat all the food companies make because one day they could be worst then they already are. Why is It that processed lemonade is made from nail polish but nail polish is made from natural lemons. If we continues to eat this food then we could good as well want to get fat and healthy and kiss our lives away. Processed foods are bad for the human body because it has bad GMO’S, it is hyper rewarding, and people become addicted because of all the dopamine in the food.

What if people could create an organism that was stronger than it was previously? More resistance to diseases, poisons, and that could thrive in a hostile environment? That is what scientist are creating with GMOs (Genetically Modified Organism) but mostly with plants that farmers produce for food such as corn or soybeans. Scientist can create modified organism when they pick an organism (such as corn) and then have certain changes introduced into their DNA using genetic engineering. It is different from breeding because instead of getting random genes, scientists are putting the desired gene directly into the plants’ DNA. Genetically modified foods are a controversial topic throughout most of the country but most Americans would be

Genetically modified food is a very controversial topic because many people are uninformed about it and society has given it a negative stereotype. Political elections tend to interfere with approval of controversial topics, especially in election years (Pollack, 2012). Ignorance is abundant worldwide as many people don’t even realize that much of their food has been genetically modified. (Amin, Azad, Gausmian, & Zulkifli, 2014). This negative ideology of genetically modified food has spilled over into the debate about genetically modified salmon. If approved by the FDA, genetically modified salmon would be the first biotechnologically enhanced animal to enter into the United States food industry (Pollack, 2012).

Many Americans consume thousands of pounds of genetically modified foods every day. Throughout the 21st century, genetic engineering tremendously impacted new research in pharmaceutical and forensic science. During that time, it also revolutionized the food in America and many other countries around the world. Using Recombinant DNA biotechnology on crops and farm animals helps improve nutrition and quantity of foods. However, crops that are altered with hybrid genes can also contain chemicals harmful to humans. By using developed biotechnology, scientists are able to inject viruses and bacteria into the embryos of plants to produce genetically modified crops (). The same is applied for transgenic farm animals to increase the size of the

Could it be that there are dirty little secrets lurking inside the foods you put on your table? “Do you really know what’s inside the tomato you just put on your salad? Do you care to know if that cheeseburger you just ate is not infused with liquid nitrogen?” There are no notices, no warnings and most definitely no labels. Genetically modified food (GMF, GM Crops, or Bio-Food) are the norm in America today. Some even say we are just another Human Experiment for our American Government. While others claim if it weren't for scientists and their experiments we would never have discovered genetics and DNA.

Many people today are often amazed by the amount of nutrition and health information required for humans. The constant stream of genetic modification of food can be confusing. Genetically modified (GM) foods are plants and animals that have had their genetic makeup artificially altered by scientists to make them grow faster, taste better, last longer and to provide more nutrients. Scientists make these alternations by transferring genes from one organism into another in order to change the condition or character of the receiving organism. This process is known as biotechnology or genetic engineering (GE), and it has revolutionized the way that agriculture is practiced in many parts of the world. Researchers are now able to use GE

Genetically modified organism research are not reinforced by the Food and Drug Administration, thus should prohibited in our nation. We as a nation placed our trust in the hands of the Food and Drug Administration (FDA), whose is responsible for protecting the public health. However, the FDA fails to assure the safety and security of the products that we take for granted, such as the foods we consume each and every day. According to the article Playing God in the Garden by Michael Pollan stated that “The biotech industry, with the concurrence of the Food and Drug Administration, has decided we don 't need to know it, so biotech foods carry no identifying labels.” (1).Without the public knowledge, the FDA are allowing many of our food products to be genetically engineered and sold to the public without any reinforcement.

With an ever-growing population and the problems of world hunger, there has been a high demand for an increased food supply and a better food supply. Technology has been called upon to meet this challenge. The advent of genetically engineered foods, sometimes called transgenic crops or genetically modified foods, is not a new concept, but the controversy over it is. Can these "frankenfoods" be harmful to humans? What are their effects on the environment? The following paper will focus on such questions as well as providing a better understanding of what genetically modified foods are and how they should be regulated.