Genetically Modified Organisms-or GMOs for short- have been under the scope by many consumer advocate groups mainly due to the overgrowing concern regarding the safety of consuming such products. The issues regarding GMOs has brought up the debate of whether it should be mandatory to label GMOs for the consumer to see or not. According to consumer advocate groups GMOs should be labeled in order to support a free market, the local agriculture and to gain the customer's trust. On the other hand, large companies believe that GMOs should not be labeled for the following reasons: they might scare consumers, GM foods have the same nutritional value as non-GM products and the use of biotechnology may be shunned. The reason why GMOs are frowned upon …show more content…
However, considering everything, labelling GMOs seems like the best choice to make. The companies who are against GMO labelling claim that by labelling GMOs, GM-foods will be alienated. However, to counter this argument, every person is entitled to know what is in his/her food, especially in countries as free as Canada and America. To further support this point, almost all the countries in Europe label GMOs and despite that GMOs are not alienated. By labelling GM foods, people will be more trusting of the company since the company is showing that they respect the consumer and care about his/her well being. Some companies may say that by labelling GMOs, the use of biotechnology will be shunned. However, this argument is not sound, because biotechnology can have multiple uses on top of allowing for GMO production. For example, in medicine biotechnology is used when creating new drugs to battle diseases. By labelling GMOs, the local agriculture will be supported and essential insects such as bees and butterflies can successfully pollinate without having to worry about insecticides as much. Labelling is cheap and a lot of people support it, a study shows that 9/10 americans want GMOs to be labeled. Despite what companies may say or claim, at the end of the day, the health of people and the environment are much more important than making money, and by labelling GMOs, both the environment and people will be
The battle over whether food with GMOs should be labeled as such or not, continuez in The Battle Over GMOs by Alessandra Potenza illustrates what a GMO is and why they need to be labeled. First of all GMO stands for genetically modified organism, meaning GMOs are organisms that have been genetically modified to include a gene from another species to produce a certain trait. The reason that some people are very upset at the whole GMO thing is because some companies that include GMOs in their products are refusing to label the fact that they use GMOs. Outrage has sparked everywhere over this and people are demanding that companies using GMOs in their products must label them. The companies on the other hand are claiming that they have a right to privacy and are claiming that the FDA, which stands for Food and Drug Administration, have approved the GMO usage in their products.. This reader believes that we the people have a right to know what is in our food and decide if we still want to consume it.
A GMO is a genetically modified organism that goes through the process of genetic engineering. This is when genes of one organism are extracted, altered, and then artificially placed into another organism to then grow. We typically see GMOs in the food we consume every day. These foods include fruits and vegetables, however the most common organisms that are genetically engineered include, corn, soy, and cotton. It is ultimately the unnatural cross breeding of plants, animals, bacteria, and virus genes (Non-GMO Project). But now why is there a debate for placing a label to notify consumers of GMOs in their foods? Do we know the potential harm that GMOs can cause? We have the right to know what we are putting into our bodies and what is found in our everyday foods.
Many food companies frown upon the idea of having to put labels on their foods because consumers will not want their product if their are too many GMOs in the product. If food companies were forced to put GMO labels on their products they may feel inclined to put less GMO in their products to cause consumer happiness. With labels on the food products consumers will feel more confident with their purchase to consume that food. Which would cause sales to fly through the roof for many food companies, especially organic food companies. GMO labeling influences consumer behavior, “...the majority of supermarket employees believed that the presence of non-GMO labeling influenced consumer behavior in some way, with 52.9% reporting that it impacted all consumers, 17.6% asserting that it mattered to those who were knowledgeable and interested in food without genetic modification, and only 5.9% feeling that their clientele would not be interested because of its demographics.” (Wunderlich). According to a survey done by Wunderlich, Gatto and Mangano where they investigate the current Genetically Modified Organism (GMO) and organic labeling policies and to determine the impact on consumer choice. They found: “There is a need for clearer labeling policies regarding GMO foods. If GMO foods were labeled more clearly, consumers would be able to make more educated purchasing decisions and
For thousands of years, humans have been genetically enhancing other organisms through the process of selective breeding. Polls indicate alarm over the contamination of everyday foods. Americans are especially concerned about Genetically Modified Organisms. So, are they good or not? According to NewsELA, PRO/CON: Is it time to label GMO foods? GMO foods? Andrew Pollackmay's "Genetically Engineered Crops are Safe, Analysis Finds", and Janet Renee's "Benefits you get from a GMO" they talk about the merits and the demerits of GMO crops. GMOs are plant or animal products that have been reengineered in a lab. Scientists use the DNA of bacteria,
Many will argue that Genetically Modified Organisms(GMOs) are not safe for human consumption, however they are almost inevitable for our everyday food consumption. Some argue that the recent increase in gluten intolerance is caused by GMO foods (Argument against). Other state that the risk to humans by GMO’s is relatively small (The GMO”). The bottom line is what people put into their bodies is a personal choice and a person should be able to easily tell if a product has been genetically modified or not.
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 debate over genetically modified foods continues to haunt producers and consumers alike. Genetically modified organisms (GMOs) are foods that have been modified through bioengineering to possess certain characteristics. These plants have been modified in the laboratory to enhance traits such as increased resistance to herbicides or increased nutritional content (Whitman, 2000). The debate continues to grow as to whether these genetically altered foodstuffs are the answer to hunger in the coming years, or whether we are simply children playing with something that we do not have the capacity to understand. One of the biggest debates in the GMO issue is whether producers need to use labeling of
The advancement of technology has allowed our generation to genetically modify food for what is believed to be beneficial to consumers. The environmental and health effects of genetically modified foods have generated controversy about whether these foods are safe. With such advances, the use of genetically modified food is expanding, even though they 're unlabeled. Genetically modified foods should be labeled because of the possible health, environmental, and economic risks. Once a consumer knows what they are paying for, it is fair to produce and market such foods.
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
Do you find the labels on your favorite snacks to be helpful to most consumers? Many would answer this question yes, and argue that labels contain important information that all buyers should know for health or safety reasons. While this is true, this argument should not apply to GMO labeling. GMOs, of genetically modified organisms, are foods with altered genes from biotechnological techniques. They are used to help foods to be preserved, or prevent certain pests from eating or infecting them, or even to have other desired and beneficial traits. While many may disagree, including use of these GMOs on food labels is completely ineffective. They make GMOs appear to be foreign and dangerous. There are already organic foods for those who are suspicious of genetically altered foods that cause harm. These labels would also make buyers spend more money down the road. A bill to label GMOs would cause multiple issues for producers and buyers everywhere.
GMOs should be labelled when being sold. After reading up on the facts and understanding both sides of the argument, my opinion is that it is up to the consumers to determine how to feel. They can be in love with GMOs or can absolutely despise them. The consumers can make that decision for themselves. I think GMOs should be labelled to give those consumers a choice. If they are not labelled, people won’t know what they are buying. It might be okay for those that do not think GMOs are inferior to organic plants. It will only affect the people that dislike them. A lack of labels results in a lack of choice, and therefore makes the decision for the consumer. No matter how healthy or great for the environment GMOs are, people should still be given a choice on whether or not to buy them. If a person is opposed to GM foods and only buys organic and traditionally bred foods, they should know if they are about to buy a GM product. A label will not harm the product in any way, shape, or form. If anything, it will be beneficial to the people who are buying them. The main reason companies don’t want to label their GMO products is because “Companies selling GMOs don't want their products labeled for fear of stigmatizing their products and losing customers.” Those thoughts should be put aside in favor of the
Should genetically modified foods be labeled? Some think GMOs are completely safe and labeling the food would prove unnecessary and will make food increase in price, while others believe we have a right to know everything in the food the population consume. Nearly all processed food sold in the United States were genetically modified in a lab. GMOs are often used to achieve a certain trait, such as drought tolerance, enhanced nutritional content, insect resistance, and reduced food waste. More than 15 countries have stated labeling genetically modified foods, starting with the Europe Union in 1997. While GMOs can be used for positive reasons, but can have a negative effect (list negative effects of GMOs). This paper will explain side with
Genetically modified crops are a controversial issue to many people. GMO’s have both pros and cons. Due to increasing demand for food genetically modified crops have been more effective because they are designed to produce more yield and be pest resistance. Some downfalls of GMO’s are that they decrease biodiversity and the long term effects of GMO’s are still unknown. I believe that genetically modified foods should be labeled, because people have the right to know what is in the foods they are eating. If the GMO foods are labeled then people have the opportunity to decide for themselves if they want to eat genetically modified crops. Many consumers want to buy healthy foods at the grocery store so they go out of their way to buy local
GMO’S are genetically modified organism that lots of farmers are starting to use. Personally I do not agree with gmos because they can harm our environment and they aren’t the safest thing on planet earth. Although I do understand that gmos are in almost everything we eat I am still against it.
GMO stands for a genetically modified organism. Through the use of biotechnology, we are able to produce genetically modified crops that are resistant to disease, have better yields, have more bio-available nutrients, etc. The first genetically modified crop was planted in the 1994 and today, approximately ten percent of the world’s agricultural fields are genetically modified (Chassy, Parrott, and Ruff, 2015). However, there is global controversy over if there are harmful affects of consuming foods that have been genetically modified in some way and how those foods should be labeled. In the United States, it is not required to label foods that contain any GMO’s. Europe has a large consumer push for the right to know what is in their food and because of this, the Europe Commission has passed labeling laws for GMO’s containing or not containing foods.