Do You Know What You Are Eating?

What you don’t know about your food may or may not harm you.  The jury is still out.  Do you know what genetically engineered foods are?  You should – 7 out of 10 items in the grocery store contain genetically modified ingredients.  Know the facts.

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Many packaged and processed foods contain genetically modified ingredients, but manufactures are not required to disclose that on the product’s label.  How are consumers to know what they are purchasing?  Is that information we are entitled to know as consumers?

When someone mentions the word “Genetically Modified Food” it is natural to cringe a little because it sounds so artificial.  Is it safe to consume?  Is it doing damage to the environment?  Surprisingly, very few studies have been conducted to answer either of those questions.  And the studies that have been conducted have produced mixed results.

CBSNews.com reports that nearly 65% of foods found on supermarket shelves contain GMO’s (genetically modified organisms), such as those that contain the ingredients soybean oil and corn syrup.

Government health organizations in Europe, Japan, and Australia all require that food manufactures provide a list any genetically modified ingredients on the labels of food products sold to consumers.  Currently the United States does not have any such requirement for food manufacturers. The best thing for consumers to do is to learn the facts about genetically modified foods, since majority of us are consuming them, and know where you stand when the argument does arise.  It is only a matter of time.

Why modify the genetics of food?

The World Health Organization defines Genetically Modified Organisms as, “Organisms in which the genetic material (DNA) has been altered in a way that does not occur naturally.  It allows selected individual genes to be transferred from one organism into another, also between non-related species.”

GMO’s are produced because they deliver a perceived benefit – to the food producers, consumers, or both.  Foods that contain genetically modified organisms are more resilient and resistant to diseases caused by insects and viruses.  Scientists have also been working on ways to engineer the genetics of traditional foods in order to increase the nutritional value and taste of the food.

By creating a more resilient generation of crops, food growers have to throw away less waste and diseased plants and are able to use smaller quantities of insecticides to fight disease, therefore lowering the cost of the crops they sell to food manufacturers.  In turn, food manufacturers can pass along the savings to the consumer.

Genetic Engineering of plants has allowed scientists to bypass the rather tedious and time consuming process of traditional breeding of plants, which can produce mixed, and many times unsuccessful results.

One example of a good use of genetically engineered foods is the ability to isolate the good traits in plants, such as being drought tolerant, by finding the gene inside the plant responsible for that characteristic.  That gene can then be removed from said plant and inserted into another plant without that gene, therefore causing the genetically engineered plant to be more tolerant to drought than it was prior to receiving the gene.

What has many activists and politicians up in arms is not the process of transferring genes from one plant to another but the transfer of non-plant genes into a plant.  The origin or exact makeup of these non-plant genes is not always apparent to anyone other than the scientist doing the genetic engineering of the plant and the company manufacturing the newly modified plant.

Is there harm in consuming genetically modified foods?

Many countries require a rigorous risk assessment of foods that are being produced by less traditional breeding techniques.

Potential risks to human health caused by GM organisms and GM foods are determined by the following:

1. Direct health effects and potential toxicity
2. Tendencies to provoke allergic reaction
3. Specific components thought to have nutritional or toxic properties
4. Nutritional effects associated with genetic modification
5. The stability of the inserted gene
6. Any unintended effects which could result from the gene insertion.

Each GM organism contains a different gene that can be inserted in a different way. This means it is essential for each GM food to be assessed on a case-by-case basis in order to ensure it is safe for human or animal consumption.  The GM foods available on the international market have been thoroughly assessed and meet the safety requirements of the government under which they were produced.

According to the World Health Organization,”No effects on human health have been shown as a result of the consumption of such foods [GM foods] by the general population in the countries where they have been approved.”

The Campaign, a grassroots nonprofit organization committing to change US law, requiring food manufacturers to make known to consumers on food labels whether or not a product contains GM foods, believes that GM foods could cause a,  “serious risk to human health”, according to their website.  The Campaign goes on to list five (5) ways in which GM foods may be harmful:

• Lack of significant studies as to whether or not GM foods are harmful to humans
• GM foods may trigger allergic reactions in consumers
• Genetic engineering (GE) may create new toxins and introduce them to the human blood stream
• GE may lead to the resistance of antibiotics
• GE may cause a resurgence of infectious diseases

Not to mention the environmental issues that genetically engineered foods may create.  These issues are outlined on The Campaign’s website with detailed descriptions for each charge.

With little known by the general public about GE foods and GM foods there are things about which to be concerned.

The importance of genetically modified foods

Many benefits of genetically modified (GM) foods have been brought to light by their proponents.  One argument that is frequently used is that we are creating plants that will undoubtedly be able to supply a growing population with food for decades to come.  And this argument does not come without merit.  The US Census Bureau projects that the global population will continue to rise by more than 1 Billion people per decade between now and 2050.  Therefore, by 2050 there will be almost 10 Billion inhabitants on earth, each consuming perishable resources.

Scientists argue that under such conditions, creating a food source that is able to withstand elements such as:

• Pests
• Viruses and disease
• Drought
• Freezing Temperatures

while still providing a high nutritional value will become ever more vital.

According to the CSA not all GE plants are used for food.  As soil and groundwater pollution become a large concern in many parts of the world, “Plants such as poplar trees have been genetically engineered to clean up heavy metal pollution from contaminated soil.”  Many scientists, pharmaceutical companies and bio engineers are looking for additional ways to apply the techniques of the genetic engineering of plants to improve the quality of life of people around the world.

How to know if your food has been genetically altered.

It is estimated that 7 out of every 10 items at the grocery store have been genetically modified or contain GE ingredients.  With such a high volume of products that have either been modified or contain modified ingredients one must be a savvy consumer in order to spot the products that do.  Many people do not care, but the number of those that do is on the rise.

One way to ensure that your food does not contain GM or GE ingredients is to shop at organic grocery stores such as Whole Foods or a local farmers market.  However, an entire organic diet for an individual or a family of 4 can get pricey.  Many large chain grocery stores have begun to carry a small selection of organic foods at only a slightly higher cost.  But many people speculate that even organic foods may sometimes carry small amounts of GE ingredients as they are becoming increasing difficult to avoid.

When selecting fruits and vegetables there is one way to tell whether the food was grown by traditional means, organic means, or whether it has been altered genetically.  You can tell by looking at the sticker placed on the fruit or vegetable by the grower:

If the sticker has only four (4) digits (such as 4593) the product was grown by traditional means.
If the sticker has five (5) digits and the number begins with a “9″ (such as 94726) then the product was grown by organic means.
If the sticker has five (5) digits and the number begins with an “8″ (such as 83625) then the product is a GM product.

The primary items being grown in a genetically altered state are:

• Soybeans
• Corn (maize)
• Cantaloupe
• Tomatoes

With little research currently being conducted into the safety or toxicity that GE foods will have on human health and the environment it may e some time before the truth is revealed.  Until then growers will continue growing GE foods and food manufacturers will continue using GE ingredients in their foods.

Before long food manufacturers may be required by law to inform consumers on the label of ingredients whether or not that product contains GE foods.

Since the World Health Organization (WHO) reports that there have been no cases of harm caused to humans or animals and very little harm caused to the environment since the first use of GE foods in the early 1990’s a thorough review of the US GE foods program is slow in coming.

There is currently no perceived harm in the consumption of GE foods, but as the modification techniques are enhanced and larger quantities of these plants are grown that may soon change.  Regulations by the federal government will be put in place on the growing and importing of GE foods, and the potential benefits of GE foods cannot be overlooked.