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Genetically Modified Foods -
Good or Bad?

Genetically modified foods (GMO) seem to be in the news a lot lately. But do you know what they are?

In 1994 the first genetically modified food was approved for sale, the “Flavr Savr” tomato.

The term usually refers to plants created for human or animal consumption by using molecular biology techniques. The plants have been modified in the laboratory to enhance certain desired traits such as enhanced nutritional content or increased resistance to herbicides. This often involves gene splicing, such as transferring Bacillus thuringiensis (B.t.) genes into corn or other crops to cause those crops to produce their own pesticides against insects.

You may wonder if this is safe for you and your family to eat. It is a controversial issue, with numerous concerns being expressed about possible GMO effects on human health and the environment.

Possible Advantages

Proponents of genetically modified foods assert that these are some of the possible advantages:

Resistance to plant pests.
Herbicide tolerance, so only the weeds would be affected by the herbicide, thus requiring less herbicide use.
Disease resistance.
Drought, saline, and cold tolerance.
Nutrition; for example, creating a strain of “golden rice” that contains high amounts of beta-carotene to help prevent blindness due to vitamin A deficiency in third world countries.
Pharmaceuticals. Researchers are trying to develop edible vaccines in tomatoes and potatoes to overcome special storage and delivery conditions for vaccines in third world countries.
Pollution Cleanup. Some plants, such as poplar trees, have been genetically engineered to clean up heavy metal pollution in contaminated soil.

Criticisms against Genetically Modified Foods

Environmental:

Potential harm to other organisms. “Nature” published a study showing that pollen from B.t. corn caused high mortality rates in monarch butterfly caterpillars.
Gene transfer to non-target plants. Monsanto has filed lawsuits against farmers who may have harvested Monsanto’s patented GMO crops that grew in the farmers’ fields and had been cross-pollinated by wind drift from adjacent GMO-planted fields.

Human Health Risks:

Allergies. There is concern that splicing a gene into a plant may create a new allergen in susceptible people.
Unknown effects on human health. There is concern that placing foreign genes in food plants may have unexpected and negative impact on human health.

Economic Concerns:

Agri-biotech companies want to make a profit on GMO food plants and have patented many of them. Naturally, patent infringement is a big concern of theirs. Consumer advocates worry that patenting these new plants will raise the price of seeds so high that small farmers and third world countries will be unable to afford the seeds, thus widening even more the gap between the wealthy and the poor.

How Can You Tell if a Food is Genetically Modified?

David Wolfe in The Sunfood Diet Success System writes that all conventional papayas are now genetically modified. He goes on to say that organic foods are not genetically modified.

So, that’s one way: Consider the advantages of organic food and... Buy organic foods.

Another way is to check the PLU code. Do you know what that is? The PLU (product look-up) code appears on the little sticky label found on produce.

Conventionally grown produce - numbers that begin with 3 or 4 and are four digits long.
Organically grown produce - four digits with a 9 at the beginning, for a total of five digits.
Genetically modified fruits and vegetables - five-number PLU codes with an 8 at the beginning.

So, for example, a genetically modified banana would be 84011, an organic banana would be 94011, and a conventionally grown banana would be 4011.

I admit that I have a natural and educated bias against GMO foods. But because the issue is controversial, I've tried to present each side's arguments in a fair manner. However, I choose to end with some comments that support my own opinion.

Deborah B. Whitman wrote on the website http://www.nal.usda.gov http://www.nal.usda.gov:

Environmental activists, religious organizations, public interest groups, professional associations and other scientists and government officials have all raised concerns about GM foods, and criticized agribusiness for pursuing profit without concern for potential hazards, and the government for failing to exercise adequate regulatory oversight. It seems that everyone has a strong opinion about GM foods. Even the Vatican and the Prince of Wales have expressed their opinions.

This website (http://www.cqs.com/50harm.htm) offers a long list of possible dangers of genetically modified foods. I know that I'm going to avoid them whenever possible.

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