Engineered Food
You might have heard the word GMO used to describe the produce you buy at the grocery store. This begs the question: "What exactly is a GMO?" GMO stands for genetically modified organism, meaning it is any sort of plant or animal that has been artificially and genetically modified to have different traits. One prominent example is the sugar beet, as around 95% of sugar beets in the US are made to be resistant to glyphosate, which isn’t a trait found naturally in sugar beets. In most cases, crops are genetically modified for the benefit of both the consumers of the plants and the convenience of farmers.
Before we dive into the world of GMOs, let’s go through the abbreviations for some organizations that will be referred to often.
- FDA: Food and Drug Administration
- USDA: United States Department of Agriculture
- EPA: Environmental Protection Agency
- WHO: World Health Organization
- FAO: Food and Agriculture Organization
According to the FDA, most GMOs go through a similar process in the lab. First, scientists identify the trait or gene that they wish for other organisms to possess, for example resistance to pesticides, or not bruising as easily. Then, scientists copy this trait and then insert the copied gene into another organism which becomes genetically modified. After the gene is inserted into the organism, the final step is to grow the organism, whether it’s in a farm or a greenhouse. After this, there is a highly likely chance that the organism is genetically modified, and then it goes through a strict monitoring process to ensure that it is safe for human consumption.
The process of genetically modifying organisms has gone on for many years since the creation of the first human insulin in 1973. Furthermore, the first crop that was genetically modified in the US was the Flavr Savr Tomato created and sold to consumers in 1994. After that, the growing and selling of genetically modified crops has only dramatically increased, as proven by the USDA, which claims that the adoption of genetically modified crops in the USA has grown significantly from the years 1994 to 2020. Furthermore, the USDA has determined that as of 2020, 55% of US crops had at least one genetically modified trait, which demonstrates the extent that genetically modified crops have grown in America.
With the increase in the production of genetically modified crops, government restrictions have also been on the rise. Genetically modified crops go through strict regulations to ensure that everything is safe and proper for human consumption. In fact, the FDA, the EPA, and the USDA are all in charge of inspecting GMOs, albeit they focus on various aspects regarding these altered crops.
FDA:
- Ensures GMO crops or foods with GMO ingredients meet strict safety standards
-
Set and enforce safety standards for those who...
- Produce
- Process
- Store
- Ship
- Sell
... genetically modified foods
EPA:
-
Regulates safety of the substances that protect GMO plants
- Plant-incorporated protectants (PIPs)
- Includes pesticides
USDA:
- Sets regulations to ensure that GMO crops do not harm other plants
- Focuses on the agricultural aspect of GMOs
- Ensures there is no cross contamination
It is also important to note that GMOs are a very specific kind of organism and methods such as traditional cross-breeding and cross pollination do not create GMOs, contrary to popular belief. These processes have happened for centuries, and do not require any lab work. In fact, traditional cross breeding is simply taking different plants or animals with good traits and breeding them together, while cross pollination is simply pollinating certain plants that have good traits and hoping that the next generation of crops will show the same characteristics.
Although many studies have been shown that prove that GMOs are healthy, many people are still hesitant or extremely against GMOs, mainly due to the lack of information readily available to the general public. Before anyone makes definitive decisions on what they choose to consume, they should make sure that they have factual, unbiased opinions. While conjecture may be prevalent, especially with social media, people should take the time to properly understand what each label on their food is saying!