GMOs: What We Know Today

By Ignacio Chavez     

GMO's are said to cause cancer, autism, allergies and even obesity. Although biotechnology companies and scientists have refuted many of these claims, public fear and ignorance continues to take the spotlight.

What are GMO foods?

GMO stands for Genetically Modified Organism. This includes genetic modification that occurs through breeding and domestication of plants and animals. What the public has grown to fear today is the use of Genetically Engineered Organisms involving the insertion of genes from other species into our crops (Transgenesis).                                                                                       

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The image on the left demonstrates how we have genetically modified the wild mustard plant (Brassica Oleracea) into the many vegetables that we love today. Of course this process of genetic modification did not involve genetic engineering or transgenesis, but nonetheless demonstrates that the modification of organisms for desirable traits is nothing new.

To this day there is no significant evidence that demonstrates that GMOs are harmful to human health. In fact, a metastudy that examined over 1700 peer reviewed studies indicates there is no harmful effect of GMOs on human health. A review of 29 years of livestock health and productivity statistics also indicate that GMO feed is just as safe and nutritious as its non GMO counterpart. However, just because GMO consumption has not proven to be harmful to our health, it does not mean that the production of GMOs goes without consequence.

The Big Problem With GMO Crops

One of the main arguments for GMO crops is that herbicide resistant crops help reduce the amount of pesticides used. According to a study from the Environmental Sciences Europe Journal, pesticide use in the United States has increased by 404 million pounds of pesticide from 1996-2011. This number was obtained from the USDA database after taking the reduction of insecticide use (127 million pounds) into account. This increased use of herbicide has created new herbicide resistant pests (glyphosate resistant weeds) that have resulted from the use of Roundup. As a result, farmers must now use additional and different types of pesticide to protect their crops. This increase in pesticide use can have a detrimental effect on the environment and just like other non-organic foods, pesticide contamination is expected.

What does this mean for us as Consumers?                                                

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The majority of GMO crops are commodity crops and are therefore usually limited to being present in processed foods and animal products. There are very few whole foods you can purchase that are GMOs, these include corn, beets, summer squash, zucchini and papaya.

Now I want you to stop and think for a second. Since processed foods contain GMO products in the forms of oils, high fructose corn syrup and other food additives, could it be that the negative health associations with GMOs may actually be due to the consumption of processed foods?

Some of you may still be wondering, "What about food related allergies that can be attributed to the new proteins found in GMO foods"? In 2014 during a webinar, Gregory Jaffe, director of the Center for Science in the Public Interests Biotechnology Project explained that only oil and sugars are extracted from the GMOs and therefore there is no presence of GMO protein in the foods.

If you wish to avoid GMO foods look for the USDA Organic or NON GMO Project Verified labels. It is important to know that by definition organic foods are also GMO free. However, if a food is non GMO it does not mean that it is organic. You will also want to avoid processed foods and focus on eating more whole foods except for the few listed above.

Final Thoughts

Ultimately it is up to you to decide whether or not you wish to consume GMO foods. GMO foods have shown to be safe for human consumption but there are consequences that go beyond human health that need to be addressed. 

GMOs have a great potential to do a lot of good in this world. The best example is golden rice. Golden rice is a genetically engineered version of rice that is high in Vitamin A and has the potential to prevent blindness in individuals suffering from Vitamin A deficiency around the world. Unfortunately, revolutionary projects such as golden rice have yet to be successful. 

Perhaps if GMOs had been better explained in the past or if biotechnology companies focused less on making a profit with genetically modified commodity crops, then we would see a lot more good being done in this area and less people would be as afraid of GMOs as they are today.