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Genetically Modified Food
GM Foods are genetically modified to have more appealing properties or to be more practical. Some traits that are modified are resistance to insects and disease while growing, delayed ripening, better color, or larger growth. While this is good for businesses, the practice is highly controversial within some circles. There are health and safety concerns surrounding these foods.
242 Questions
What are genetically modified mosquitoes?
Genetically modified mosquitoes are not like mosquitoes in nature. They have been genetically altered to possess a genetic kill switch, so when they mate with regular female mosquitoes, their offspring will not live.
So far they have been successful in killing off native populations.They do this when a certain population of them are carrying serious diseases that affect humans.
Can GMO seeds be heirloom seeds which you can plant over and over again?
No, GMO seeds cannot be heirloom seeds, and they cannot be saved from year to year to plant the following year. There are a few reasons for this: GMO seeds are transgenic (meaning a gene has been removed from one organism and inserted into another in a lab) and heirloom seeds are not transgenic, GMO seeds are patented and saving them from year to year is a violation of that patent whereas heirloom seeds can be saved for planting the following year, heirloom seeds have been grown for decades, often longer and GMO seeds were introduced fairly recently (1996 was the first commercially planted GMO crop).
What foods cannot be genetically modified?
Any food that comes from a plant, animal, or other living thing can be genetically modified.
Can soy products or GMO food and GMO fabrics cause a measles-looking rash that itches?
That is not known. While some claim new allergens may be created unintentionally during the process of genetic engineering, others claim that new allergens are not created. The best thing to do is visit your doctor to see if the rash is caused by something he or she can identify. If something is not identified, try to avoid GMO foods (not easy) and find out if the rash goes away. Though that would not prove it was caused by GMO foods, it certainly would make you feel and look better.
Why should people avoid eating foods that contain GMOs?
People should avoid eating GMO foods for many reasons, including:
- No long term human studies were done before GMO foods were released to consumers.
- Questionable regulation by the United States FDA, USDA, and EPA.
- Anecdotal evidence that GMO foods are harmful to human health.
- Though GMO crops were supposed to lessen chemical pesticides used on GMO crops, there are actually more herbicides being used on crops engineered to resist the herbicide Round-up. Now, more crops are being engineered to resist other, more toxic chemical herbicides.
- The bT varieties of GMO crops are designed to produce a substance that kills targeted insects when the plant is eaten, but that substance could be killing non-targeted insects and having ill effects on human health when people eat the crops.
- Long term studies on rats resulted in negative effects on their health, though each study that was done (and they were done by respected, independent scientists) was questioned by other scientists and government officials.
What is one potential danger of GMO modified food?
One potential danger of eating GMO crops is the possibility that they create or make existing health problems worse, though many claim scientific studies show this is not happening and anecdotal evidence shows it is.
Would you eat foods made from genetically modified crops?
If you eat processed foods, you are assured of eating at least some foods that contain GMOs. Some people have stopped eating processed foods because of that. Regardless of personal choice, though, even foods labeled 100% organic may contain small amounts of GMOs due to cross contamination of organically grown crops during growth, so it may not be a choice of whether to eat GMO foods, but how to reduce the amount of GMOs you are possibly eating.
To answer your question directly, I no longer eat corn, soy, canola, or foods that can be identified as containing any ingredients made from them. So, given the choice I would not eat foods made from GMO crops.
Why is the food and agriculture industry largely posed to labeling GMOs cloned foods?
We can only guess at what their motives are, but considering that it is estimated that 70% of the processed foods in grocery stores contain GMOs and the reaction that Europe had to GMO foods, it is reasonable to believe that they oppose labeling because they fear that labeling GMOs would severely hurt their sales.
Why have scientists used genetic modification on fruits and vegetables?
To make them taste better and improve their freshness.
Plants that have genetic modifications tends to have better chance of surviving and the product tends to be better than the original. However, some people think genetic modifications are wrong because the food hasn't been tested fully and may harm humans since the food isn't natural; there is little evidence to prove this.
Should companies be allowed to produce suicide seed?
Some people believe they should, but many others believe they shouldn't. It's really up to each individual to decide for themselves, but before doing so, they should research the subject from a variety of sources.
List of Genetically modified food in the Philippines?
I don't have a list yet but you can be pretty sure that snacks made with corn from the USA have GMO corn in them. I have read that about 97% of corn grown in the US is GMO. So, Cheetos, Doritos and other snacks imported from the US. You will need to discover the source of the corn which is in Philippine products such as Chippy. I read that GMO corn has been tested but I don't know if GMO corn is grown in the Philippines.
In the US GMO soybeans are also grown. So, be careful of imported soy ingredients.
See more about GMO at my blog: timotraveling.blogspot.com
Click on the GMO and Vegetarian tiles.
List the reasons you would or would not be concerned about eating genetically modified food?
Reasons I would be concerned about eating GMO foods:
- The FDA declaring them to be "substantially equivalent" to non-GMO foods amid controversy that adequate scientific testing had not been done.
- Michael Taylor being in the FDA when "substantial equivalence" was declared. Michael Taylor was a Monsanto employee before taking the position at the FDA.
- The technology itself of taking a gene from one species and inserting it into another species (horizontal breeding). While that may be perfectly harmless it is new technology that many believe has not been proven to be safe.
- Greater amounts of pesticides being used on GMO crops, which means more pesticides may be getting in our foods.
- Crops that are engineered to produce an insecticide in the plant itself possibly having harmful health effects on us. There is some evidence that this may be happening.
