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Currently, foods containing GMOs that have made it to the marketplace-often referred to by their manufactures as “value - added foods”-include soy, corn, yellow crookneck squash, potatoes, cotton, tomatoes and dairy products. At this time, there is no mandatory labeling or disclosure of the majority of these foods required by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA).
The cold-resistant gene found in flounder, which is currently being inserted into certain tomatoes to make them frost-resistant, didn’t find its way there through a natural selection process. It was put there by genetic engineers who believe they are improving upon nature. Opponents of biotechnology fear that we’re playing in an arena where we don’t understand the rules.
Not only is this a very powerful technology, it’s one that isn’t fully controlled. There can be very serious negative side effects that can damage or threaten either human health or the environment. Genetic engineers can splice genes, but they can’t do it with super precision - so there is a certain random kind of error that can occur in the whole process, creating mutations that can damage the functioning of an organism or alter its function in unpredictable ways.
There are numerous concerns about genetic engineering. Most range from the potential for gene pollution and a decrease in nutritional value to the possibility of the inadvertent creation of food allergens or toxins.
The consequence of gene pollution is considered by many to be one of the most serious problems. Genetically engineered plants are living things. You can’t isolate them . Putting a fence around a field containing GE plants, doesn’t prevent them from interacting with the environment . Once they’re released into the environment, you can’t recall them like you can a car with a defective suspension system. It’s out there - it’s a self-propagating organism, and the problem that come along with that GE organism will continue as long as it propagates.
Evidence of GE plants migrating into outside fields already exists in areas of Canada, where canola genetically engineered to be herbicide-resistant is sprouting up in adjacent fields and neighboring farms -where it was not planed.
Nutritional value is a second major concern. Today’s labeling practices offer no way for consumers to determine how long fresh products - such as squash, potatoes and tomatoes - have been sitting in the grocer’s produce bin. In the case of fresh foods engineered to extend shelf life, this difficulty would increase , leading to the question of counterfeit freshness - and contributing to concerns that an increased shelf life might have a detrimental effect on a product’s nutritional integrity.
The transfer of allergens is the third major issue. There is evidence that allergens may be transferred during the process of genetically modifying a variety of plants. For instance, a product altered to contain a vaccine could pose a problem for someone allergic to components of that vaccine.
There are genes being put into the food supply that have never been in the food supply before. Genes from petunias, for example, have been put into some soy beans, and petunias are not typical source of food for humans.
Safety testing of GE foods is at the discretion of the USDA, the FDA and the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). It’s system that relies largely on studies presented by the companies who manufacture the GE foods they’re seeking to market.
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