Genetically modified foods have been around for years, but most people have no idea if they are eating them.
There’s much confusion about genetically modified foods and their safety.
Genetically modified foods are plants or animals that have had genes copied from other plants or animals inserted into their DNA.
What’s different about genetically modified or engineered foods is that the manipulation is done in a lab. Engineers don’t need to wait for nature to produce a desired gene. They speed up the process by transferring a gene from one plant or animal to another.
The vast majority of scientific research has found genetically engineered foods to be generally safe.
An Italian scientist’s review of 10 years of research, published in 2013, concluded that the scientific research conducted so far has not detected “any significant hazard directly connected with the use of GM crops.”
Though what we are eating now appears safe, the main concerns for the future would be new genetically engineered foods, from the United States or abroad, that somehow become allergenic or toxic through the engineering process.
There are clear benefits for the agricultural industry.
So far, most modified foods have been grown to resist chemicals, pests or disease. But advocates envision engineering crops to make them more nutritious as well. Food animals have been engineered to be bred to be free of diseases, be cleaner in their environments or grow more efficiently.
