The Pros And Cons Of Genetically Modified Foods

Human beings have a natural instinct to stay alive and healthy, but without proper knowledge of how food is being genetically modified, this might be causing the masses to be even farther away from total wellbeing. The health food industry is thriving, while American’s are begging to connect the links between the standard American diet (also known as SAD) to the epidemic of obesity, cancer and other illnesses. However, the lack of requirements set by the FDA to label genetically modified food in the US gives companies the ability to obscure its harmful ingredients with a sort of false advertising. In this paper I will explain how genetically modified food producers use biotechnology to manipulate plants genes and explaining why they were created

This technology is still experimental and, “ merges DNA from different species, creating unstable combinations of plant, animal, bacterial and viral genes that cannot occur in nature or in traditional crossbreeding” (Non-GMO Project). What makes genetically modification different from cross breeding or hybrids is the fact that GM inserts a, “bacteria or virus to artificially insert an entirely foreign DNA into a plant’s genes (GMO-Awareness). Changing the genetic make up of an organism essentially brings natural selection into the hands of scientists in a not so natural way. Using this process swaps genes with out Mother Nature deciding this evolutionary transition is necessary to occur. This genetic engineering can be used to alter "strawberries so that they stay fresh for longer, and rice can be genetically modified so that it has a higher vitamin content" (BioTech). Genetic modification can also be used to take a gene from a pesticide resistant bacterium and placing it into a plant, this would result in "the genetically modified plant also becomes able to withstand pesticides" (Bio Tech). This type of genetic modification was seen when papaya crops began to loose ability to produce fruit when contaminated with PRSV (papaya ring spot virus). Even though bugs that feed off of the papaya fruit spread PRSV from tree to tree, insecticide could

This lack of labeling and information makes it hard for a consumer to even recognize the destruction they could be doing to their bodies. Many other developed nations do not even consider genetically modified food as safe for consumption. Over 60 counties have actually banned GMOs, have forced labeling restrictions or set regulations on certain GMO imports such as maize. The short answer to why the FDA is not protecting the US from known harmful modified food is due to many ex-Monsanto executives running the food safety agency. If the FDA chooses to not have the best interest of the people’s safety then the best option is self-education. Knowing the common food that has been genetically modified and knowing what to look for, reading food ingredient labels can help you identify what shouldn't be put into the human