Abstract
The production of foods with genetically modified organisms (GMOs) has risen rapidly over the past three decades to comprise nearly 90% of crops grown in the United States today. Currently, there are no mandates for labeling foods containing GMOs. GMO agricultural crops contain the insertion of genes encoding for pesticides, pesticide resistance, growth factors, or other substances not normally present. In addition to the foreign genes that are inserted, hundreds to thousands of mutations disrupt normal genes in GMO plants. Recently, animal studies have demonstrated toxicity of GMO foods causing organ failure, infertility, carcinomas and death. The FDA requirement of ingredients added to foods be labeled on the product is not applied to GMO foods, precluding the consumer’s right to know. GMOs provide an economic incentive to companies because the seeds can be patented, driving up costs and creating the potential for monopolies. Herbicide-resistance conferred by GMOs has resulted in higher pesticide applications, which correlate with higher human cancer rates, and the emergence of pesticide-resistant weeds and insects. GMO toxins are spreading into to non-target insects, waterways and aquatic organisms, with toxicity to non-target organisms and resultant contamination of disparate ecosystems in the food chain. The appropriateness of mandatory GMO labeling of foods in the United States is discussed.
Highlights
According to the United States Department of Agriculture, nearly ninety percent of the foods ingested in the United States (US) are produced with genetically modified organisms (GMOs) as shown in Figure 1 [1]
Herbicide-resistance conferred by GMOs has resulted in higher pesticide applications, which correlate with higher human cancer rates, and the emergence of pesticide-resistant weeds and insects
GMO use in agricultural crops has risen rapidly to comprise the vast majority of crops grown in the US, such that they are present in up to 90% of US foods
Summary
The safety of these seeds has not been rigorously tested, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has determined that these antibiotic and exogenous gene-instilled foods are “substantially equivalent” to non-GMO foods, meaning that the composition of the transgenic food does not differ from the natural variety in a “meaningful way” [5,6,7,8]. On this basis, GMO labeling is currently not required in the US, which means that consumers are not informed when foods contain GMOs. A number of animal studies have demonstrated toxicity of GMO foods. The published reports of GMO toxicity, the rapid widespread implementation of GMOs, the lack of established long-term safety, the consumer’s right to know and the near monopoly in GMO seed production provide compelling arguments for mandatory labeling of GMO-containing foods in the US
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