The Dangers of Genetically Modified Foods

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Recommended: Genetic engineering and its implications

Could it be that there are dirty little secrets lurking inside the foods you put on your table? “Do you really know what’s inside the tomato you just put on your salad? Do you care to know if that cheeseburger you just ate is not infused with liquid nitrogen?” There are no notices, no warnings and most definitely no labels. Genetically modified food (GMF, GM Crops, or Bio-Food) are the norm in America today. Some even say we are just another Human Experiment for our American Government. While others claim if it weren't for scientists and their experiments we would never have discovered genetics and DNA.

Today, fresh food staples such as corn, rice, tomatoes, potatoes, squash, papaya, cantaloupe, flax, radishes, sugar beets, canola, soybeans and pigs are genetically altered without any specific testing required by the FDA. And approximately all other processed foods anywhere from a 60 – 70 percent are modified. This wasn't the case when your parents or grandparents were kids. Yet, organically grown foods are put under strict scrutiny by the USDA and labeled “Organic.” Is America’s only option in purchasing foods that have not been genetically modified to buy Organics, which by definition cannot be produced with GE ingredients? This is a compelling and complicated topic in the Agricultural Biotechnology world with both positive and negative possibilities on either side of this issue.

Through my discovery diving into the genetically modified world I begin to gain a better understanding for the reasons that began the "modified" food debate. I wonder, if through the creation of genetically modified foods, there is and will continue to be ample food supply to feed the world or are these the new designer food...

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Raab, C., and D. Grobe. 2003. Labeling genetically engineered food: The consumer’s right to know?, AgBio Forum, vol. 6, no. 4, www.agbioforum.org/.

Byrne, P.. "Labeling of Genetically Engineered Foods."Food and Nutrition Series Sep. 2010: n. pag. Colorado State University. Web. 12 Mar. 2011.

"Fact Sheet on the 1946-1948 U.S. Public Health Service Sexually Transmitted Diseases (STD) Inoculation Study."United States Department of Health and Human Services. N.p., n.d. Web. 13 Mar. 2011.
Bohman, Valerie. "Supplementary information."Federal Register 76.41 (2011): 11483. Department of Health and Human Services. Web. 2 Mar. 2011

"How to Avoid Genetically Modified Foods - wikiHow."wikiHow - The How-to Manual That You Can Edit. N.p., n.d. Web. 19 Mar. 2011. .

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