What do you know about GMOs (Genetically Modified Organisms)?
GMOs are foods (plant or animal) that have been genetically modified or “engineered” for various reasons including disease resistance and growth speed. Since GMOs were introduced in the early 1990s, they have rapidly proliferated the food supply around the globe.
Currently, up to 45 percent of U.S. corn is genetically engineered as is 85 percent of soybeans. It has been estimated that 70-75 percent of processed foods on supermarket shelves–from soda to soup, crackers to condiments–contain genetically engineered ingredients.
A number of studies over the past decade have revealed that genetically engineered foods can pose serious risks to humans, domesticated animals, wildlife and the environment. Human health effects can include higher risks of toxicity, allergenicity, antibiotic resistance, immune-suppression and cancer. – Center for Food Safety
Today many countries including Germany, France, Greece, Hungary and other EU countries have banned GMOs. Poor countries around the world have “rejected” GMO food aid. The United States, however, does not ban GMOs. And the FDA does not require food labeling, special testing, or independent studies for GMOs.
When the FDA was constructing their GMO policy in 1991-2, their scientists were clear that gene-sliced foods were significantly different and could lead to “different risks” than conventional foods. But official policy declared the opposite, claiming that the FDA knew nothing of significant differences, and declared GMOs substantially equivalent.
This fiction became the rationale for allowing GM foods on the market without any required safety studies whatsoever! The determination of whether GM foods were safe to eat was placed entirely in the hands of the companies that made them — companies like Monsanto, which told us that the PCBs, DDT, and Agent Orange were safe.
GMOs were rushed onto our plates in 1996. Over the next nine years, multiple chronic illnesses in the US nearly doubled — from 7% to 13%. Allergy-related emergency room visits doubled between 1997 and 2002 while food allergies, especially among children, skyrocketed. We also witnessed a dramatic rise in asthma, autism, obesity, diabetes, digestive disorders, and certain cancers.
– Huffington Post
As the four As (allergies, asthma, autism, and ADD) rapidly increase in U.S. health statistics, we must consider that GMOs could certainly be one of the causes. As a matter of fact, in a recent position paper by the American Academy of Environmental Medicine, physicians across the country called for a moratorium on GMO foods because “there is more than a casual association between GM foods and adverse health effects.” – Treehugger
A group of leading doctors has warned the public to avoid genetically modified food and GMOs (Genetically Modified Organisms). A revealing press release from this group of concerned physicians states, “The American Academy of Environmental Medicine (AAEM) today released its position paper on Genetically Modified foods stating that ‘GM foods pose a serious health risk’ and calling for a moratorium on GM foods.” – Examiner.com
“The available evidence is sufficient to support a moratorium on the massive intake of GM crops by human populations until the genetic consequences are resolved in the laboratory.” – Dr. Joe Cummins, Emeritus Professor of Genetics, University of Western Ontario, Canada
For more information, here’s an article from a doctor who attended a 2009 medical conference and a site with helpful Q and A about GMOs.
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I enjoyed this article because it’s really well written! I like to educate myself about healthy food, as well as not-so-healthy foods (that I can avoid), but I often find that it’s difficult to understand what the writer is saying, since it’s a complex subject. But I could follow through your article and I learned a lot! Thank you!
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