Genetically Modified Foods Are Safe for Human Consumption - Essay Example

Genetically Modified Foods are Safe for Human Consumption Narrative Food security remains a major issue across the world. Whereas America enjoys abundance of food, there are many other people from around the world who lack food. In a grocery store, I usually see people keen on reading the labels of food packages, trying to identify whether they are genetically modified or not. Fortunately, it is required that food products be labeled to show whether they are genetically modified. As these shoppers go around reading labels, I see them leave behind foods that appear highly nutritious just because they are genetically modified. This follows the fear that genetically modified organisms, GMOs could negatively affect their health. On the other hand, when I shop for food, I always look out for the best quality. I have always believed that the higher the quality of food eaten, the better the health. Thus, I do not compromise on the quality of the foods I select from the grocery store. I would choose that corn, soy or sugar beets regardless of whether it is genetically modified or not. As such, I could have eaten genetically modified foods for over five years since I started shopping for my food, appreciating the observation by Smith that over 60% of processed foods sold in America have genetically modified ingredients (30). This is a significant duration for any negative health effects to show. Since I remain healthy, I believe that GMOs do not harm human health. Contrary to the popular belief, I believe that GMOs are of high quality and they significantly benefit human health. Argument Genetically modified organisms, GMOs have been a subject of debate for a long time. Even so, the public remains largely in the dark on what GMOs are and their advantages and disadvantages, particularly with regards to food security. Therefore, to understand what GMOs mean, Thomson defines them as organisms whose genes have been altered technologically to yield organisms with desired traits (5). The genetic composition of organisms, DNA, would be altered, even introducing new genes, so as to express the desired traits from them. As such, this could be considered as a continuation of the conventional breeding methods. Because of these modifications, genetically modified foods provide high nutritional content. According to Smith, the genetic modification technology provides an approach to improve on nutritional content of foods by expressing additional nutrients in organisms, be they plants or animals, which combat malnutrition (11). For example, the Golden Rice Project corrected metabolic processes taking place in rice endosperm, making rice richer in vitamin A, an essential nutrient for vision (Barash 167). Therefore, genetic modification of organisms provides an avenue to improve on the nutritional benefits of foods which positively impact on human health. Genetically modified foods increase food production therefore ensuring food security. As documented by Thomson, food insecurity in the world results from the action of parasites, herbivorous insects and pathogens on food crops and domesticated animals (31). Now, with genetic modification, food crops are more resistant to such destructors making food available in plentiful supply. The technology has also seen the breeding of animals that are more resistant to parasites. Smith gives the example of a papaya variant which is virus resistant (180). Such crops and animals would therefore be produced and bred in plenty, boosting food production and consequently ensuring food security. Finally, genetically modified foods have been confirmed as safe to eat. The government tightly regulates the production and sale of GMOs in the country. Through the US Food and Drug Agency, the Department of Agriculture, the Environmental Protection Agency and the Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service, all due regulatory and safety procedures are reinforced to ensure that GMOs are safe for human consumption (Smith 220). Moreover, hundreds of millions of people drawn from all over the world have been consuming GMOs for the past over 15 years with no ill effects reported. Little evidence exists to consider GM foods as toxic. Therefore, the public should appreciate that their safety is guaranteed by the relevant government authorizes and should have no fear of negative health effects from consuming GM foods. Despite these benefits and assurances, the public still remains skeptical on consumption of genetically modified foods. This has been attributed to the argument that GMOs have their original genes altered, a fact that could also alter human genetic composition. Normally, when genetically modifying organism, gene insertion or alteration occurs thus interfering with the normal function of the organism. According to Smith, such alterations could cause mutations, altered gene expressions or deletions (57). Even though this occurs at a specific location, it produces universal mutation throughout the organism. When mutated genes of organisms find their way into human body, lateral transfer of the altered genes could occur, thus interfering with the human genetic structure leading to mutations. However, this argument does not hold because since historical times, farmers have selectively crossbred domestic animals and plants to produce food of desired traits and animal breeds with desirable behaviors and characteristics (Barash 3). Since no mutations have been reported in humans as a result of such genetic alterations, then, even genetically modified foods would not have any genetic alteration effect on humans. To further support their argument against genetically modified foods, researchers cite studies on animals giving evidence of such negative effects. One of the studies where rats were fed with GM corn diet showed that the rats later suffered from cancer (Smith 12). The same way the GM corn diet caused cancer on rats would be the same way it would react in humans, negatively affecting their health. However, this postulate has received much opposition as humans and rats do not share all physiological features, thus a difference in their response to the foods ingested. Additionally, the rats used for the studies in this argument were of the strain Sprague-Dawley which Smith argues have a high susceptibility to tumors in their later lives (37). This could be the reason for their cancers and not the GM foods fed to them. As such, the argument of GM foods negative affecting animal health does not relate to humans. Solution Indeed, my years of experience with no negative health effects from genetically modified foods is shared by numerous researchers and scholars. The public has for long been ignorant to perceive GMOs as being harmful to their health, hence denying themselves the many health benefits associated with the high quality of these genetically modified foods. Therefore, intense civic sensitization on facts about GMOs would help promote the consumption of genetically modified foods. There should be forums organized where the government, through its relevant bodies, educate the public on GMOs. The public, on the other hand, would make inquiries and raise their concerns about consuming GMOs (Smith 27). Such engagements would make it clear to the government the reasons for the fear of GMOs and the public would in turn end the untrue beliefs, making the public realize the true benefits of GM foods. Offering incentives to farmers who engage in farming GMOs would also increase the consumption of GM foods. Farmers who engage in GM agriculture should be offered government incentives on their inputs. This would make it cheaper to undertake GM farming and at the same time increase the supply of GM foods. Furthermore, the lower costs of producing these foods would make their prices more competitive as compared to the non-GM foods (Thomson 111). This would lead more people to consuming GM foods. Therefore, as I continue to consume GM foods, efforts to sensitize the public on the health benefits of GM foods would cause more people to tap into such benefits. Works Cited Barash, Carol Isaacson. Just Genes: The Ethics of Genetic Technologies. Westport, CT: Praeger P., 2008. University of Hartford Library. Web. 20 Nov. 2014. Smith, Jeffrey M. Seeds of Deception: Exposing Industry and Government Lies about the Safety of the Genetically Engineered Foods You’re Eating. Fairfield, IA: Yes Books, 2003. University of Hartford Library. Web. 20 Nov. 2014 Thomson, Jennifer A. Seeds for the Future: The Impact of Genetically Modified Crops on the Environment. Ithaca, NY: Comstock P. Associates, 2007. University of Hartford Library. Web. 20 Nov. 2014. Read More