Michelle Srour

HNSC 7230- Position Paper

Should Food Include a Mandatory GMO Label?

What are GMOs, and are they safe?

A GMO, also known as a genetically modified organism, is any organism whose genetic material

has been altered using genetic engineering techniques. The techniques create unstable combinations of

plant, animal, bacterial and virus genes that do not occur in nature or through traditional crossbreeding

methods (World Health Organization). However, the crops created display many beneficial traits including;

tolerance to herbicides, resistance to pests and environmental conditions, improved nutritional quality, and

items that may be used for pharmaceuticals. (Wunderlich & Gatto, 2015)

The ongoing GMO labeling debate argues, that it is crucial to include GMO ingredients on food

labels; claiming that people have a right to know what they are consuming, while the opposing side believes

GMO labels are completely unnecessary. Given that, most of the population is unknowledgeable on GMO

and its benefits, placing a GMO label on foods may further drive the U.S. to believe GMO is associated

with dangerous effects and should be avoided. In addition, many believe placing GMO labels on foods is

simply a tactic used to eventually drive GMO foods off the market (Wunderlich & Gatto, 2015; Charles,

2016)

Many anti-GMO advocates pursue the slogan of the entitlement for the American consumer's

“right to know”, in which each individual has a right to know what they are consuming from, food

ingredients to how the food was processed. With the same token that Americans are given detailed nutrition

facts, including; ingredients, preservatives, whether the food is organic, the factory location and address,

along with a complete guide to the macro and micronutrients of the particular food, the population should

have a right to know whether their foods were created from naturally occurring sources or whether their

foods were formed in a lab through non-traditional cross breading methods. Nevertheless, the FDA is the

lead federal agency and has the authority to prevent false and misleading labeling of foods and drugs.

Because, as a matter of policy, the FDA views genetically engineered food as not materially different from
traditional food products, there seems to be no need to specifically label these products as GMO retail

processed food or change the name of the food product. By doing so, the FDA views such a label statement

as implying to consumers that GMO food is inferior or unsafe (Hemphill & Banerjee, 2015). This will

further push consumers to believe the “myth” or controversies of GMO processes being dangerous to

consume. Moreover, the World Health Organization, American Medical Association, the National

Academy of Sciences, and the American Association for the Advancement of Science have all declared that

there’s no good evidence GMOs are unsafe (Wunderlich & Gatto, 2015).

Consumers worldwide are displaying limited understanding, misconceptions, and even

unfamiliarity with GMO food products. A study done based on direct consumer survey conducted, by the

Food Policy Institute at Rutgers University found that U.S. consumers were fairly unknowledgeable about

GMOs, where the majority of participants self-rated their knowledge to be poor, and with a strong reliance

on the media as a source of GMO information. In addition, other studies demonstrate that negative

emotions, including fear and disgust, have been correlated to GMO rejection, indicating that any cause of

fear can play a role in negative attitudes toward biotechnology (Wunderlich & Gatto 2015). As recognized,

a pattern of a lack of knowledge along with a negative connotation is associated with GMO foods.

Therefore, will labeling foods GMO solve the problem; thus enabling the population to become more

knowledgeable of the process and benefits of GMO or will the labels continue to stigmatize and further

mislead the population of the “immoral” effects of GMO containing foods?

Many industries may benefit from additional GMO research due in part by positive outcomes that

come along with GMO containing foods. For instance, genetically modified plants may someday be used

to produce recombinant vaccines. In addition, the concept of an oral vaccine expressed in plants for direct

consumption by individuals is being examined as a possible solution to the spread of disease. Although

safety comes first and will certainly be tested prior to new innovations, there are endless possibilities that

may arise from the use of genetically modified organisms. Therefore, opposed to enforcing a food label

requirement on a process in which most of the population is confused about, scientifically evidenced

education on GMO should be given and further developed.

 Work Cited

http://www.who.int/foodsafety/areas_work/food-technology/faq-genetically-modified-food/en/

Wunderlich, W., Gatto K.A. (2015). Consumer Perception of Genetically Modified Organisms and Sources

of Information Advanced Nutrition, 6 (6): 842-851; doi:10.3945/an.115.008870

Hemphill, T. A. and Banerjee, S. (2015), Genetically Modified Organisms and the U.S. Retail Food

Labeling Controversy: Consumer Perceptions, Regulation, and Public Policy. Business and Society

Review, 120: 435–464. doi:10.1111/basr.12062Charles, D. (2016)

Nodoushani,O., SintayJ., Stewart, C. (2015), Genetically engineered food and genetically modified
organisms American Society for Competitiveness Competition Forum. (13.1) 136.

Congress Just Passed A GMO Labeling Bill. Nobody's Super Happy About It

https://www.npr.org/sections/thesalt/2016/07/14/486060866/congress-just-passed-a-gmo-labeling-bill-
nobodys-super-happy-about-it