What is a genetically modified food product?
A tomato designed to stay fresh for a long time is one example of a genetically modified food. Corn designed to resist pesticides is another example.
Genetically modified food products are plants that have had their genetic characteristics altered. Scientists change the plants' characteristics by putting new genetic material into them, genes for example from a bacteria which can withstand pesticides.
Animals can also be genetically modified. Scientists are researching the genetic modification of fish, cows and pigs amongst others. Currently there are no genetically modified meat products on the market.
All animals, people, plants and bacteria contain genes. Our genes decide our characteristics.
What foods can you create by genetic modification?
Sweet corn, rice, tomatoes and rape plants are just some examples of the many food products that have already been genetically modified. Many more are on the way. Scientists worldwide are working on the development of a variety of different genetically modified crops.
Not all corn, rice, tomato and rape plants are genetically modified. Yet, genetically modified (GM) crops may be found in different places around the world. However GM rice and tomatoes have not yet been approved for sale Europe.
Genetic modification is complex and takes many years. It is not yet possible to genetically modify everything. Here are 4 examples of the most well known genetically modified crops.
Consider their advantages and disadvantages as you read.
Which genetically modified foods are sold now - and where are they grown?
In Europe today 3 genetically modified crops are permitted (June 2002). These are:
• Soya beans - resistant to crop spray
• Sweet corn - resistant to crop spray and produce insecticide
• Rape plants - resistant to crop spray and does not produce pollen (therefore it cannot pollinate other plants)
All 3 plants have been approved for import and food produce manufacture. Sweet corn and rape plants are also approved for cultivation.
Genetically modified chicory lettuce is also approved for cultivation. But the lettuce is solely used in processing work and not as food produce.
No new genetically modified plants have been approved in Europe since 1998. This is the result of the ruling passed by the European Union to stop approvals, allowing more time to consider the risks surrounding genetically modified plants and to await new and stricter regulations regarding labelling and risk evaluation.
What is grown globally?
In 2001 the area of genetically modified crops grown globally was 52.6 million hectares. That corresponds to an area the size of France or Spain. This includes food and non-food crops such as cotton
4 countries produce 99% of the world's genetically modified crops. These are:
• USA (68%)
• Argentina (22%)
• Canada (6%)
• China (3%)
The 3 most common genetically modified foods are soybeans, rape and sweet corn. Of all the soybeans grown in the world 46% are genetically modified. 11% of the rape and 7% of the corn is genetically modified.
How would you know that your food was genetically modified?
You can't see or taste that your corncob for example has been genetically modified.
But you can read on the packaging whether a food is genetically modified or contains genetically modified ingredients. That is because the Government requires genetically modified food to be labelled.
The requirement for labelling applies to:
• Foods different to the non-genetically modified equivalent, for example foods containing genes or proteins derived from genetic modification. One example is genetically modified rice with extra high vitamin A content.
The requirement for labelling does NOT apply to:
• Foods that unintentionally contain less than 1% genetically modified ingredients.
• Foods, produced by genetically modified plants but containing no trace of the transplanted genes. For example, a bag of genetically modified corn should be labelled. But a bottle of corn oil from the same genetically modified corn need not be labelled because the oil contains no trace of the genetic modification (June 2002). The regulation may change in the near future.
Is it safe to eat genetically modified foods?
We do not know yet since it would take two to three cycles of tests on the people who consume these products/ food. It takes years to know the ill affects of these foods to know.
