Terms like GMO, non-GMO, and organic get bandied about a lot these days, but what do they mean? Do these labels provide assurance or indicate we should be avoiding the food in question? Let’s define these labels and learn what the controversy is all about.
What is a GMO (aka GM or GE)?
GMO stands for genetically modified organism and refers to a genetically engineered plant, animal, or microorganism. Consumers may recognize the familiar Non-GMO Project’s Monarch butterfly label (at right) on food that helps them decide for themselves whether to buy, limit, or avoid said product.
Selectively growing plants for better nutrition or higher yield is nothing new. Although GMO crops entered the food system in the 1990s, the dawn of agriculture goes back 10,000 years ago, when humans engaged in selective breeding to produce genetically superior crops and livestock with traits that would survive through multiple generations. Modern-day farmers became early adopters of GMO crops to save money by, for example, growing genetically engineered insect resistant crops that needed fewer pesticide applications.
In bioengineered food, scientists use precision tools like CRISPR-Cas9 and transgenic technology to introduce, remove, or edit specific genes to optimize particular traits. These improvements may increase crop yields, improve nutritional value (e.g., higher vitamin A content in “golden rice”), enhance flavor, reduce waste (e.g. by developing non-browning apples and potatoes), or build resistance to environmental factors like pests, disease, salinity, cold temperatures, or drought.
The most bioengineered (GMO) crops in the U.S. are corn, soybeans, and cotton, followed by canola, sugar beets, alfalfa, papaya, and squash. Many of these crops are used for animal feed but are also put into many processed ingredients like corn syrup, starch, and oils.
Is non-GMO the Same as Organic?
There is a difference between non-GMO food and organic food. All organic food is non-GMO, but not all non-GMO food is organic. In other words, organic is the higher standard that inherently includes being non-GMO.
Organic certification prohibits the use of GMOs or synthetic pesticides and fertilizers. But while non-GMO products are verified to be free from engineered genes, they may still be grown using synthetic pesticides, fertilizers, or conventional farming practices. Organic foods are regulated by federal law (USDA), but non-GMO foods are usually verified by third-party private organizations like the Non-GMO Project.
The Non-GMO Project points out that while GMO advocates present GMOs as supporting farmers, helping underfed nations, and providing solutions to world hunger, most GMOs are used for biofuels and feedstock. The Non-GMO Project believes nutritional GMOs make up a small fraction of the market and do nothing to address the root causes of hunger and malnutrition, including lack of access to food, food waste, income inequality, armed conflict, and trade policy.
Are GMOs Harmful to Humans?
Three federal agencies are responsible for approving GMOs, the U.S. Department of Agriculture, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, and the U.S. Food and Drug Administration, and all three claim GMOs are safe for human, plant, and animal health. Major health organizations like the World Health Organization and the American Medical Association consider GMOs safe to consume and as nutritious as non-GMO foods. But while GMO crops make yields higher and farming easier, there is some concern about their potential effect on the environment and safety for human consumption.
Some researchers believe the long-term effects of GMOs haven’t been studied long enough to know if they are safe to human health or the environment. According to the Non-GMO Project website, “GMOs do not have a long-term history of safe use, as they are subject to only short-term studies conducted by the companies that profit from them…..and they have been linked to serious adverse effects, including organ abnormalities and cell and tissue damage, as well as gastric and uterine disease, stomach inflammation and kidney and liver damage, with potential outcomes including a rise in tumor incidence and increased mortality.”
Concerns around GMO consumption are complex and technical. One issue is that because GMO foods contain foreign genes, they may inadvertently generate new, hard to detect allergens or toxins that could affect human health. Since DNA mutations are an underlying cause of some cancers, some researchers are concerned that genetically modified foods could be a widespread environmental factor that might affect health and believe a lot more long-term human research is needed.
Are GMOs Harmful to the Environment?
The Environmental Working Group (EWG) says there are too many flaws in the regulatory process for testing GMO foods and urges reform and more research before declaring sweeping judgements that all GMOs are safe. Many countries have partial or total bans on GMOs, including Switzerland, Australia, Austria, China, India, France, Germany, Hungary, Luxembourg, Greece, Bulgaria, Poland, Italy, Mexico and Russia.
Arguments against the use of GMOs include their association with loss of biodiversity, excessive water use, soil nutrients/erosion through widespread pesticide use, replacement of natural systems with monocultures, and over-fertilization of industrial-size farms, to name a few. Since the altered genetic structure of GMOs is designed to repel more pests and withstand chemicals, notably the popular herbicide Roundup (glyphosate), farmers can spray surrounding weeds in their fields indiscriminately without killing the crop. Unfortunately, these weeds become resistant to the herbicides and evolve into “superweeds,” which require increasingly toxic herbicides that are not only harmful to butterflies, bees, and other pollinators but toxic to human health and the general ecosystem. Herbicides can also blow or drift over onto non-GMO crops nearby, which contaminates the plants and subsequent generations of those harvests. Farmers may also resort to soil damaging plowing practices when growing large-scale GMO crops.
Opposers of GMOs also point out that while corn and soybean account for 80% of GMO crops, they are used to “feed cows and cars,” not people; more than 95% of dairy and meat animals in the United States eat GMO foods. Meals and snacks may not be "junk food" simply because they are genetically modified, but many GMO crops are heavily processed into ingredients like high-fructose corn syrup or soy lecithin, which are found in 70 – 80% of processed foods, according to the FDA.
Genetically engineered foods have become a permanent part of our food system, but consumers who wish to abstain from GMOs can avoid buying processed foods and choose whole, certified organic ones when possible. Of course, the Non-GMO Project butterfly label provides a quick visual aid for hundreds of foods at your local grocer. There are countless online resources for more direction, such as The Center for Food Safety and, of course, the the Non-GMO Project website.
Sources and Further Reading:
https://www.fda.gov/food/agricultural-biotechnology/how-gmos-are-regulated-united-states
https://www.fda.gov/food/consumers/agricultural-biotechnology
https://www.healthline.com/nutrition/gmo-pros-and-cons#identification
https://www.nongmoproject.org/blog/whats-the-difference-between-non-gmo-and-organic/
https://www.nongmoproject.org/blog/gmofacts/potential-health-impacts-of-gmos/
https://teachersinstitute.yale.edu/curriculum/units/2014/4/14.04.08/6
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