Why Labelling of Genetically Modified Foods Should Be Mandatory

The average life expectancy and the population have increased throughout the world. “The conventional projection by the UK is overseeing the world population. The current average population is 7.7 billion and expected to increase to 11.2 billion by 2100”. We have anticipated a food shortage in the future, sufficient food for people is required to protect from world hunger and malnutrition. The creation of genetically modified foods has helped mankind in many ways, but in this essay we will analyze whether there are only benefits of GMF and at what should be paid more attention to anticipate negative results.

Advancing genetic modified technology is able to produce food faster, have a longer life and an immune antibiotic for the disease. However, in a recent study found GM food might affect human health, more testing show there might potentially cause new disease and allergic reaction specialized field is no adequate testing enough. Although GM food has potential to save people from starvation, it might be danger for human health, so all GM food must be labeled because this may people can make their own choices.

The Necessity for Labeling Genetically Modified Foods

GM food has the potential to extend the lifespan of food. Basically, fruits have a shorter life than all other foods. Tomato starts to wilt after just 15 days. GM tomatoes can stay fresh for a month longer than usual. The scientist team attempt to use this experience to avoid ripping soon from other fruits. These achievements encourage food to export a long-distance or a place in which the infrastructure is underdeveloped. In addition, the study concluded that GM crops brought a result of an average increase in agricultural yield by 22 percent and improved farmers to profit by 68 percent, with profit even bigger in developing countries. GM crops are environmentally friendly because it is higher productivity which is possible to reduce the availability of agricultural land.

Although making GM food might be a solution for insufficient food and environment problems around the world, some people are against to consume it because this latest technology can not advocate that it is safe. GM food technology is immature and has a short history. ”GM products were first marketed in the 1990s”. It has been only approximately 20 years since this technology published. Therefore, there has been no appropriate experimentation to assure that extracting genes that perform an ostensibly useful function as an element of that plant or animal is acting the same effects if inserted into completely unrelated species. There is no proper data to make a judgment about GM food. It is not trustworthy yet.

Also, the researcher said, “Scientists have known that GM crops might cause allergies”. Since there are only a few cases of allergies, it has not been taken as a problem seriously. There is no way to prove that GM food is safe because people usually do not have an allergies reaction unless consuming it several times.

The UK is only a few countries that have interested in a yearly evaluation of food allergies and researchers found out that an allergic reaction to soy had boosted by 50 percent over the previous year. Moreover, most of soys used in the study were GM and were imported from the US. And then experts said,” We believe this raises serious new questions about the safety of GM foods”.

Nowadays, there is no evidence that GM food causes allergies but does not always mean GM food does not affect the human body. There are many unclear points in the GM food field because of the short history. However, according to a study, GM food has possible to threaten human health such as allergy reactions. People have a right to know what they consume to make a choice. Therefore, it is necessary to label every GM food product. According to the new nationally representative food literacy and engagement poll, More than one-third of Americans do not know that foods with no genetically modified ingredients contain genes. A considerable number of people are ignoring what they eat every day.

Currently, 64 countries around the world require labeling of genetically modified foods. However, some countries, for example, Canada does not require on labeling of GM foods just because they think the items have been evaluated for safety nutritional adequacy. Again, the proof of GM food does not have a risk of human health is not founded yet. This is a reason why labeling GM food is mandatory, otherwise, an unexpected health problem might happen sooner or later.

Conclusion

GM food is capable of extending food life longer and stronger. This may help world hunger and malnutrition. Moreover, because of higher productivity, it has a benefit for the environment as well. However, this technology has a lack of adequate testing thus no one knows the influence of GM food on our health. It might cause an allergies reaction or disease which many studies have showed. A number of people are luck of knowledge about what they eat is safe or not. It is necessary to label GM food to present an option for people to consume GM food or non-GM food.

Works Cited

• Abraham, Lois. Canada wont be following U.S. in labelling GOM food Products, The Star, 30 March. 2016, www.thestar.com/business/2016/03/30/canada-wont-be-following-us-in-labelling-gmo-food-products
• Buhler, Douglas. et al. More than one-third of americans do not know that foods with zero genetically modified ingredients contain genes-and why that matters, Gnetic Literacy Project, 31 May. 2019, geneticliteracyproject.org/2019/05/31/more-than-one-third-of americans-do-not-know-foods-with-no-genetically-modified-ingredients-contain-genes.
• Devlin, Kate. Scientists create GM tomatoes 'which stay fresh for a month longer than usual, The Telegraph, 2 Feb. 2010, www.telegraph.co.uk/news/science/7128622/Scientists-create-GM-tomatoes-which-stay-fresh-for-a-month-longer-than-usual.
• Ettinger, Jill. GMO Labeling Laws Around the World: The 64 Countries That Do It, organicauthority, 13 Aug. 2013, www.organicauthority.com/buzz-news/gmo-labeling-laws-around-the-world-the-64-countries-that-do-it.
• Forsberg, Cecil. Genetically modified foods, The Canadian encyclopedia, 4 March. 2015, www.thecanadianencyclopedia.ca/en/article/genetically-modified-foods
• Genetically Engineered Foods May Cause Rising Food Allergies(Part One) IRT, 7 May. 2007, responsibletechnology.org/genetically-engineered-foods-may-cause-rising-food-allergies-part-one.
• Norero, Daniel. GMO crops have been increasing yield for 20 years, with more progress ahead, Cornell alliance for science,23 Feb. 2018 allianceforscience.cornell.edu/blog/2018/02/gmo-crops-increasing-yield-20-years-progress-ahead.
• Reville, William. Earth’s population may start to fall from 2040. Does it matter?, THE IRISH TIMES, 7 March. 2019, www.irishtimes.com/news/science/earth-s-population-may-start-to-fall-from-2040-does-it-matter-1.3808527.