Potential Dangers Of GM Foods

The biotech industry says that millions have been eating GM foods without any ill effects. However, no one has ever monitored the human health aspects of GM foods. Besides, even if the foods were creating health problems, it may take decades before the cause can be identified.

A good example was the introduction of partially hydrogenated vegetable oil (transfat) back in the 1960s. Manufacturers claimed that it was healthier than animal fats, and it took the US government decades to acknowledge that transfat was in fact, the culprit of an epidemic rise in heart disease, breast and prostate cancers in the US.

We are playing with technology that we do not fully understand. At this point, no one knows the full extent of what happens to the end product when you splice in new genes, and then eat that product for several generations. However, GM foods have already raised enough concern that they may be inherently unsafe for humans and the environment.

Allergies. Allergic reactions occur when the immune system interprets something as foreign, different, and offensive, and reacts accordingly. All GM foods, by definition, have something foreign and different. Soon after GM soy was introduced in the UK, soy allergies skyrocketed by 50% in a single year. Soy allergies in the US have also soared after GM soy came to the market.

Gene transfer. There is the possibility that genes from GM crops may transfer to the DNA of human gut bacteria. A particular concern is the antibiotic resistant genes used in creating GMOs. Scientists use them as marker genes to identify the genes that have been successfully altered. Eating GM foods with these marker genes may encourage gut bacteria to develop antiobiotic resistance. Further, this foreign DNA may continue to produce inside our body even after we stop eating GM food.

Animal studies. There is hardly any feeding study on humans but the ones on animals have resulted in potentially pre-cancerous cell growth, damaged immune systems, smaller brains, livers, and testicles, and higher death rates.

Environmental impact. Outcrossing is the movement of genes from GM plants into conventional crops and related species in the wild. Nobody knows about the longer-term ecological consequences of such unintended cross-pollination.

To date, there is no direct link between eating GM foods and health problems. However, there is enough circumstantial evidence to raise concern. Given a choice, do you still want to eat GM foods?