Cooperative Living November/December 2022 - 18

AGRI TECH
GMOs Explained
The scoop on genetically engineered foods
Story courtesy of Family Features
M
any consumers are curious to
learn more about the purpose
and safety of GMOs. GMO
is an acronym used to identify foods
made from plants, microorganisms and
animals that have been created using
genetic engineering. That technology
enables scientists to copy a gene with
a desired trait from one organism and
put it into another.
PURPOSE OF GMOS
Humans have modified crops and
animals to suit their needs and tastes
for thousands of years. Crossbreeding,
selective breeding and mutation
breeding are examples of traditional
ways to make these genetic changes.
They have been used to create crops
like modern corn varieties and seedless
watermelon.
These methods often involve mixing
all the genes from two different sources.
For example, today's strawberries are a
cross between a strawberry species native
to North America and species native to
South America.
Modern technology allows scientists
to use genetic engineering to take a
specific beneficial gene, like insect
resistance or drought tolerance, and
transfer it into a
plant without also
transferring undesirable genes, which
sometimes occurs in traditional
plant breeding.
The reasons for genetic modification
today are similar to what they were
thousands of years ago: higher crop
yields, less crop loss, longer storage life,
better appearance, better nutrition or
a combination of these traits.
Some GMO plants have been
m modified to improve heir
m
odified to improve their nutritional
nut itio
animal health. For example, the FDA
makes sure foods from the GMOs it
regulates meet the same safety standards
as the non-GMO version. The three
agencies also monitor the impact of
GMOs on the environment.
Research shows GMO foods
modified to improve their nutritional
value. An example is GMO soybeans
with healthier oils -higher oleic acid
- that can be used to replace oils
containing trans fats. Scientists are
continuing to look for newways to
develop foods with increased nutritional
value and other useful traits.
SAFETY OF GMOS
Multiple agencies within the United
States government work to regulate
GMOs, including the Food and Drug
Administration, the Environmental
Protection Agency and the Animal
and Plant Health Inspection Service
in the Department of Agriculture.
Each agency plays a part in ensuring
Each agency pllays a part in ensuring
GMOs are safe for human, plant and
h
currently on the market are no more
likely to cause allergic reactions than
non-GMO versions. Most food allergies
re caused by allergens found in just
nine foods: peanuts, tree nuts, milk,
eggs, wheat, soy, sesame, shellfish
are caused by allergens found in just
a aused by
are
and fish.
The way GMOs are created enables
scientists to know precisely which new
proteins are produced in a plant.
Scientists perform tests to make sure
these new proteins are not allergens.
This type oftesting, called allergenicity
testing, is always part ofthe process
esti
is
lwa
for developing GMOs.
UPDATED FOOD LABELING
Certain types of GMOs have a
disclosure that lets you know if the
food is a bioengineered food, a term
that Congress used to describe certain
types of GMOs when it approved the
National Bioengineered Food Disclosure
Standard.
The standard establishes requireOne
of the
major reasons for
genetic modification
in food is better
nutrition.
ments for labeling consumable foods
that are or may be bioengineered. It
defines bioengineered foods as those
that contain detectable genetic material
that has been modified through certain
lab techniques and cannot be created
through conventional breeding or
found in nature. 
Learn more about GMOs and their impact
on your health at fda.gov/feedyourmind.
16 ● Cooperative Living ●
November-December 2022
co-opliving.com
part ofthe process
lergens found in
us
PHOTOS COURTESY GETTY IMAGES
http://www.fda.gov/feedyourmind http://www.co-opliving.com
Cooperative Living November/December 2022

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