the REN DAO Wellness Center Blog

Would you intentionally eat a genitally modified food? Would you know how to identify one? Would you benefit from eating a genitally modified food?

The acronyms GMO (genetically modified organism), GE (genetically engineered) and GM (genetically modified), commonly refer to living organisms (plant and animal) that have had parts of their genetic structure (DNA) changed. A genetically modified organism has genes from another organism, spliced into its gene structure to express or enhance a desired trait. Traditionally this was done through conventional breeding techniques but these methods are time consuming and mostly limited to similar species. With genetic engineering, genes from any living organism can be mixed. Today, genes from bacteria toxic to insects are inserted in corn to produce corn that produces its own pesticides.

In the late 1990’s genetically modified foods started to appear in supermarkets. One of the first, a GM tomato, received poor public acceptance and was removed from the market. Now the market is dominated by GM corn, soybean (and products derived from corn and soybeans), cottonseed (cottonseed oil) and rapeseed (cannola oil). They entered the market silently, with the approval of the USDA, EPA and FDA, without going through any testing for environmental or consumer health safety. With heavy lobbying by the major chemical and seed manufacturers, the FDA ruled labeling of GM foods should be voluntary. In America, no foods containing GM ingredients, byproducts of GM material or processed with GM materials are labeled to inform consumers.