Hey, this website shows ethical issues and questions linked to GM food, the laws in different countries and etc:
- BIONET Future Food. Rights and Wrongs (2002). Retrieved on 10 June 2008 from: http://www.bionetonline.org/English/Content/ff_eth.htm
Controversial issues:
Examples of controversial issues include
- Safety : allergens that are present, transferring of genes to other unintended crops and some other factors that cause unknown effects which are harmful to consumers.
- Ethics : damaging the natural characteristics of the natural food such as intrinsic factors, damaging nature and disagreement with plants genes that contains animals genes and vice versa.
- Labeling : not all countries required compulsory labeling of GM food.
- Environmental concerns : genes inserted may be transferred to soil which result in the next crop planted serving the intended purpose of the gene which would result in the crop being genetic modified unknowingly.
- Health concerns : unknown effects for consumption of GM food due to genetically modified crop
- Religious concerns : GM crops are not certified as halal as it is not consider wholesome and animals genes maybe inserted into GM for specific purposes that may not be halal. This is a concern for all the muslims which could only consume food that are halal.
Safety Assessment of GM Food (before GM food are being sold out in the market) :
GM food are being accessed for safety before it can be sold in the market. Accessing GM plants required a few important factors such as
- toxicity,
- allergenicity
- nutritional value
Some other factors of safety assessment would include
- source,
- identity,
- effects of processing,
- recombinant DNA,
- whether there is any effects of the gene inserted.
Toxins :
- should not be present in GM food or it should be present within the acceptable range of safety.
Allergens :
- important to be accessed
- as the presence of allergens in some food may cause serious effect in some consumers.
- For example, if the gene of peanuts is inserted into corn, people who are allergic to peanut would be allergic to the genetically modified corn. In this case product must be labeled that it contains traces of nuts meeting the safety of consumers.
Nutrient composition :
- likely to change
- possibility that consumer may lack of certain important nutrients
- may lead to unbalance nutrition or malnutrition.
Product Labelling and Consumer Rights:
consumers had the right to know the nature of the products that they had consume, thus labelling is an important factor.
( GMF labelling had to maintain consumers right ) GM labelling should conform to the 3 principles stated:
1) provide sufficient information,
2)consumer protection from misunderstanding
3)potential risk.
~ Labelling provide a list of ingredients.
~ Ensures that food are safe for consumers.
~ There is no standard of how GM food is to be labelled currently however multilateral guidelines are now being developed by Codex Alimentarius.
~ labelling gives a information to consumer that is non misleading, easy to understand and facts about GMF. This can ensure fair practices in food trade and thus safety.
( making sure that what had been added in the product even it is not genetically modified is also being labelled )
Source taken from:
- Institute of Food Technologists and International Union of Food Science and Technology. The World of Food Science. (2007). Labelling of Food Containing GMOs: a Thailand Perspective. Retrieved on 17 June 2008. from: http://69.36.46.53/cms/?pid=1001115
- Consumers Protection Comission, Executive Yuan. Introduction to Genetically Modified Food. (GMF). Retrieved on 26 June 2008 from: http://www.cpc.gov.tw/en/index.asp?pagenumber=20
- Human Genome Project Information. Genetically Modified Food and Organisms.
Retrieved on 17 June 2008 from: http://www.ornl.gov/sci/techresources/Human_Genome/elsi/gmfood.shtml
some info taken from this website ( RECOMMENDED ) shows clear infomation of safety assessment, how GMO are being developed and the processes. toxins in GM food, labelling, regulations and a lot more. (:
- Food Standards. Austraila New Zealand. (2005). GM Foods. Safety Assessment of Genetically Modified Foods. Retrieved on 9 June 2008 from: http://www.foodstandards.gov.au/_srcfiles/GM%20Foods_text_pp_final.pdf
