Are genetically modified foods safe

Expert response from Rod Herman

Senior Advisor, Biotechnology Regulatory Sciences Group, Regulatory Science and Government Affairs Department, Dow AgroSciences

Monday, 30/06/2014 14:20

If you were to look for a common theme among most of the questions and responses on GMO Answers, your question would be it! GMOs have been in our food supply for almost 20 years, and GM ingredients are found in 70 to 80 percent of the foods on your grocery store shelves. If GMOs were not safe, we would have a big problem. Fortunately, science shows us that there is no evidence of harm from GMOs.
 
GM crops are repeatedly and extensively tested for consumer and environmental safety, and those tests are reviewed in the U.S. by the Department of Agriculture, Environmental Protection Agency and Food and Drug Administration, and similar organizations internationally. Tests are conducted by both industry experts and independent organizations. This link lists 1,785 GMO safety studies, including long-term studies, many of which you can download, and this link will take you to a list of 610 more.
 
In fact, every major scientific body and regulatory agency in the world has reviewed the research about GMOs and openly declared crop biotechnology and the foods currently available for sale to be safe.
 
Several experts have weighed in on the safety of GMOs, especially regarding safety for human consumption. Greg Conko, senior fellow at the Competitive Enterprise Institute, discussed GMO safety in a March 2014 article in the Washington Examiner. Here is an excerpt:
 

“The primary thing that makes genetic engineering unique is the power and precision it gives us to make those changes and then test for safety afterward. It has also given us food that is both safer for our families and better for the environment. Plants with a built-in resistance to chewing insects, for example, have allowed farmers to use millions of gallons less pesticide every year.
 
“Dozens of the world’s most prestigious scientific bodies, including the National Academies of Science, the American Medical Association and the World Health Organization, have studied genetic engineering for more than 30 years and concluded that such foods are at least as safe as, and often safer than, conventionally bred ones.
 
“In 30 years of testing and commercial use in more than two dozen countries, genetically modified foods have caused not a single sniffle, sneeze or bellyache.”

 

Karri Hammerstrom, California mom and stone-fruit farmer, points out the safety track record of GMOs in another response:

 

“There is no evidence that genetically engineered foods currently on the market pose any human health concern or that they are any less safe than those foods produced through traditional breeding. ‘To date, no adverse health effects attributed to genetic engineering have been documented in the human population’ (US National Academy of Sciences, ‘Safety of Genetically Engineered Foods: Approaches to Assessing Unintended Health Effects,’ 2004).”

 

If you have any additional questions, please ask.
 
 

Expert response from Rod Herman

Senior Advisor, Biotechnology Regulatory Sciences Group, Regulatory Science and Government Affairs Department, Dow AgroSciences

Monday, 30/06/2014 14:20

If you were to look for a common theme among most of the questions and responses on GMO Answers, your question would be it! GMOs have been in our food supply for almost 20 years, and GM ingredients are found in 70 to 80 percent of the foods on your grocery store shelves. If GMOs were not safe, we would have a big problem. Fortunately, science shows us that there is no evidence of harm from GMOs.
 
GM crops are repeatedly and extensively tested for consumer and environmental safety, and those tests are reviewed in the U.S. by the Department of Agriculture, Environmental Protection Agency and Food and Drug Administration, and similar organizations internationally. Tests are conducted by both industry experts and independent organizations. This link lists 1,785 GMO safety studies, including long-term studies, many of which you can download, and this link will take you to a list of 610 more.
 
In fact, every major scientific body and regulatory agency in the world has reviewed the research about GMOs and openly declared crop biotechnology and the foods currently available for sale to be safe.
 
Several experts have weighed in on the safety of GMOs, especially regarding safety for human consumption. Greg Conko, senior fellow at the Competitive Enterprise Institute, discussed GMO safety in a March 2014 article in the Washington Examiner. Here is an excerpt:
 

“The primary thing that makes genetic engineering unique is the power and precision it gives us to make those changes and then test for safety afterward. It has also given us food that is both safer for our families and better for the environment. Plants with a built-in resistance to chewing insects, for example, have allowed farmers to use millions of gallons less pesticide every year.
 
“Dozens of the world’s most prestigious scientific bodies, including the National Academies of Science, the American Medical Association and the World Health Organization, have studied genetic engineering for more than 30 years and concluded that such foods are at least as safe as, and often safer than, conventionally bred ones.
 
“In 30 years of testing and commercial use in more than two dozen countries, genetically modified foods have caused not a single sniffle, sneeze or bellyache.”

 

Karri Hammerstrom, California mom and stone-fruit farmer, points out the safety track record of GMOs in another response:

 

“There is no evidence that genetically engineered foods currently on the market pose any human health concern or that they are any less safe than those foods produced through traditional breeding. ‘To date, no adverse health effects attributed to genetic engineering have been documented in the human population’ (US National Academy of Sciences, ‘Safety of Genetically Engineered Foods: Approaches to Assessing Unintended Health Effects,’ 2004).”

 

If you have any additional questions, please ask.