Please be 100% honest with me. I do not speak against Monsanto, I have a level of respect for companies and corporations, but... How safe are gmo foods? Are they really safe like the claims say? I really wanna know and with all due respect could you please answer me truthfully? Thanks. Have a good day.

Expert response from Kent Bradford

Director, Seed Biotechnology Center, UC Davis

Friday, 11/04/2014 18:24

Yes, foods from plants that have been improved using genetic engineering are safe to eat. The World Health Organization states clearly that “GM foods currently available on the international market have passed risk assessments and are not likely to present risks for human health. In addition, no effects on human health have been shown as a result of the consumption of such foods by the general population in the countries where they have been approved” (http://www.who.int/foodsafety/publications/biotech/20questions/en/).

Similarly, the Board of the American Association for the Advancement of Science, the largest and most prestigious scientific organization in the United States, stated in 2012 that the American Medical Association, the US National Academy of Sciences, the British Royal Society and “every other respected organization that has examined the evidence has come to the same conclusion: consuming foods containing ingredients derived from GM crops is no riskier than consuming the same foods containing ingredients from crop plants modified by conventional plant improvement techniques” (http://www.aaas.org/news/aaas-board-directors-legally-mandating-gm-food-labels-could-%E2%80%9Cmislead-and-falsely-alarm).

This inherent safety is increased by the fact that the majority of food products on the market today derived from genetically engineered crops are in the form of oil, starch, sugar or protein, all of which are purified products that contain few, if any, of the components that are actually affected by the modifications. In addition, in order to be marketed for food, all genetically modified plants have been reviewed by the FDA for safety (such review is technically “voluntary,” but all products in the market have been through FDA review). Despite what you may hear on the Internet or talk shows, the scientific and regulatory communities are in agreement that using the processes of genetic engineering to improve crop plants does not in itself create any food safety hazards that are not also present in conventionally bred crops.