Written by Steve Savage

A Modest Proposal

Should food with ingredients from genetically engineered crops – “GMOs” – be labeled?  Many argue that consumers have a “right to know” about this.  Ok, if the real reason for labeling is to provide consumers with knowledge, then the label should read:
“Contains ingredients from biotech enhanced crops approved by the USDA, FDA and EPA”
That would tell people what is unique about these crops.  Humans have been genetically modifying crops for centuries using a variety of methods.  The difference for genetically engineered crops is that they must be fully characterized and tested in order to gain approval from three different regulatory agencies – the USDA, the EPA and the FDA (there is a description of this process below if you are interested).  Crops modified in other ways including those generated by conventional breeding, mutation breeding or “wide crosses” or hybrids or doubled haploids don’t have to be tested or approved at all.  The clear, international scientific consensus is that genetic engineering involves no unusual risk relative to all the other methods of genetic modification, but this testing was instituted out of an abundance of caution.  Thus, any label should let consumers know about this extra level of scrutiny conducted for their benefit. Continue reading “How To Do GMO Food Labeling Right” →