You might be surprised.

I work with a few of the people mentioned in this article.
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Link: http://www.cnn.com/2005/HEALTH/diet.fit ... index.html

Are you eating genetically modified food?
Survey: Most are but few know much about it

TRENTON, New Jersey (AP) -- Can animal genes be jammed into plants? Would tomatoes with catfish genes taste fishy? Have you ever eaten a genetically modified food?

The answers are: yes, no and almost definitely. But according to a survey, most Americans couldn't answer correctly even though they've been eating genetically modified foods -- unlabeled -- for nearly a decade.

"It's just not on the radar screen," said William Hallman, associate director of the Food Biotechnology Program at the Rutgers Food Policy Institute, which conducted the survey.

Today, roughly 75 percent of U.S. processed foods -- boxed cereals, other grain products, frozen dinners, cooking oils and more -- contain some genetically modified, or GM, ingredients, said Stephanie Childs of the Grocery Manufacturers of America.

Despite dire warnings about "Frankenfoods," there have been no reports of illness from these products of biotechnology. Critics note there's no system for reporting allergies or other reactions to GM foods.

Nearly every product with a corn or soy ingredient, and some containing canola or cottonseed oil, has a GM element, according to the grocery manufacturers group.

In the Rutgers survey, less than half the people interviewed were aware GM foods are sold in supermarkets. At the same time, more than half wrongly believed supermarket chicken has been genetically modified.

So far, non-processed meat, poultry, fish and dairy products, and fruits and vegetables (both fresh and frozen) are not genetically modified.

GM food first hit supermarkets in 1994, with the highly touted Flavr Savr tomato, altered to give it a longer shelf life and better flavor. It flopped, in part due to disappointing taste, and disappeared in 1997, said Childs.

By 1995, farmers in several countries had planted millions of acres of GM corn and soybeans, and processed products containing them were in grocery stores.

Genetic modification of crops involves transferring genes from a plant or animal into a plant. Nearly all GM changes so far are to boost yields and deter insects and viruses, cutting the use of pesticides, thus making farming more productive and affordable -- a particular aid to developing nations.

More than 80 percent of the soy and 40 percent of the corn raised in this country is a GM variety. Global plantings of biotech crops -- mostly corn and soybeans and much of it for animal feed -- grew to about 200 million acres last year, about two-thirds of it in the United States.

The one billionth acre will be planted this spring, according to the Biotechnology Industry Organization.

Debate over safety
Experts say within several years there will be new GM foods with taste and nutrition improvements: cooking oils with less trans fat, tastier potatoes and peanuts that don't trigger allergies.

At North Carolina State University, one of the biggest U.S. plant breeding programs, scientists are developing drought-tolerant wheat and are a couple years from field testing GM peanuts that have no life-threatening allergens, said Steven Leath, associate dean for health research.

At Rutgers University's agricultural college, plant biology professor Nilgun Tumer and colleagues modified potatoes to better keep their flavor when processed as french fries and to limit browning when sliced, but she said farmers haven't adopted the new varieties. Now her team is trying to give tomatoes a gene to make a compound that helps prevent cancer and osteoporosis.

Lisa Lorenzen, a liaison to the biotech industry at Iowa State University, said most Americans haven't worried about GM foods because they trust the regulatory system. She said many Europeans oppose GM foods because they don't trust governments that wrongly insisted for years that the beef supply, tainted by mad cow disease, was safe.

Opponents say genetically modified foods could cause allergic or toxic reactions and harm the environment. Worries include the mixing of GM crops with regular ones either by handlers, or pollen -- already documented -- and GM foods being sold where they're not approved.

On Tuesday, a Swiss biotech company said it mistakenly sold U.S. farmers an experimental, unapproved GM corn seed, and tons of the resulting corn was sold between 2001 and 2004. U.S. government agencies say there was no health or environmental risk.

In 2000, recalls, lawsuits and public uproar followed disclosure that StarLink GM corn, approved only for animal use, had gotten into taco shells and chips.

University plant scientists, industry, the Food and Drug Administration and numerous European science agencies say GM foods are safe.

"Nobody's been able to prove that anyone's even gotten the sniffles from biotechnology," Childs said.

But Margaret Mellon of the Union of Concerned Scientists, said there's no system to track health problems caused by GM foods.

Her group, along with the Center for Science in the Public Interest, has long pushed for labeling -- only required when GM products have properties different from ordinary foods, such as a higher nutrient content. They contend consumers deserve a choice if they want to avoid GM foods and they also want government regulation.

Currently, companies developing GM foods voluntarily send their data to the FDA, but there's no official approval before products go on sale.

"It's left up to the good nature of Monsanto or DuPont or other companies to do the right thing," said Gregory Jaffe, director of the biotechnology project at CSPI.

I'm not that scared by GMOs. The issue of allergy is interesting, though.

I was in Oregon when they had a ballot measure that would have forced any foods with GMOs in them to carry a label. That was an entertaining debate.

Whenever I hear "genetically modified food" I think of that cow from The Restaurant at the end of the Universe who was programmed to be delicious and whos singular purpose was to be eaten, and I laugh. "Oh have some of my rump, its delicious.." I miss Douglas Adams, *sigh*

i eat whatever tastes good

Does anyone else feel like the more warnings there are about dangers in food, the less people listen to the warnings? There are just SO MANY warnings about this or that, that I've stopped caring completely. Unless people are keeling over from a poison in food, I just don't pay attention.

I read labels, and try to keep fat and salt %'s down, with exceptions. But as far as fruit and vegitables go, if it satisfies my hunger, is inexpence, is not covered with wax or pesticide, and tastes fresh (isn't brused or over ripe), I don't really care. I'm going to die of something at some point, so if genetically altered food is it, short term it seems better than a sharp stick in the eye.

The meat and meat products we eat, and all the soda we drink, all the food coloring and preservatives, all the synthetic stuff, all the caffeine and sugar, is more of a health threat than genetically altered grains and produce. To me it just means they are not fertile (have to be man-grown, don't get pollinated, or whatever). I've never cared about the specifics as far as farmiculture, just make sure when you cut the chicken's head off you actually get all the way through, don't leave it hanging alive to bleed to death,.... that sort of stuff bothers me more. I don't really each chicken much, very very little.

The "warnings" are not just their to inform consumers, they are mostly there to cover the proverbial ass of the company selling the product ("we told you what was in it, it's not our fault that you ate it and it eventually killed you, ala Twinkie Defense).

Whatever sundry of items that are mashed up into a hot dog is probably worse.

Cool Whip (which is nothing but a chemical mixture and has no value whatsovever) is probably worse.



c-

No, I don't eat any GM food. I purchase 100% organic food.

There is a cool thing we do around here, and I imagine they do other places as well, where we buy in to part of a co-op sort of thing and we get a bunch of mixed fruits and veggies from the local organic farming. No GMO's.

Buggy, I'm guessing you mean CSA (Community Supported Agriculture)? That's awesome that you do that. I wish I could as well but I live alone and they provide way too much food for one person. Hopefully when/if I move in with some people in a few months I'll be able to convince them to do this.

FYI, here's a good website for anyone that wants to find a CSA farm near you: http://www.nal.usda.gov/afsic/csa/csastate.htm

Yeah, CSA. And it is actually a lot of food. But we have a lot of family that is close as well, so whatever we cant eat, we share with them. It works out really well, actually

I love being a biology major and currently taking Plant Biology.

-Sunny

umm... ditto!

GM food needs less pesticide, so im ok with it

I think GMOs can have some positives, but I worry that the current restictions on them aren't enough. Intermingling genes with natural growing plants/animals could become far more hazardous than people seem to realize. The research and growth of GMOs should be regulated much more extremely.

^^
Communist swine






I'm really not bothered by it. They're constantly changing their minds about what is good and bad for you so I don't even pay attention anymore. Heck, they just decided the food pyramid is wrong! I'm not worried about some scientifically altered food, I'm more worried about getting sick from lots of other things.

didn't a study a little while back find the threat posed by GM to be comparable to that of traditionally generated plant hybrids? I echo the sentiments of those who feel that pesticides and whatnot pose a greater threat.

i purchase 100% organic food.

my food tastes better

I don't know if those printed Pringles are genetically modified, but they're scary.

Of course, I still eat them b/c they're yummy!