The Never Ending Blame Game on Genetically Modified Food
Genetically engineered food commonly called as Genetically modified food (GMF) are those foods which are fabricated from the plants and animals whose DNA (de-oxy ribo nucleic acid) are changed by genetic engineering.
In GM foods, the DNA is changed or transformed using the genes of other plants and animals. Most of the times the gene of a particular characteristic is taken from animal or plant and then insert the same gene into the cell of other plant or animal. These genetically modified organisms are often called as GMOs.
To make it more simple, Now days farmers are very conscious of their seeds and crops and tries their best to save it but unfortunately most of the time their crops are eaten up by pesticides and insects. In this case, they use GMO’s to make their crops more resistant and pesticides free.
One such practice is done on large scale in United States where the farmers genetically modify their crops like soya bean and corns by injecting GMO to make it safe from herbicides. Doing this makes their crops safe from all types of poisons like weed killer and sprays.
Some of the common examples of GMF are sweet corns or water melon or can say papaya without seeds commonly available in the market. Tomatoes are another example of GMF where the plants beetle resistance relies on a gene from a bacterium called Bacillus thuringiensis. This gene, calledcry1Ac, encodes a protein that is poisonous to certain types of insects, including the beetle.
So what do you think about the tomatoes we eat, are we really safe after eating them. They have strong bacteriums inserted in them to avoid beetle so why it can’t affect our health. One of the studies done on GMF proves that they are extensively unhealthy to consume as they directly affects human lungs and kidneys leading to organ damage.
The same happens in animals where they are injected with different hormones to make them grow faster. According to the European Union’s Scientific Committee on Veterinary Measures Relating to Public Health (SCVPH), U.S is one of the leading country where 80 percent of cattle’s are injected which makes their hormone level increase by seven to 20 times. The study has also proven that eating such animals will disrupt the balance in human hormones.
The products we consume are so dangerous for our health and then also we take them on daily basis without questioning. Many of us are not aware about the Genetically Modified foods available in the markets which we purchase without seeing the label. Many petitions have been signed to ban such foods or to make them consumer aware food by labelling it but it seems government is not ready to listen us as globally there are more than 60 big countries selling such type of foods without any labelling or with a approval sign by Food and Drug Administration (FDA).
For the same we had a discussion with Ranjit Devraj. He is the regional coordinator for SciDev.Net’s South Asia edition who has done extensive study on Genetically Modified Foods.
As an expert, what is your take on genetically modified food? Is it ok to consume them on daily basis or does it have any bad affects on our health?
I am a science journalist who has written extensively on GM crops.
To answer – one should differentiate between GM crops (cotton) and GM food crops. In India we have serious doubts about the safety of GM food crops, which is why the government placed a moratorium on GM brinjal, the first GM food crop. A case is also being heard in Supreme Court regarding GM crops – so it is actually sub judice.
Safety: No scientist can predict the safety of GM food crops because the effects may be trans-generational – i.e. manifesting in children and grandchildren. Secondly, once you have inserted a foreign gene into a particular crop you cannot remove it and there is always the danger that the gene spreads through ‘horizontal transfer’ via cross-pollination and once it spreads you cannot reverse it.
Does such type of products should be allowed to be marketed freely or should be banned?
Right now marketing is far away. Of course there is the question of marketing many GM products that are already in the Indian market. Soya bean and corn are some of the good examples. Even these should be properly labelled. People have the right to know what they are eating and also exercise their choice. For example vegetarians may not like to vegetables into which genes from animals have been spliced.
If these products does not impact our health and are safe then why does FDA not label these food products with GMO or why do they not make it FDA certified?
GM food products are created by large and powerful Multi National Companies (MNCs) that are more than capable of influencing government policies.
Lastly now days animals are also injected like chickens are given injections so they can grow fast and even buffaloes are injected so they can give extra milk? Why does government not take any actions on it?
This is a different issue from GM crops. Chickens and cattle are injected with antibiotics and hormones to make them more productive. Again governments are susceptible to powerful food lobbies.
On the other side, we have taken some opinions from the vendors, farmers and cartelists to get the view from both the sides. Some of the farmers denied of such process and some who have accepted the fact were not ready to disclose the procedure.
The crops and seeds are injected in India also but the techniques are not that advanced as farmers here still believes on medicines which are imported from abroad. Without knowing the solution presented in that crop or seeds they just plant it.
We discussed the same issue with one such farmer who was harvesting some bottle gourd seeds in the land. When we asked them is these seeds are pesticide free or does it have a risk to the plant to be eaten by insects, he replied, no the seeds are pesticides free, once the plant will generate it will automatically get protected by harmful beetles. He further added that is a hybrid plant which will give vegetable within the time span of four months.
Talking about the cattle issues, In India most of the cattle’s are injected to make their breed better and to generate extra milk from them and also to make them grow faster. There are several poultry farms which inject chickens and buffaloes on daily basis. The chickens are given hormones to make them grow early while the buffaloes are injected for extra litres of milk.
“For dwellers, giving injections to animals is not harmful or dangerous as one of the meat supplier said, “If we will not give them proper treatment then from where you will get meat to eat. It is just a medical treatment approved by doctors which is not harmful to animals nor humans.”
The issue is rising day by day affecting the lives of common people where they unknowingly consume the food which is not good for their health. Should we blame the government for not creating awareness or not making people know about the food they are eating or should we blame ourselves that we need to be extra carefully before purchasing any type of food items. The issue is still a debate every day asked by common people and not answered by the government. WTN
