GM food, Genetically Modified Food: Health Benefits and Environmental impacts of GM crops

What is GM Food? Why are they produced? What are the health benefits of GM food?

GM food is food that has been genetically altered also known as genetically modified food In this article, you will know about GM foods, their health benefits, and their environmental impact. In 2023 75% of our packaged food is GM food. Furthermore, this article will explore advancements in GM foods and the controversies regarding GM foods. 

Genetically Modified Organisms

Genetically Modified organisms known as GMOs are those organisms, animals, and plants whose genetic material has been altered by a specific gene inserted in them.  It’s also a type of genetic engineering. Manufacturers of GMO items including food, alter an organism genetically to enhance the product, for example, the flavor of GMO meat from genetically modified animals has a better taste.

What is GM food?

Food that has been genetically altered is known as GM food. For example, some GM potatoes maintain their freshness longer and do not oxidize.  Chemical Bacillus Thuringensis is produced by some corn varieties; as it is harmless to humans and toxic to some insects. A gene is inserted in corn to improve nutrition, and drought tolerance and provide resistance against herbicides (Round-up Ready crops). 

Why GM food is produced?

GM food can be used by manufacturers for a variety of purposes. GM crops provide more benefits:

• 1.  More crops in less time
• 2.      Plants withstanding insects, weeds, and harsh environmental conditions
• 3.      More nutrients and better taste of food
• 4.      Crops that mature more quickly, which accelerates the production process.

According to research, GMO crops have many advantages. New Research reveals that GMOs enhance yield and productivity by 22% per annum.

Health Benefits of GM food:

There are several advantages to GMO products. The health benefits of GM food consist of:

Greater accessibility to nutritious food:  GM crops may yield greater quantities and quicker yields. They can lower food prices and increase access to it when crop harvests are low. As a result, more people would be able to eat healthy foods throughout the year, especially those who are poor or have less access to nutritious food. 

Benefits to the Environment: Some genetic alterations may limit the harm of industries emitting gases that goes into the atmosphere. Certain herbicide-tolerant crops do not need soil preparation, which results in better soil and lower labor costs.

What dangers do GM foods pose to your health?

Those opposed to GM foods have brought some issues to health:

Plant Toxicity: Many pants have small amounts of chemicals that might be dangerous if consumed in large quantities. The danger of injury to people may be increased by the potential of altered toxin balance in GM plants. There is little information on the health consequences of GM plant toxins, particular health issues include an increased cancer risk and infertility.

Damage to Environment:  When the environment is damaged, it can speed up climate change, cause food scarcity and impact the populations of local plants and animals. The behavior of other wild species may alter as a result of the genetic modification of an organism.  

Absence of extensive human investigations:  Most research on GMOs has non-human creatures, which focuses on short-term consequences rather than long-term results.

Recent Advancements in GM Foods:

In contrast to the health benefits of GM foods, some recent advancement in GM foods has been done in 2023. Interference RNA, a technique for silencing genes, is a recent kind of genetic alteration. The technique has been used to design frozen apples and distinctive potatoes. In general, when an apple is peeled or a potato is chopped it produces brown color which makes them get rotten earlier. The technique silence or inhibit the gene that results in browning.

Currently, new GMOs are being produced in meat, dairy products, and eggs. Livestock feed and artificial growth hormones injection in meat, dairy products, and eggs are new advancements in the GMO field.  These hormones are the recombinant Bovine Growth hormone and Bovine somatotropin (rBGH and rBST) to improve milk production in cows. 

 Nowadays Lab-grown meat has also entered the market. Injected Growth Hormones enhance meat production in animals. This growth hormone produces more meat in less duration period which is 40 days for a hen to grow and produce meat. Genetically modified bacteria produce animal-free dairy products. On the other hand, these hormones have side effects like growth failure, early puberty in females, and risk of cancer, and other illnesses.

Environmental impact of GM crops:

The environment experiences some good effects from genetically altered plants and animals. The environmental impacts include:

• Producing weeds or exotic species that are difficult to eradicate
• Unexpected consequences on other crops and animals
• A decline in insect diversity when crops become insect-resistant
• The genetic information of GMOs spreads to wild plants and animals

Each GMO has a different effect. Therefore it is essential that before launching GMO products test each specie and take action to reduce negative effects on the environment.

Earlier studies concluded that genetically modified Bacillus Thuringensis corn has increased insect-resistant may harm monarch butterflies. Indeed later studies revealed that this impact is reduced.

Advantages to the Environment:

GMO crops may lessen the need for the use of hazardous pesticides and chemicals that harm the environment.  Genetically modified crops can help farmers make more money and expand the amount of food that is accessible.

Labeling of GMOs

How to prevent GMOs:

It can be challenging to avoid genetically modified products. There must be labeling of GMO products to prevent the harmful effects of GMOs but not all should be labeled. Because soya and corn are genetically modified, The GMO labeling law was passed in 2016. Some GMOs were exempted but eliminating all GMO items means cutting out different items from the diet when the law was passed.

The lack of scientific consensus regarding GM foods is another problem.  Few studies have examined the impacts of GMO products but they still conclude that longer-term study is needed. Research in 2020 does not reveal any proof that GMOs cause human health issues and fertility problems.  All GM foods that are currently on the market have fulfilled safety requirements. Although these requirements do not take into account all customers’ comfort and GMO-related problems.

Controversies about GM foods

There is a claim that GMO products are not reliable for long-term research on the safety of human health and the environment. However, there is no proof that any GMO crops provide nutrition, drought tolerance, and any other consumer benefit. In reality, GMOs appear as processed substances including soy, corn, oil, meat, and other emulsifiers at the commercial level. The concern is that consuming GMOs could result in allergic reactions, and provide antibiotic resistance and illnesses like cancer.

Conclusion

 GM foods have certain advantages in the market place such as increased availability of cheap wholesome food,  increased agricultural yields, and increased farmers' earnings. The health benefits of GM food include increased flavor and enhance nutrition of food. On the other hand, genetically altered food causes harm to human health including illness, allergies, and breast cancer. GM food also has both positive and negative impacts on the environment. To avoid harm to human health and the environment we need to label GM foods before bringing them to the market and long-term research should be done on GM foods.