Introduction
The growing human population and numerous external challenges necessitate innovative approaches to food production. Genetic modification is one of the innovative approaches to this. A key point of this essay is that genetically modified foods should be labeled to inform consumers of their production and composition. Although genetic modification could confer unique characteristics to food, making it more resistant, it relies on various artificial methods that can cause adverse outcomes.
The Main Finding Regarding the Importance of Labeling the GM Foods
Paying attention to the primary purpose of using genetically modified food is critically important. In the article “Genetic Modification to Improve Disease Resistance in Crops,” the authors Esse et al. (2019) emphasize the urgent need to increase the amount of food that people consume. According to Esse et al. (2019), “We need to increase world food production by at least 60% using the same amount of land by 2050” (p. 1). Consequently, people need to use new methods to improve not only the quantity but also the quality of the food. This means that methods such as genetic modification will be implemented even more profoundly in food production in the future.
The reason for making this statement is that this approach offers unique and effective methods to produce more resilient, healthier food. However, this fact also underscores the need to label these foods due to their prompt distribution (Tuorila & Hartmann, 2020). People need to have the opportunity to understand that the food was genetically modified, as this process involves adding specific artificial materials (Esse et al., 2019). Therefore, people should be aware of whether potential allergens or toxins were added during these modifications.
Issues Regarding the Improvement of Disease Resistance in Crops
Before identifying the necessity of labeling specific types of food, such as crops, it is essential to highlight the reasons why this particular food type is modified. Considering crop genetic modification, it is worth noting that these practices were implemented to introduce new and unique agricultural methods (Kumar et al., 2020). It was designed to enhance crop survival in specific regions.
Remarkably, scientists use genetic modification to combat plant pathogens (Kumar et al., 2020). For this purpose, they employ various scientific methods, including genome editing, cultural controls, plant breeding, and agrochemicals (Esse et al., 2019). The vast number of applied methods assumes that consumers are aware of the various artificial approaches used in genetic modification (Giraldo et al., 2019). People should precisely understand not only the main ingredients and composition of the product, but also how it was produced. A significant reason is that the lack of this knowledge could lead to health problems, such as allergic reactions or other adverse effects on the person’s immune system.
The Example of Applying Genetic Modification to Bananas
In addition to Crops, it will be essential to consider the application of genetic modification to other foods, such as fruits. In particular, the article explores the peculiarities and outcomes of modifying bananas. This modification was conducted to improve banana-growing areas, as climate change is expected to reduce banana production due to changes in environmental conditions (Tripathi et al., 2019).
One of the essential conclusions the authors drew is that banana-growing areas are spread across the world (Tripathi et al., 2019). It means that while conducting genetic modification, different countries will have their own approaches, policies, methods, and instruments. Consequently, when in one country unlabeled food is safe due to appropriate and effective regulations that ensure its safety for consumers, other countries may neglect fundamental standards of consumer rights (Plavec & Berlec, 2020). Therefore, global food organizations should elaborate on the common policy for the necessity of labeling genetically modified foods.
The Crucial Negative Outcome of Consuming the Unlabeled Foods
Consuming unlabeled genetically modified food can have significant adverse effects on people’s nutrition. In particular, unfamiliar food can lead to changes in people’s attitudes toward food in general (Tuorila & Hartmann, 2020). As Tuorila & Hartmann (2020) state, “Disgust, along with food neophobia and related traits, has been identified as a major barrier to accepting novel food alternatives” (p. 1). It means that because of the consumption of non-labeled genetically modified foods, one can elaborate on particular diseases or psychological problems, such as neophobia. In particular, one reason for food rejection by the person’s organism could be differences in sensory properties between nutritionally modified food and regular food (Tuorila & Hartmann, 2020). Therefore, the problem of unlabeled food should be addressed promptly to prevent adverse outcomes when people eat foods they are unaware of.
Conclusion
In conclusion, it is essential to state that genetically modified foods have both advantages and disadvantages. On the one hand, they provide rapidly increasing opportunities to grow and produce a significant number of foods. In addition, it could make them more resistant to external damaging factors. On the other hand, there are many adverse outcomes for consumers when they are unfamiliar with the specifications and approaches used in food production. Consequently, labeling food with genetic modifications is a crucial issue that must be addressed worldwide.
References
Esse, H. P., Reuber, T. L., & Does, D. (2019). Genetic modification to improve disease resistance in crops. New PhytologistVolume 225(1), 70-86.
Giraldo, P. A., Shinozuka, H., Spangenberg, G. C., Cogan, N., & Smith, K. F. (2019). Safety assessment of genetically modified feed: Is there any difference from food? Front. Plant Sci., 10.
Kumar, K., Gambhir, G., Dass, A. et al. (2020). Genetically modified crops: current status and future prospects. Planta 251(91).
Plavec, T. V., & Berlec, A. (2020). Safety aspects of genetically modified lactic acid bacteria. Microorganisms, 8(2), 297.
Tripathi, L., Ntui, V. O., Tripathi, N. (2019). Application of genetic modification and genome editing for developing climate-smart banana. Food and Energy Security, 8(4).
Tuorila, H., & Hartmann, C. (2020). Consumer responses to novel and unfamiliar foods. Current Opinion in Food Science, 33, 1-8.