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People in the U.S. eat a lot of genetically modified ingredients. By 2013 more than 90 percent of corn and soy come from genetically modified crops, according to research from the Texas Public Interest Research Group. The Grocery Manufacturers Association says that 70 percent to 80 percent of the food in the United States has genetically modified ingredients.
Critics of genetically modified organisms, or GMOs, believe there could be unintended and harmful consequences and have sought labeling that would disclose GMO ingredients, but the Texas Farm Bureau points to an absence of definitive harm to humans. The bureau believes such labeling would be onerous and harmful to farmers.
Texas House Bill 3499 from state Rep. Carol Alvarado, D-Houston, proposed genetically modified labeling, but the bill didn’t even get a hearing in a House committee. “We’re not saying we’re going to outlaw them,” Alvarado said. “We just want labeling.”
The Texas Public Interest Research Group is concerned about GMOs. “Consumers certainly have a right to make informed decisions for their families and themselves,” said Melissa Cubria, a spokeswoman for the research group. “I think that there haven’t been real studies that weren’t heavily funded by Monsanto,” Cubria said.
Related on the SLP
But the “GENetic Engineering Risk Atlas” a project of Biology Fortified, an independently funded nonprofit, claims that of the 400 studies curated in 2014 assessing the risks of genetic engineering, half of them are funded wholly by government agencies and independent nonprofit groups.
Anastasia Bodnar, a co-director of Biology Fortified, said “systematic reviews have concluded that genetically engineered crops are safe to eat, and when you look at the results collected in GENERA, it agrees with that conclusion.”
Read full, original post: GMO backers dismiss danger fears
