GM foods

In recent years the dangers and drawbacks of genetic engineering have become increasingly recognised by scientists, the media and the general public. They include: 

Risks to human health

• Artificially-introduced genetic material may interact with the natural genes in ways we don’t yet understand - possibly causing formation of toxic substances within the GM food or other undesirable effects. 
• Unexpected allergies can be triggered by eating GM foods. In one instance, a brazil nut gene inserted into soya resulted in allergic reactions to the soya in people who were allergic to nuts. Normally these people would avoid nuts and nut products, but in this case they had no way of knowing there was a risk. 
• Genetic engineering may encourage the development of antibiotic resistance in potentially harmful bacteria. 
• The long-term health consequences of eating GM foods have not been adequately tested and are largely unknown. 

Risks to the environment

• Genetically engineered material can be inadvertently transferred to other crops, including weeds. Once this happens, researchers think it’ll be impossible to ‘clean up’ any unforeseen results. 
• Genetically modified plants designed to kill pests that normally attack them may kill beneficial insects as well.   
• Genetically engineered crops may have unpredictable effects on the ecological balance of the environment, and may encourage new types of diseases or ‘hardier’ insect pests to develop.  

Risks to consumer choice

• Scientists can exchange genes between species in a way that would never happen in nature - such as putting a fish gene into a tomato. This is of particular concern to groups like vegetarians and vegans. 
• Religious groups with special dietary rules run the risk of eating foods that contain genes from ‘forbidden’ foods. For example, Jews or Muslims may unwittingly eat genes from a pig that have been transferred into another type of food. 
• Under current laws, 90% of products containing GM ingredients do not need to be labelled, which means that consumers cannot tell whether the food is GM-free or not.

Opinion polls show: 

• More than three-quarters of the British public don’t want GM crops grown in the UK 
• Given the choice, 61% do not want to consume GM foods.

Many organisations (including the Soil Association, Friends of the Earth, the Genetic Engineering Network and Greenpeace) are currently campaigning against GM foods. They are calling for a total ban on such products in the UK - or, at the very least, the introduction of laws to make sure all GM foods are clearly labelled, enabling consumers to make an informed choice.   

At present, the only way consumers can ensure they are eating GM-free food is to choose organic products.