We all, at some point, heard about “GMO” and have a basic understanding that a product must be “genetically modified” to have this “GMO” title. But how many of us know about “bioengineering” or “biofortification”? Let’s find out what they are!
Genetic Engineering a.k.a. GMO
Genetic Engineering is a scientific term for a simpler GMO abbreviation. A genetically modified organism (GMO) is a living organism whose DNA has been artificially altered and manipulated using genetic engineering techniques.
Most GMO crops are used in food for animals like cows, chickens, and fish. They are also used to make ingredients that are then used in food products like cereal, snack chips, and vegetable oils. GMO foods have been available to consumers since the early 1990s. Only a few types of GMO crops are grown in the United States, including soybeans, corn, sugar beets, canola, cotton, apples, potatoes, alfalfa, summer squash, etc.
The main reasons for genetic modification today are higher crop yields, less crop loss, longer storage life, better appearance, better nutrition, or some combination of these traits.
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA), U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), and U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) ensure that GMOs are safe for human, plant, and animal health. However, in the absence of credible independent long-term feeding studies, the safety of GMOs is unknown. Increasingly, citizens are taking matters into their own hands and choosing to opt-out of the GMO experiment.
More than 80% of GMO plants grown worldwide have been engineered for herbicide tolerance. According to FDA, this allows farmers a wide variety of options for weed control. However, as a result, the use of toxic herbicides, such as Roundup®, has increased fifteen-fold since GMOs were first introduced. EPA claims to regulate the safety of all weed killers that farmers use on GMO and non-GMO crops. But in March 2015, the World Health Organization determined that the herbicide glyphosate (the key ingredient in Roundup®) is “probably carcinogenic to humans.”
Sixty-four countries around the world require genetically modified foods to be labeled. Canada does not require any GMO labeling. GMOs are not currently labeled in the United States. However, you will start seeing the “bioengineered” label on some of the foods we eat in the United States because of the new National Bioengineered Food Disclosure Standard.
Countries that ban GMO cultivation but allow GMO import
Austria | Germany | Netherlands |
Azerbaijan | Greece | Norway |
Belize | Hungary | Poland |
Bulgaria | Italy | Saudi Arabia |
Croatia | Latvia | Serbia |
Cyprus | Lithuania | Slovenia |
Denmark | Luxembourg | Switzerland |
Ecuador | Malta | Turkey |
France | Moldova | Ukraine |
Did you know?
Although many EU countries do not grow GMOs, Europe is one of the world’s biggest consumers of them. Every EU nation imports them. More than 30 million tons of biotech corn and soy for livestock feed are imported each year, making Europe the largest regional consumer of GMOs in the world.
Mexico is planning to ban GMO corn by 2024. Mexico’s deputy agriculture minister Victor Suarez says Mexico will cut its imports of U.S. yellow corn by half when the ban takes effect via increasing domestic production. To fill any remaining gap, Mexico will try to make deals with farmers in other countries to grow non-GMO corn and sell it to Mexico.
Countries that ban GMO cultivation and ban GMO import
Algeria | Kyrgyzstan | Russia |
Bhutan | Madagascar | Venezuela |
Kenya | Peru | Zimbabwe |
Did you know?
In 2014, Russia banned the importation of biotech crops, and officially banned their cultivation, with an exception allowed for scientific research. In 2020, Russia reversed the importation ban on soy, and has funded research on the development of gene-edited foods within its borders.
Kenya recently lifted a ban on the cultivation and importation of genetically modified crops amid the worst drought in 40 years and soaring food prices. This includes white maize, the country's main staple. The decision was welcomed by scientists who see GM crops as the answer for food security. But it is opposed by a spirited lobby who are concerned about potential risks to health and the environment.
Biological Engineering a.k.a. Bioengineering a.k.a. BE
Bioengineered food is the term that Congress used to describe certain types of GMOs when they passed the National Bioengineered Food Disclosure Standard. The Standard defines bioengineered foods as those containing detectable genetic material modified through certain lab techniques and cannot be created through conventional breeding or found in nature.
The implementation date of the Standard is January 1, 2020, except for small food manufacturers, whose implementation date is January 1, 2021. The mandatory compliance date is January 1, 2022. Instead of "genetically engineered" (GE) or "genetically modified organism" (GMO), certain foods must be labeled as bioengineered (BE).
The Agricultural Marketing Service (AMS) developed the List of Bioengineered Foods to identify the crops or foods that are available in a bioengineered form throughout the world and for which regulated entities must maintain records. These records will inform regulated entities about whether they must make a bioengineered food disclosure.
https://www.ams.usda.gov/rules-regulations/be/bioengineered-foods-list
Most products of new GMO techniques like CRISPR gene editing won’t require a BE disclosure. That’s because the law focuses on foods containing detectable modified genetic material in the final product. Products that contain GMOs made with new techniques are currently untestable.
The BE labeling law only applies to food intended for direct human consumption. GMO crops for livestock feed take up millions of acres of agricultural land and ultimately support the human food supply, but the BE labeling law does not look at it.
There are also complexities in the new law that prevent GMOs in multi-ingredient products from being disclosed. For example, a canned soup containing GMO corn would not require disclosure if the formulation lists meat as the first ingredient. Under the BE labeling law, it doesn’t matter that corn is prevalent and plainly visible in the product or that 92% of corn grown in the U.S. is genetically modified. It doesn’t even matter that the corn might have detectable modified genetic material. The product is not subject to disclosure, with meat as the first ingredient. Even if water, broth, or stock is the first ingredient and meat is the second, the loophole still applies because those kinds of liquids don’t count.
The Non-GMO Project believes the USDA chose “bioengineered” rather than the widely-understood “GMO” to distance labeled products from the overwhelming consumer rejection of GMO foods. While nearly all consumers are aware of “GMOs,” bioengineered is a new term that does not even appear in the USDA’s Agricultural Biotechnology Glossary.
Biofortification
Biofortification is the idea of breeding crops to increase their nutritional value. This can be done either through conventional selective breeding or genetic engineering. Biofortification differs from ordinary fortification because it focuses on making plant foods more nutritious as the plants grow rather than having nutrients added to the foods when they are processed.
Golden rice is an example of a GMO crop developed for its nutritional value. The latest version of golden rice contains genes from a common soil bacterium Erwinia and maize and contains increased levels of beta-carotene, which can be converted by the body into vitamin A. Golden rice is being developed as a potential new way to address vitamin A deficiency.
Some people, while not opposed to biofortification itself, are critical of genetically modified foods, including biofortified ones such as golden rice.
More than three months after the Department of Agriculture changed its labeling requirements for genetically modified foods, some social media users started spreading misinformation about the rules.
"They changed GMO labeling to biofortified, just so u know when reading food labels," reads a text in a Facebook post published March 30.
But the claim is false, as independent fact-checking organizations have reported. In fact, the USDA recently changed labeling requirements for genetically modified foods to "bioengineered," not "biofortified."
Conclusion
It is a matter of personal choice to use or not to use genetically modified, bioengineered, or biofortified products. But it is always good to know what you are dealing with. It’s important to keep up with the changes and fact-check the information. Especially when it directly affects our health.
Information sources:
FDA - Agricultural Biotechnology
Non-Gmo Project - GMO Facts
Comments