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The Unfortunate Truth About GMOs | Genetically Modified Foods

have you seen this label on your favorite foods and maybe even wondered what it meant GMO is shorted for genetically modified organisms meaning a food whose DNA has been altered through genetic engineering and if you're at all familiar with these GMO Foods you probably know they're really controversial got news for you GMO tomatoes and GMO corn will kill you just as well I believe there's a big huge problem with GMO Foods the science is still inconclusive about GMOs nah all of that is nonsense the real problem is that they need to fire their PR team you are fired piggy you are fired fired because they're a victim of a widely successful fearmongering campaign the actual reality is GMOs have been produced in the US for about 30 years and are now a big part of our food system more than 90% of certain staple crops like corn and soybeans are GMOs the truth is GMOs are incredibly valuable they increase our output of a affordable nutritious food and offer us a way to actually make foods better with GMOs we can create crops that are healthier and our disease and drought resistant plus there's ways to develop GMO crops that require less water and pesticides reducing negative impact on the environment and that's crucial because population growth and climate change already threaten our Global food supply despite those benefits GMOs have a pretty bad reputation a 2020 survey found that only 27% of Americans believe GMO Foods were safe to eat let's take a deeper dive and see what all this controversy is about but we're starting to get evidence now in human beings that this could actually modify other genes in our bodies increased mortality significant increase in the incidence of tumors or cancer these ridiculous Health claims have all come from a single rat study that has been so debunked the Royal Society UK's National Academy of Science actually said that this study is flawed in many aspects of design execution and Analysis and that no conclusions should even be drawn from it in fact for over a decade millions of people across the globe have been eating foods made from genetically modified crops without any reported health issues or even legal cases gee I wonder what it's doing to our children maybe that has something to do with the 400% increase of allergies research shows GMO foods are no more likely to cause allergies than non-GMO Foods testing GMO crops for transferred allergy is required during development GMO contains a BT protein toxin which is a plant Incorporated protective insecticide that pokes holes in the insect guts and has been shown to have a similar effect in animal studies the protein BT toxin does kill insects but current research shows it isn't harmful to humans because our digestive systems actually destroy it just because something is problematic to one species doesn't mean it's problematic to all otherwise bear here would never let me eat chocolate part of what what makes blatant misinformation around GMOs so popular is that they aren't just spread by obvious conspiracy theorists and Fringe corners of the internet but GMOs are also villainized by mainstream celebrities Health news sites popular brands like Chipotle and even famous advocacy groups like Greenpeace whenever I discuss GMOs online there are two schools of thought that I frequently have to debunk one is the skewed narrative focusing on natural food first of all there's no established definition of what natural food means if it means food without artificial ingredients then GMO foods can certainly be considered natural for all the fear mongering about toxins and chemicals the reality is chemicals with long names may be totally safe and natural ingredients may be deadly you know like cyanide or arsenic it's not as simple as saying natural equals healthy it's actually such a shame that so many are sharing their emotional opinions on this subject without even understanding it do you try to avoid GMOs in your diet I do there's just a vibration with GMOs uh for me personally just something that I don't uh particularly want to put into my body what does GMO stand for genetically modified g g i don't know this also extends to the organic food label for example people often claim organic produce is healthier because it's not grown with pesticides it's not true though organic farmers still use pesticides they're just the organic kind and because Organic pesticides aren't as tailored to specific bugs Farmers typically need to spray more of them on the other hand GMO crops can be engineered to be pest resistant so farmers can use less pesticides or in some cases none at all I got to emphasize this if consuming fewer pesticides is your goal then maybe reaching for the GMO might be your best bet the other flawed narrative is the belief that genetic engineering is some sort of evil new technology it's alive it's alive is alive while science has evolved and there are many new genetic engineering techniques Farmers have practiced selective breeding for most of History just in very low Tech ways they'd save the best seeds from a harvest to improve future ones or they'd cross-pollinate two varieties of a plant randomly mixing together all of their genes take corn ears of corn were originally much much smaller only after a few hundred years of selective breeding corn became what it is today broccoli bananas apples all have similar stories these crops were genetically modified just not in a sciencey evil looking lab so the next time you go food shopping remember most of the fruits and vegetables you see are genetically modified even though very few of them are actually modern GMOs now let's get to the root of the biggest controversy the US Food and Drug Administration requires that foods be labeled as GMO or genetically modified and obviously those won't be GMO Foods but a sneaky little way around this now is that food manufacturers are calling these genetically modified foods bioengineered without any real logic behind it some groups have been increasingly vocal lobbying for mandatory labeling of GMO foods with actual success in the political sphere getting the USDA to approve GMO labeling even labeling foods to indicate the lack of GMOs has become cool if you've been to Whole Foods lately you might have seen a label that looks like this it's all over the place they're issued by an advocacy group called The non-GMO project a food brand can get the label by paying for it and then passing on the extra cost to you and shockingly the label doesn't even mean the food is fully GMO free it just means the GMO components don't exceed a certain threshold you can find this label on some absolutely ridiculous products Himalayan fine pink salt bro salt doesn't have genes it can't be genetically modified it's like marketing gluten-free water but what I fail to understand is why are they doing this labeling GMO Foods has been framed as a consumer right to no issue but labeling ultimately biases Shoppers against perfectly healthy and often more affordable Foods that's just bad practice if the evidence says that GMO foods are as safe and healthy as other Foods then what's the purpose of the label adding food warnings that don't have any purpose can create alarm fatigue where alarm Bells become so commonplace that people start start to ignore them just look at prop 65 in California where every single product has this sign warning you about cancer causing compounds honestly I might as well stick that plaque on my forehead look I'm very much for consumer's right to know and transparency is absolutely important if a consumer might need to change their behavior based on the information revealed or labeled someone with high blood pressure or diabetes might need to regulate their sodium or sugar intake cigarettes have warning labels to discourage people from smoking because we know they cause cancer but the scientific reality is that there's no action that someone needs to take based on a GMO label it's there solely for marketing purposes bogging down our already inefficient food agencies with oversight of a pointless marketing label just seems silly in fact the FDA opposed labeling GMOs for years except in the instance that a GMO product had nutritional differences from its non-GMO counterpart that makes sense but at least one group completely disagrees I'll call that group celebrity quacks famous people who have questionable beliefs about science in 2015 Sarah Michelle Geller Jillian Michaels and other celebs participated in PSA for the prmo food labeling organization just label it you know like Nike gwenneth paltro actually met with lawmakers that very same year to support mandatory labeling in response to this celebrity activism a group of moms including scientists farmers and experts who call themselves grounded parents wrote a letter explaining the basic concepts about genetic engineering AKA science and asking the celebrities to become better informed boom dunked on it was around the same time that green piece also jumped on the anti-gmo bandwagon they were such a famous and well- trusted environmental organization they weren't even known for their anti-science positions but in 2016 after their ridiculous anti-gmo stance over 100 Nobel laurates published a plea to Green Piece to basically shut up ooh burn even some companies including one of my favorites have also supported going GMO free Chipotle announced in 2015 that it was going GMO free and then hung only non- GMO ingredient signs across its stores 3 years later it became the target of a class action lawsuit when customers claimed those non-GMO signs were misleading because Chipotle's meat and dairy products came from animals who' been fed GMO crop all in the name of transparency right what's particularly frustrating here is that widespread public distrust hasn't always been a problem for GMOs back in 1994 the flavor saver tomato became the first GMO crop to be sold in stores its release was a widely celebrated news event the90s were a simpler time the flavor saver was genetically engineered to stay firm and flavorful longer than regular Tomatoes the company behind the flavor saver wasn't legally required to label it as a GMO food but decided to because they thought of it as a promotional tactic the flavor saver flew off the shelves when it first came out but then it didn't quite live up to the promises of superior taste and texture and was eventually discontinued in 1997 the fact that the flavor saver wasn't arousing success didn't ruin American's appetite for GMO Foods public polling from that time found that most Americans accepted GMO foods and were even excited about them but just a few years later the tides of public opinion started to shift by 2001 a poll found that 52% of people believed GMO Foods were unsafe and the needle hasn't moved much since then so what happened to the GMO optimism captured in the 9s some have speculated that the biggest Factor might have been the rise of the natural and organic food movement criticizing GMOs in order to better sell its own natural products I don't know if that's the sole reason but clearly the lack of knowledge by the general public is staggering the thing is genetic engineering like any other technology isn't inherently good or bad it's just a tool and their benefits or harms lie in their use and don't get me wrong genetic engineering can go wrong and there's certainly risks especially if it's not regulated properly that's why careful oversight is a must and unlike supplements GMOs are regulated and the rules have only tightened over time dfda USDA and EPA share responsibility to make sure GMOs meet food safety standards every GMO crop should be and is tested rigorously before being approved for commercial use certain ones even have targeted benefits golden rice is engineered to combat vitamin A deficiency the leading Global cause of blindness in children Arctic apples don't turn brown reducing food waste there's even a GMO potato engineered to have less of a chemical called acrylamide which is suspected to increase cancer risk so here's where I have to ask you is there a path towards renewed public trust and excitement in GMOs well numerous Studies have actually found a link between people having accurate scientific info on GMOs and having positive attitudes towards them though scientists actually concluded it seems that they only need to be exposed to a little bit of accurate information to alter their opinions well hopefully now you got your little bit of information now go check out this video of the famous celebrity quack gyneth paltro as always they have Happ and [Music] healthy

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