Avoiding Genetically Modified Organisms
From the corn fields of Nebraska, to the food in your grocery store, to the dinner served at your favorite restaurant, Genetically Modified Organisms or GMO’s are in as much as 80% of processed foods in the US are eating (Paturel & Yamakawa, 2015). What exactly is a GMO and should the average consumer be worried about consuming a GMO? It seems as though one food chain is concerned enough about GMO’s, that they are fazing all GMO produced products from their menus. What other steps can a consumer take to avoid GMOs, and are these steps really necessary? Are GMO’s something consumers should be wary of and try to avoid at all costs or is it just another scare tactic by the media and lobbyists to push more expensive organic made materials?
What is a Genetically Modified Organism? …show more content…
Science has come a long way in term of genetics and the capabilities thereof. Genetic Engineering (GE) is defined as “the group of applied techniques of genetics and biotechnology used to cut up and join together genetic material and especially DNA from one or more species of organism and to introduce the result into an organism in order to change one or more of its characteristics“ (Merriam-Webster, 2015). Genetic Engineering has been used in cloning; as well as, to alter plants, called Genetically Modified Organisms (GMO). The first GMO tomato called Flavr Savr hit the American grocery shelves in 1994; since then, GMOs have flourished in the U.S. food supply (Hemphill & Banerjee,
From the corn fields of Nebraska, to the food in your grocery store, to the dinner served at your favorite restaurant, Genetically Modified Organisms or GMO’s are in as much as 80% of processed foods in the US are eating (Paturel & Yamakawa, 2015). What exactly is a GMO and should the average consumer be worried about consuming a GMO? It seems as though one food chain is concerned enough about GMO’s, that they are fazing all GMO produced products from their menus. What other steps can a consumer take to avoid GMOs, and are these steps really necessary? Are GMO’s something consumers should be wary of and try to avoid at all costs or is it just another scare tactic by the media and lobbyists to push more expensive organic made materials?
What is a Genetically Modified Organism? …show more content…
Science has come a long way in term of genetics and the capabilities thereof. Genetic Engineering (GE) is defined as “the group of applied techniques of genetics and biotechnology used to cut up and join together genetic material and especially DNA from one or more species of organism and to introduce the result into an organism in order to change one or more of its characteristics“ (Merriam-Webster, 2015). Genetic Engineering has been used in cloning; as well as, to alter plants, called Genetically Modified Organisms (GMO). The first GMO tomato called Flavr Savr hit the American grocery shelves in 1994; since then, GMOs have flourished in the U.S. food supply (Hemphill & Banerjee,