Whole Foods Market has officially become the first grocery store to require the labeling of all genetically modified foods. In an article published by The New York Times, on Friday, March 8th, Whole Foods Market announced that they will be labeling all genetically enhanced food products.
According to Whole Foods president A. C. Gallo, the new labeling requirement was implemente due to consumer demand. Mr. Gallo stated that that their “manufacturers say they’ve seen a 15 percent increase in sales of products they have labeled.”
Today, genetically modified foods are of great abundance in the global food supply. For example, most of the corn and soybeans grown here in the United States are genetically altered. The alterations make the soybeans resistant to a herbicide used in weed control, and causes the corn to produce its own insecticide. Scientists are currently working on producing a genetically modified apple that will spoil less quickly, and genetically modified salmon that will grow faster.
What do you guys think of the position Whole Foods is taking with labeling their products? What are your thoughts on genetically modified food in general? Do you believe that genetically modified foods are safe for humans to consume? Please leave your thoughts and comments below.
biolivcious
Personally I feel that the positives outweigh the negatives when it come to GMFs. But I do agree with Wholefoods on their label policy. People have the right to know what their eating! Here is a recent article on the safety of GMFs that I found intriguing: http://www.psmag.com/health/scientific-debate-gm-foods-theyre-safe-66711/
leahna
My mom and I (she’s a dietician) talk a lot about the pros and cons of GMOs. She recently went to an Academy of Dietetics conference where they had a guest speaker talk about GMOs. According to the speaker, GMOs have some benefits (such as reduced need for pesticides) and have yet to be proven deadly to humans. That being said, she didn’t take a strong stance one way or the other because there’s really not enough information about them.
I do think Whole Foods is right to label GMOs just so you know what exactly you’re eating. That being said, sometimes it’s easy to tell when your’e eating food that’s genetically modified. Many of my apples are GMOd because they’re just too big to be natural!
evolucious
I agree with the previous two commenters; GM foods have been shown to have negative effects on human health. This article posits that we are ingesting micro RNA as well as proteins and vitamins with our food. Read more here: http://www.theatlantic.com/health/archive/2012/01/the-very-real-danger-of-genetically-modified-foods/251051/
saysquad
This is a great article rawgdog! I find this subject to be very interesting. Maybe it can end world hunger?!?! Besides the harm GMS or GMFs can cause to humans, they are also very harmful to the environment. For more information on this check out the link below.
http://science.howstuffworks.com/environmental/green-science/organic-farming2.htm
troybolton
Very cool subject! I personally think that Genetically Modified Foods are an interesting step in agriculture. However, there are also some draw backs. There are some health risks attributed to GMFs. For instance, there is a possibility that GMFs could lead to new allergens for humans. We also don’t know the long term affects of GMFs. Nice article!
http://www.csa.com/discoveryguides/gmfood/overview.php