Do you suffer from GMO-phobia? Why is there so much misinformation being spread about GMO products?

@SW-User Why?

@Straylight honestly it scares me. Doesn't seem natural. People are calling it Frankenfood. lol

@SW-User Its just expediting what we normally do to agriculture anyway. Have you ever seen a banana before we tampered with its genetics through selective pollination?[image deleted]Or a wild eggplant?[image deleted]We've been genetically modifying our food since the dawn of agriculture. It's just now we can do it faster and more efficiently.

@Straylight Hmmm... interesting. Why the hype all of a sudden then?

@SW-User Well, if by all of a sudden, you mean since the 80's, lol. It's a little because genetically modified organisms sounds scary, a little because organic food is expensive but has no proven benefits, so an effective campaign was needed to drive sales.

It can sound scary the way its described, but the reality is that we've always genetically engineered our crops.

@Straylight okay. thank you

@Straylight but in the past it's been through selective breeding... But altering artificially the basic building blocks of it's design... And therein lies the potential for both unwanted side effects and deliberate harm

@ozgirl512 that's worrisome.

@ozgirl512 That's the same thing selective breeding did. And now it's in an even more controlled environment.

@ozgirl512 Straylight is right. Genetic modification of foods is proven to be no more dangerous than our conventional crops. Biotech companies extensively test for allergins and unwanted proteins before putting the product on the market. As with most food products, these are regulated by the FDA. GMOs have been endorsed by nearly every major scientific organization. It's pretty cut and dry as to if GMOs are inherently "unhealthy" and the overwhelming scientific consensus is that no, they are not unhealthy in terms of the most common types of GMO products that have been thoroughly tested. The genetic engineering of crops has been endorsed by:

The American Association for the Advancement of Science
The American Medical Association
World Health Organization
The National Academy of Sciences
The European Commission
The American Council on Health and Science
The American Society for Cell Biology
The American Society for Microbiology <Hey! I know those guys!
The American Society of Plant Biologists
Council for Agricultural Science and Technology
Crop Science Society of America
The International Society of African Scientists
Society for In Vitro Biology
The Society of Toxicology
The French Academy of Science
The Union Of German Academies of Sciences and Humanities
The International Council for Science
The International Seed Federation

Since these are all valid scientific institutions and organizations, I would say that the consensus is pretty overwhelming. In this day and age, you really have to go to town with verifying information that has been presented through the media or online.