Greenpeace released a poll suggesting that 80% of the population in British Columbia is concerned about the food they are eating.
These people indicated they wanted to know whether they were consuming a genetically modified organism or not. As a response the government is passing a labelling law, but it still trying to figure out who should handle it.
Greenpeace estimates that up to 70% of processed foods in the grocery store include genetically engineered organisms. However, considering corn, soy and canola are common GMOs, and also common ingredients for processed foods, this figure is not so outrageous as it seems. It just means that the oil used in your soup stock may have been obtained from a plant that was genetically modified.
“There are no long-term studies on the effects of genetically engineered foods and biotechnology on human health”, Greenpeace spokesman Josh Brandon said.
"There hasn't been sufficient testing of genetically modified foods," he said.
"Most people in B.C. and most Canadians don't want to be guinea pigs for this kind of technology."
Greenpeace tends to have an interesting choice of words in their campaigns, and this one is no different. Of course people don’t want to be guinea pigs, but is the public really used for that purpose? No, testing on the public makes no sense because there is no way of controlling the “experiment”. Foods and drugs are also not approved before they go through extensive testing and screening (in the case of GMOs).
Mr. Brandon made another dramatic statement by saying: "People have a right to be scared about things that they don't know that food companies are trying to hide from them.” It is quite unlikely the food companies are really trying to hide information from the consumers. They have no real reason to, especially if the consumer becomes more educated on what genetically engineered organisms really are. Last month the US government stated that food from cloned animals is safe to eat. After more than five years of study the FDA concluded the cloned animals are completely identical (and as safe) as “normal” livestock.
This is yet another news story entirely based on a lack of knowledge. Perhaps not only the public, but also Greenpeace, should become more informed about genetic engineering before making statements with a weak foundation.
