GMO foods have caused nary a sniffle, sneeze or bellyache

From buying organic to gluten-free, consumers seem to be more interested than ever in the ways their food is produced.

This spring, legislators in more than 20 states will consider proposals to mandate special labeling of genetically modified foods, to give shoppers one more bit of information.

Critics say genetically modified foods might be unsafe, but even if they are not, consumers have a right to know what is in what they eat.

So, why not tell people if the ingredients in their cupcakes and cereal have been engineered, and let them decide what to buy?

This may sound reasonable and seem to reflect how our choice-driven marketplace works. But, it reflects a deep misunderstanding about what genetic engineering actually is and how it compares to the changes we have been making to crop plants for thousands of years.

For starters, nearly every food on grocery store shelves has been modified by human hands at the genetic level. In the agriculture world, its called breeding. And, as many of us learned in high school biology class, breeding alters a plants genes so it expresses new traits.

This may be as simple as a new color or flavor, or even resistance to pests and plant diseases.

And, whether we use genetic engineering or more conventional techniques, breeding can mean just tweaking the genes already inside a plant or introducing entirely new ones.

The primary thing that makes genetic engineering unique is the power and precision it gives us to make those changes and then test for safety afterward. It has also given us food that is both safer for our families and better for the environment.

Plants with a built-in resistance to chewing insects, for example, have allowed farmers to use millions of gallons less pesticide every year.

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GMO foods have caused nary a sniffle, sneeze or bellyache