What Am I Putting In My Mouth?

What am I Putting in my Mouth?

Ashlyn T. Hill
Bridgewater College

What Am I Putting In My Mouth?

2
Abstract

In 1990 FDA passed the Nutrition Labeling and Education Act stating that companies
must label what is in their product, however genetically modified food doesnt have to be
unless they are deistically changed. That FDA law states that we shouldnt label them but
genetically modified food should be labeled for health and religion purposes.

What Am I Putting In My Mouth?

What am I Putting in my Mouth?

The Jungle written by Upton Sinclair opened the worlds eyes to what was really
going on in the food industry. It exposed the poor health conditions of packing industry
and all the unhealthy things that were placed into our meat for human consummation.
When all of this was brought to the light the government knew that regulations were need
at once. In 1906, Food and Drug Administration, FDA, was formed to protect public
health through the regulation of food safety and other products. FDA was also formed in
response to The Jungle, after hearing about shut horrible things they were ready to
change things. Many years later Suzuki, an environmentalist and writer, wrote From
Naked Ape to Superspecies and explained how humans actions are causing nature to
suffer. Humans pollute the earth, over populate it, and take its resources for granted;
Suzuki believes that we need to change our ways before we lose everything. Each year
humans come up with new was to change the environment for the better; one of those
ways was genetically modifying food. Suzuki believes that scientists seldom reflect
seriously on the social or environmental ramifications of their work meaning that when
they came up with the idea of modifying the crops they never thought about the people
who wanted organic food (Suzuki, 2004, p.150). Or even the people whos religion forbid
them to eat such things. In 1990 FDA passed the Nutrition Labeling and Education Act
stating that companies must label what is in their product, with this law in place
genetically modified food should be labeled as well for health and religion purposes.

What Am I Putting In My Mouth?

With each generation comes new technology, technology that was made to make
our life easier, but sometimes we over look the risks that come with this easier method.
Many people are afraid of change and start to go against such new methods. Genetically
modified food was put on the market back in 1996, and caused a major rally. In 2010
most food ingredients now a day contain 2/3rds of genetically modified food, and more
than of the American agricultural land is made up of GM plants. At this rate in 2015
more than 200 million crops will be GM. The people were disgusted by the idea of
eating food made in what they thought was a science lab. Christians, Muslims, and Jews
all oppose GMF because they believed we were playing God by changing our foods
DNA. Playing God to many people was a major sin and didnt want to take part in it. All
though many people rallied against it the courts didnt see anything wrong with it and let
them continue to put things on the market.
Genetically modified food started out as genetically modified organisms. These
organisms were made to inject into other species to make them better. With the use of
biotechnology the DNA of the organism in then replaced with the desired DNA strand.
This is all done through the use of a vector. The vector might contain several other
elements, including viral promoters, transcription terminators, antibiotic resistance and
marker genes. By doing such things we are producing proteins that people are allergic to
or can cause other health problems this information was proven by a member of the

What Am I Putting In My Mouth?

Biotechnology Department from Iran, Maghari and Ardekani (Maghari & Ardekani,
2011, p.3). This modification has been occurring for roughly 16 years now and the courts
dont see any harm in it. The companies that modify the seeds make a lot of many off of
them. In the court case Monsanto vs. Geertson Seed Farms, the farmer was punished for
keeping GM seeds that were blown onto his land. This was the first case involving
genetically modified crops; it occurred on June 2010(Grossman, 2010, p. 216). Many
farmers that are trying to stick to regular seeds sometimes end up with GM seeds with out
even knowing it, since they are still regular plants they still carry their seeds to different
parts of lands. Then the farmers may go to the market selling the products that they think
are organic but are actually GM. With confusion like that people could get confused at
what food they are actually allergic too. Things like this are reasons why labels should be
present when GM food is involved, also farmers that do use GM seeds should be more
careful with their seeds. Many GM farmers plant corn, alfalfa, sugar beet, papayas, and
even squash, these are just a small few and the list continues to grow. Society would like
it better if these farmers should separate themselves from other farms so such problems
wont occur.
Since a lot of people were strongly against the GM crops many farmers and
consumers loved the idea. With GM food we got big juicy food that could survive the
many different parasites. GM (genetically modified) food uses only the good genes to
make the food better for use to eat. The scientist takes genes from healthy strong plants

What Am I Putting In My Mouth?

and put the favorable gene into the other plant. Its an injection that gives farmers healthy
crops that dont take a lot of tending to and consumers healthier and cheaper produce.
With these two sides so strongly opinionated the world as a whole is very confused as to
whether GM crops is good or not.
The world is a big place filled with many different religions, from Hindu to
Christianity. Many religions have a very strict diet that has to be followed unless they
want to be punished by their church or family. Hindus are forbidden to eat meats as a
sign of respect for what the elders might be in their animal forms. They worship the cow
as a sign of abundance and refuses to eat them. Muslims and Jews have some of the
strictest diet out there. Muslims do not eat pork or any animal that has been slaughter by
a non-Muslim, or if the animal that have been feed filth. Both Jews and Muslims cant eat
pork, birds with claws, and fish with scales. The few animals that they can eat usually eat
plants that may have been genetically modified crops. By not placing labels on our
genetically modified food we are allowing farmers to feed their animals these non-kosher
items. However the FDA, the ones who are suppose to be regulating it believes that
labeling isnt needed unless the product differs significantly from their traditional
counterparts. This means that the amount of sugar or protein in an item has been
decreased and wont give us the extra protein we need to be healthy. Of course consumers
cant tell just by looking at them, so labeling that they are GM will warn them that the
protein or sugar level is lower than organic products.

What Am I Putting In My Mouth?

As stated before the Muslims cannot eat meat that was fed food that was
considered filthy; an example of filth is genetically modified foods. Once they have
consumed non-kosher food many with cause their self to vomit and spend hours pray
about their sin. This all could be prevented if the items were labeled; many companies are
against labeling because they would have to put more money into their product. Suzuki
showed readers that companies would do everything and anything to put out more money
than they really have to. They wont do it even if they cause major health hazards to the
planet and even humans. If the only problem they have to fear is cost of the product going
up a little just so people can get information of whats in the product then they should do
just that. By not labeling the products the companies are being unfair to others and their
religion.
Americans have always been very worried about what is healthy and what isnt.
When movies like Super Size Me appeared it always make many people more aware of
the dangers in our food. When the movie came out many people were appalled at what
they saw, yet not a lot of people stopped eating fast food. This might also apply to the
labels with GM items, we might know that they are in there but many might not care
enough to stop. Many people continued to buy fast food even though it was bad because
it was cheaper than the healthy stuff, which can also be applied to GM food. If the item is
cheaper and doesnt cause any major health problems most Americans wont turn away
from them.
Some side affects for using GM seeds the plants include antibiotic resistance,
nutritional changes, and formation of toxins. Raab and Grobe believe that the safety of

What Am I Putting In My Mouth?

genetically modified foods for human health is unproven so many of the debates on
whether or not the GM are safe is a lot of bias (Raab & Grobe, 2003,p.1). It is proven that
there is a nutritional change for the worse. Many scientific data indicate that animals fed
by GM crops have been harmed or even died, this means that if the food is used to feed
our livestock then we will have a major decrease in meat causing an even bigger uproar
(Maghari & Ardenkani, 2011, p. 112).
A major problem with labeling the products is that we export a lot of good
through out of America and when that occurs our GM food is being put in with other non
GM products. Also in many other places like India their labeling system is very different
then our labeling laws. So if we were to get food from them and have their labels we
wouldnt have all the information we needed to legal put the items on the market.
Companies also think that by putting GM free might cause a negative impression to the
consumers. The law is however established in 40 different countries and has had no
negative effect on the consumers choice. Many people that are against it think that the
label will be like a skull and cross bone type symbol and scare consumers away.
The debate on whether or not to label GM goods will continue to go on for a
while. The only way to stop this debate is to have the churches and science come together
on an agreement. With our country past track history of science and church the people
can see that the chances are very slim. Even though labeling the food will tell people
what is in it and prevent health problems, it can also scare costumers away from the
product. However with bigger and juicier produce it is hard to say no, until you realize
that half of the nutrient is gone. By labeling the GM food we are giving everyone the

What Am I Putting In My Mouth?

information they need to make their own decisions on what product is best for their
family.

What Am I Putting In My Mouth?

10
References

Grossman M. Monsanto Co. v. Geertson Seed Farms: US supreme court decides gm

alfalfa case. European Food & Feed Law Review [serial online]. August
2010;5(4):216-221. Retrieved from http://web.ebscohost.com/ehost/detail?
vid=3&hid=108&sid=84533104-4c654858b219a18df0a3d2c0%40sessionmgr112&bdata=JnNpdGU9ZWhvc3QtbGl2Z
Q%3d%d#db=a9h&AN=53385288

Maghari, B., & Ardenkani, A. M. (2011). Genetically modified foods and social
concerns. Avicenna Journal of Medical Biotechnology, 3(3), 109-117. Retrieved
from http://web.ebscohost.com/ehost/pdfviewer/pdfviewer?sid=1a501e29-7ff149c4-90fa-949e26f146d1%40sessionmgr13&vid=2&hid=15

Miller, A. (2011). Debate of genetically modified organisms used in food. US- China
Law Review, 8(2), 137-157. Retrieved from
http://web.ebscohost.com/ehost/detail?vid=3&hid=112&sid=f7311e93-fcc2-49edbdbe-24216ee14ec2%40sessionmgr113&bdata=JnNpdGU9ZWhvc3QtbGl2ZQ
%3d%3d#db=a9h&AN=61870198

What Am I Putting In My Mouth?

11

Raab, C. & Grobe, D. (2003). Labeling genetically engineered food: the consumer's right
to know?. AgBioForum, 6(4), 155-161. Retrieved from
http://www.agbioforum.org/v6n4/v6n4a02-raab.pdf

Suzuki, D. T., & Dressel, H. J. (2004). From naked ape to superspecies: A personal
perspective on humanity and the global eco-crisis. Toronto: New York.