1.

Soy

Up to 90% of soybeans in the market have been genetically modified to be

naturally resistant to an herbicide called, Round Up. This increased resistance
to the herbicide allows farmers to use more Round Up to kill weeds. However,
this results not only in a genetically modified food product, but also a food
product loaded with more chemicals.

2. Corn

Half of the US farms growing corn to sell to the conglomerate, Monsanto, are
growing GMO corn. Most of this corn is going to be used for human
consumption. Genetically modified corn has been linked to health problems,
including weight gain and organ disruption.

3. Canola oil

Canola oil is derived from rapeseed oil. It is considered one of the most
chemically altered oils sold in the US.

4. Cotton

Even cotton has been genetically modified to increase yield and resistance to
disease. Most concern relates to the cotton oil. Cotton originating from India,
and China, in particular, is considered higher risk for personal health.

5. Milk

One fifth of the dairy cows in the United States have been given growth
hormones to help them grow faster and increase their yield. These hormones
can be found in some of the milk produced by these cows. These growth
hormones have been shown to act inside the human body.
6. Sugar

Genetically modified sugar beets were introduced to the US market in 2009.

These sugar beets are modified to resist Roundup, like corn.

10. Papaya

Genetically modified papaya trees have been grown in Hawaii since 1999.
These Papayas are sold in the United States and Canada for human
consumption. These papayas have been modified to be naturally resistant to
Papaya Ringspot virus, and also to delay the maturity of the fruit. Delaying
maturity gives suppliers more time to ship the fruit to supermarkets.

These are just 10 of the most prevalent GMO foods found in the supermarket.
There are many others currently for sale and being grown for the market. GMO
safety is not yet certain, so if you want to stay away from it always keep an eye
out for a label that indicates food is organic or non-GMO.

3. Is the safety of GM foods assessed differently from conventional foods?

Generally consumers consider that conventional foods (that have an established

record of safe consumption over the history) are safe. Whenever novel varieties of
organisms for food use are developed using the traditional breeding methods that
had existed before the introduction of gene technology, some of the characteristics
of organisms may be altered, either in a positive or a negative way. National food
authorities may be called upon to examine the safety of such conventional foods
obtained from novel varieties of organisms, but this is not always the case.
In contrast, most national authorities consider that specific assessments are
necessary for GM foods. Specific systems have been set up for the rigorous
evaluation of GM organisms and GM foods relative to both human health and the
environment. Similar evaluations are generally not performed for conventional
foods. Hence there currently exists a significant difference in the evaluation
process prior to marketing for these two groups of food.
The WHO Department of Food Safety and Zoonoses aims at assisting national
authorities in the identification of foods that should be subject to risk assessment
and to recommend appropriate approaches to safety assessment. Should national
authorities decide to conduct safety assessment of GM organisms, WHO
recommends the use of Codex Alimentarius guidelines (See the answer to
Question 11 below).

Insecticide sweet corn

Scientists have genetically modified sweet corn so
that it produces a poison which kills harmful
insects. This means the farmer no longer needs to
fight insects with insecticides. The genetically
modified corn is called Bt-corn, because the
insect-killing gene in the plant comes from the
bacteria Bacillus thuringiensis.

Advantages:

 The farmer no longer has to use insecticide to kill insects, so the

surrounding environment is no longer exposed to large amounts of
harmful insecticide.
 The farmer no longer needs to walk around with a drum of toxic spray
wearing a mask and protective clothing.

Disadvantages:

 This type of genetically modified corn will poison the insects over a
longer period than the farmer who would spray the crops once or twice.
In this way the insects can become accustomed (or resistant) to the
poison. If that happens both crop spraying and the use of genetically
modified Bt-corn become ineffective.
 A variety of insects are at risk of being killed. It might be predatory
insects that eat the harmful ones or, perhaps attractive insects such as
butterflies. In the USA, where Bt-corn is used a great deal there is much
debate over the harmful effects of Bt-corn on the beautiful Monarch
butterfly.

Golden rice
Golden rice is genetically modified rice that now contains a large amount of
A-vitamins. Or more correctly, the rice contains the
elementbeta-carotene which is converted in the body into Vitamin-A. So
when you eat golden rice, you get more vitamin A.
Beta-carotene gives carrots their orange color and
is the reason why genetically modified rice is
golden. For the golden rice to make beta-carotene
three new genes are implanted: two from daffodils
and the third from a bacterium.

Advantages:

 The rice can be considered a particular advantage to poor people in

underdeveloped countries. They eat only an extremely limited diet
lacking in the essential bodily vitamins. The consequences of this
restricted diet causes many people to die or become blind. This is
particularly true in areas of Asia, where most of the population live on
rice from morning to evening.

Disadvantages:

 Critics fear that poor people in underdeveloped countries are becoming

too dependent on the rich western world. Usually, it is the large private
companies in the West that have the means to develop genetically
modified plants. By making the plants sterile these large companies can
prevent farmers from growing plant-seed for the following year - forcing
them to buy new rice from the companies.
 Some opposers of genetic modification see the "golden rice" as a
method of making genetic engineering more widely accepted.
Opponents fear that companies will go on to develop other genetically
modified plants from which they can make a profit. A situation could
develop where the large companies own the rights to all the good crops.

The argument for labeling comes down to the right to know: Consumers, the
advocates say, should be well informed of what’s in their food. Further, they argue,
genetically modifying food carries risks while providing few nutritional benefits.

Much of the World Already Requires

Labeling of Genetically Engineered
Foods
64 countries with over 40% of the world’s population already label genetically
engineered foods, including the entire European Union. China labels genetically
engineered foods. The same companies that fight GMO labeling in the US
reformulate or label GMOs in the foods they sell overseas. Why do they afford
non-citizens transparency when they've spent over $100M to keep us from
knowing what's in our food here in the US?
Hello, everyone. After understanding what exactly the biotech foods are, now let me
introduce the second question of the lesson for you: Are biotech food safe for
humans?
Before answering this question, I want to show some of the most common biotech
food to you, since most of people are even not conscious of what they’re eating and
didn’t know the food is genetically modified.

These are the top ten biotech food in the world. Most of the potatoes, rapeseed and
peas are genetically modified to being resistance to specific disease and control their
quantities. Rapeseed is the material of canola oil.
Biotech tomatoes were able to fully ripen on the vine and still be able to stick around
for a while in stores. And this helps the farmer harvest them more convenient.
One fifth of the dairy cows in the United States have been given growth hormones to
help them grow faster and increase their yield. These hormones can be found in
some of the milk produced by these cows. These growth hormones have been shown
to act inside the human body.

Rice is being experimented on to make it more resistant to pests.

Genetically papaya is from Hawaii. These papayas have been modified to be naturally
resistance to Papaya Rinspot virus, and also delay the maturity of the fruit.
Corn is the second heavily modified food. Though most of them are not for human
consumption, it has ever been linked to health problems, including weight gain and
organ disruption.
Even cotton has been genetically modified to increase yield and resistance to disease.
Most concern relates to the cotton oil.
Of all crops, soy is the most heavily modified. It is estimated that more than half of
the world's soy was made up of genetically modified strains. Common modifications
include increasing its resistance to insects and enriching its vitamins or protein
content so it can be used for animal feed.

The followings are vocabularies in question two.

Now, I’m going to read the article for you. It’s from line 50 to line 80.

Now I’ll give you two famous and controversial example of biotech food.
The first is Insecticide sweet corn.
Scientists have genetically modified traditional sweet corn so that it produces a
poison which kills harmful insects. This means the farmer no longer needs to fight
insects with insecticides.

This can benefit the environment because surrounding is no longer exposed to large
amounts of harmful insecticide. And the farmer no longer needs to walk around with
a drum of toxic spray wearing a mask and protective clothing.

But there are also disadvantages that make this food controversial. For example, the
insects can become accustomed (or resistant) to the poison. If that happens both
crop spraying and the use of genetically modified Bt-corn become ineffective.

A variety of insects are at risk of being killed. It might be predatory insects that eat
the harmful ones or, perhaps attractive insects such as butterflies.

The second example is golden rice.

It is genetically modified rice that now contains elements which is converted in the
body into Vitamin-A. So when you eat golden rice, you get more Vitamin A.

And its golden color is from carrots.

The rice can be considered a particular advantage to poor people in underdeveloped
countries. They eat only an extremely limited diet lacking in the essential bodily
vitamins, and many people die or become blind because of it.
However, because only the large private companies in the West have this technology
and funds to develop genetically modified plants, critics fear that poor people in
underdeveloped countries are becoming too dependent on the rich western world.

So can we trust biotech food?

People around the world have different points toward this issue.
According to WHO, the world health organization, GM foods which is currently
available on the international market have all passed safety assessments and are not
likely to present risks for human health. In addition, no effects on human health have
been shown as a result of the consumption of such foods by the general population
in the countries.

But there are still many people doubting the safety of biotech food.
They think biotech foods have not been completely proven safe, and the long-term
health risks on humans of genetically modified foods have not been adequately
investigated.
So they want these food labeled.
They think it’s a basic consumer right to know what is in our food.
So far, 64 countries with over 40% of the world’s population already label genetically
engineered foods, including the entire European Union and China.

And there are also a portion of people completely oppose biotech food.
Some of their reason is that biotech food is not managed or labeled properly and
some of them only accept pure organic foods.

And now it’s time for discussion. Biotech food really has lots of controversial issues.
Can you accept biotech food in terms of its safety? You can become one of the three
standpoints above, or you can have your own consideration and viewpoint.

Okay, now let’s keep going on the next question.