People are getting more and more concerned about their health, and wondering about the food they are eating. Many of the products we consume today have been in someway genetically modified (GM). This has caused a lot of people to ask themselves if what they are eating is genetically engineered food.
Many of the food we consume on a daily basis have not been labeled for us to see if they are GM. A survey made by Les Dames d'Escoffier a prestigious International women's culinary organization, showed that 86% of 1012 people sampled would like food to be labeled. "We seem to always hear about what the agri-biotechnology companies, the environmentalists and the government thinks about this issue, but we wanted to get an independent sense of what consumers thought," said Les Dames .
spokeswoman Saralie Slonksy at a meeting in New York about bio-engineered foods (QTD Eisner). .
GM food first came out in1992. The Drug Administration categorized these type of food safe and no different that other food, for that reason not requiring for it to be labeled. 50% of soybeans crops planted in the US in 1999 carry a non-soybean gene. ¼ of the corn crop planted in 1999 contains a protein taken from bacteria called Bacillus Thuringiensis. These genes and proteins reduce the need for the crops to be sprayed by insecticides. Most of these crops are fed to animals.
There are many supermarkets like the Genuardi's Family market that believe that people should have the choice to know what they consume. "We believe consumers have the basic right to know relevant information that will affect their personal food choices. We also recognize the significance of individual food preferences, and therefore, we want to guarantee choices for our customers to the best of our ability," said Charles Genuardi, president of Genuardi's Family Markets (QTD Genuardi's Family Markets). Biotech industries disagree with food labeling although, farmers are proud to label their product.