Article Review Essay

Title of Article: To Label or Not to Label Name: Lexus Lambert
Author: Richard Dahl Period: 1
Publication: September 2012 Date Submitted: 10/16/14
Date: October 15, 2014

The article I read was about genetically modified foods and whether or not they should have to be labeled. Genetically modified foods are foods produced from organisms that have had specific changes introduced into their DNA using methods of genetic engineering. These experimental combinations of genes from different species cannot occur in nature or in traditional crossbreeding. This article explains California’s up coming vote on the genetically modified foods and the positives/ negatives of using this method. It also informs us with multiple different studies and tests that were performed to see the environmental and health risks that tag along with the genetically modified foods.
Genetically modified foods were first grown in the mid- 1990’s and the method has gone global since then. This method has offered resistance to drought, herbicides, and insects for farmers. Although the production of crops have increased, the concerns of eating the genetically modified may have exposed unexpected environmental and health hazards. A growing body of evidence connects GMOs with health problems, environmental damage and violation of farmers and consumers rights. If California passes the Right to Know Genetically Engineered Food Act, companies will be required to label their foods to inform consumers what they are eating. People who are for labeling the food claim that the safety of the genetically modified foods are unknown and consumers deserve to know what’s being put in their foods. However the people against labeling the food think its way to expensive to label the foods and they fear the loss of consumers once they are shown what is in each of the products.
In 2010, the European Commission released an analysis of 50 studies conducted on GE foods over the last 25 years and concluded that GE technologies posed no greater risks than conventional breeding technologies. With that being said you can’t exactly say these foods are safe or aren’t safe for the world. As for health effects, Peggy Lemaux, a cooperative extension specialists, stated that her team didn’t find any evidence of anything on the commercial market causing any more health problems than things that are conventionally produced. Also a study was performed on animals. Animals were fed GE plant diets and no evidence of health hazards were discovered.
Scientists are now trying to figure out not so much the risks involved with the GE foods, but whether it’s greater than risks posed by conventional foods. In one such study, investigators reviewed 19 studies of mammals fed GE soybeans and maize. They found that "several convergent data appear to indicate liver and kidney problems as end points of GMO diet effects," with the kidneys more affected in males and the liver more

Show More

Review Of Articles

Leadership Article Review