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This article is from the Food Science FAQ, bypking123@sympatico.ca (Paul E. J. King) with numerous contributions by others.

9. Shouldn't all genetically modified foods, or those containing genetically modified ingredients, be labelled as such, to warn consumers?

There are two distinct kinds of genetic modification. The first
is as old as the hills, and applies to all the food we eat.
Traditional breeding methods of improvement are genetic modification
by slow, hit-and-miss means. Science now enables it to be done
systematically and more rapidly. That kind of modification
objectively needs no special label indication -- otherwise it would
have to be given on virtually all foods. Yet if the ready to eat
product still contains genes incorporated by modern methods, informed
consumer choice requires label information to that effect. In the UK
there is a voluntary agreement by manufacturers and retailers to give
such information, and a similar agreement is being developed across
the whole EU. These developments have been welcomed by IFST.

The second kind, which could not be done by traditional breeding,
is copying genes from one species to another. If some consumers wish,
for whatever reason, to avoid purchasing products of this second
kind, if the copy genes remain present in the food product, that
information should be given on the label.

This dual approach was adopted in the recommendations of the UK
Food Advisory Committee, accepted by the Government and welcomed by
IFST. It is now also the basis of EU law.

 

Continue to:

• prev: 8. Doesn't gene transfer from one species to another create the risk of ethical problems or even cannibalism?
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• next: 10. With regard to BSE, is British beef safe to eat?

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