GMOs and your health

The unknown consequences of genetically modified foods

By Culinate staff

January 20, 2012

Genetically modified organisms have been controversial for a long time now. But some scientists are starting to challenge GMOs on their own playing field: genetics.

On the Atlantic’s health blog, Ari LeVaux recently reported that scientists have discovered that, when we eat food, we absorb not just nutrients but tiny bits of ribonucleic acid — in other words, genetic coding. Whether this is something to truly worry about, and whether GMOs make this situation worse, is an open question, as responses to LeVaux’s article on a Discover magazine blog, a Scientific American blog, and the blog The Biology Files, among others, have pointed out.

Meanwhile, for more than a year, a plant pathologist named Don Huber has been raising concerns that Monsanto’s Roundup Ready GM seeds have fostered the growth of an as-yet-unidentified organism that may be linked with infertility in livestock, among other possible consequences.

And right now, Dow Chemical is trying to edge out Monsanto by asking the USDA to approve a new type of GM corn. The Dow corn comes complete with resistance to 2,4-D, an even more toxic herbicide than the glyphosate used on Roundup Ready corn. Not thrilled? You’ve got till February 27 to comment on the matter with the USDA.

In the meantime, check out the Non-GMO Shopping Guide for ways to avoid Big Ag at the store.