The overall argument against GMO foods is that their long term effects on the humans who consume them have not been properly studied prior to their release on the market.
Due to bribery and/or blackmail from the deep-pocketed industries who produce GMOs, members of the US Congress have voted NOT to enforce the overwhelming will of their constituents, for transparency in the labeling of food. Such labeling would to distinguish natural foods from those which have been genetically-modified, by having the genetics of animals, bacteria and from other plants from unrelated families spliced into their native genes. Representative Rand Paul (R-KY) was among those who voted NOT to enforce the labeling of GMO foods.
There is currently another Senate bill S. 2609, which would actually block producers from labeling whether or not their foods contain GMOs.
In the meantime, while it is still legal to do so, some producers have taken matters into their own hands, by placing QR codes on their packaging. QR codes can be scanned by consumers who own smartphones. An app can use the phone’s camera and direct the phone’s Internet browser to webpages disclosing the products’ ingredients. This rigamarole makes food shopping more hectic than most people would prefer, to say nothing of increased mobile phone bills.
88% of Americans want this information to be labeled on their produce and prepared foods, rather than only displaying QR codes.
Meanwhile, several European countries have banned the production and sale of genetically-modified foods, citing studies, which indicate health risks associated with consuming foods with genetically built-in pesticides, for example. These are the Bt crops, which include strains of corn, potato, rice and cotton (cottonseed oil is used extensively in food-processing). Monsanto is currently pushing to engineer Bt wheat, as well, after giving up in the 1990s, due to the resistance of farmers concerned about consumer reaction.
Bt crops have had the genes of the Bacterium thuringiensis spliced into their native genetic codes. Bt serves as a built-in pesticide, by causing the guts of infesting insects to explode. There have been studies indicating that such GMO’d vegetables can harm the human digestive tract, as well.
This clip was produced by justlableit.org, a political action group dedicated to food transparency.
