GMOs in Food

GMO (genetically modified

organism) is the result of a
laboratory process where
genes from the DNA of one
species are extracted and
artificially forced into the
genes of an unrelated plant
or animal. The foreign genes
may come from bacteria,
viruses, insects, animals or
even humans.

Here are some of the edible products that make use of GMOs as ingredients:
 Kellogg’s Fruit Loops
 Jiffy Corn Muffin Mix
 General Mills Corn Chex
 Boca Original Vegan Veggie Burgers
 Quaker Life Original
 Kashi GoLean
 Doritos Oven Baked Nacho Cheese
 Mission White Corn Tortillas
 Similac Soy Isomil Infant Formula
 Enfamil ProSobee Soy Infant Formula
 MorningStar Farms Chik’n Nuggets

In 2014, Consumer Reports

purchased more than 80
processed foods and tested
them for GMO ingredients.
According to their research,
nearly all of the products
that made no claims about
GMO ingredients contained
substantial amounts of
genetically modified corn.
 Genetically modified corn turns up in many different products in the U.S. — and
corn on the cob is the least of it. This crop is used to produce many different ingredients
used in processed foods and drinks, including high-fructose corn syrup and corn starch.
But the bulk of the GM corn grown around the world is used to feed livestock. Some is
also converted into biofuels.
We also wouldn’t have corn, which is probably the oldest example of selective
breeding. Humans began modifying corn over 10,000 years ago, saving the tiny edible
seeds from a scruffy tall grass to plant the next year. Over thousands of years, thanks to
us picking and choosing the seeds from the strongest and tastiest plants to grow the
following year that scruffy tall grass evolved into corn. It’s now one of the world’s most
widely grown crops.
Corn has been modified to resist the corn borer, a common crop pest, or to resist
drought. There are currently 142 different types of genetically modified corn grown in the
United States, and the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) reports that over 90% of
corn acreage in the United States is for genetically modified crops.
Here in the Philippines, farmers are also promoting the GMO corn. In fact, the
Philippines is the first country in Southeast Asia to approve the commercial cultivation of
a genetically modified crop for feed and food. Bt corn in the Philippines was designed to
be resistant to the Asiatic corn borer (ACB), Ostrinia furnacalis (Guenee), one of the
nation’s most destructive corn pests. The crop also presents a practical and ecologically
sustainable solution for poor corn farmers everywhere to increase their yields and
decrease pesticide use, thus improving their health and livelihoods, alleviating poverty.
As early as 2013, the Philippiines had already achieved corn self-suffiiciency, said
Agriculture Undersecretary Segfredo Serrano.
Agriculture Secretary Emmanuel Pinol expects the country to achieve 120 percent
corn sufficiency this year.
During the media conference on the Global Status of Commercialized
Biotechnology/GM Crops in 2017, Serrano pointed out that the single most important
technological development that saved the Philippine livestock industry was GM corn.
“We now have around 800,000 hectares of GM corn being planted by about
406,000 resource-poor Filipino farmers,” Serrano said.
He assured the scientists present during the forum that the “DA is with you in the
rally for an enabling policy environment, for the generation of much-needed technologies
that will help address challenges such as food security, agricultural productivity and
competitiveness, and climate change.”
The Philippines began biotech maize commercialization in 2003 following strict
regulations set by DA for biotech cultivation.
How does the use of a GMO ingredient in the product reduce the drawbacks of the
same product that use non-GMO ingredient?

Manufacturers use genetic modification to give foods desirable traits. For example,
if researchers want to make a particular organism produce a nutrient that it naturally isn’t
capable of producing, they will look for another organism that can produce that specific
nutrient.
The reasoning usually involves making crops more resistant to diseases as they
grow. Manufacturers also engineer produce to be more nutritious or tolerant of herbicides.
Crop protection is the main rationale behind this type of genetic modification.
Plants that are more resistant to diseases spread by insects or viruses result in higher
yields for farmers and a more attractive product.
One common method is to use the Agrobacterium tumefaciens bacteria. Many
viruses and bacteria transfer their DNA into a host cell as part of their natural life cycle.
Scientists use this naturally occurring process to insert new strands of DNA into a plant
cell. They put the gene they want to insert into the bacteria, which then invades the plant
cell and transfers the new gene. The plant cells that successfully accept the new gene
turn into plants that have the desired traits.
Genetically modification can also increase nutritional value or enhance flavor.
References:

https://responsibletechnology.org/gmo-education/
https://www.moneycrashers.com/gmo-foods-list-safe-benefits-examples/
http://time.com/3840073/gmo-food-charts/
https://allianceforscience.cornell.edu/blog/2019/01/gmo-corn-transforming-farmers-lives-
philippines/
https://www.philstar.com/business/agriculture/2018/07/15/1833522/gm-corn-aids-
philippine-self-sufficiency
https://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/324576.php
https://www.bioexplorer.net/disadvantages-of-genetically-modified-foods.html/