If you look at any food label, I can assure you, you are not seeing absolutely everything that’s in that food item. Companies are continually making food labels that don’t include everything used to make it. Food companies are unethically targeting uninformed consumers when they withhold identifying genetically modified food.
To start off, many consumers have food allergies and oppose not identifying what is in your food to avoid health concerns. For example, a mother may give their infant child food from something that was unlabeled and it could stop breathing due to allergies. The mother would have known she couldn’t give the child this and could’ve dogged this situation completely if the food was correctly identified. Therefore, FARE (Food allergy Research and Education) Passed a federal law in 2004 starting in 2006 that requires food labels note allergens in plain language (‘Food Allergy Research and Education’). Also, the law FALCPA changed food labels because people with food allergies need to be able to identify potential allergens easily and effectively (‘Food Allergy Research and Education’). This alone should be a big enough reason for companies to stop withholding genetically modified foods from consumers.
Another reason to support my claim would be, many Americans do not want GMO in what they consume, therefore they believe it is very necessary and important to require food labels that clearly identify GMO products. GMO is a genetically modified organism that genetic material was altered by genetic engineering techniques. People think GMO is an unhealthy product and would much rather prefer to keep it out of their diets. In fact, more than 20 percent of Americans say they don’t want genetically modified organisms in their food. As well as a survey Consumer Reports did say that 92 percent of Americans want genetically modified foods to have labels (GMOS in food- Consumer Reports’). Therefore, Actions against the withholding of GMOS being labeled are being consider in more than two dozen states. Jean Halloran (director of Food Policy Initiatives at Consumers Union and arm of consumer Reports) states that ‘Federal law already requires labeling that lets consumers know whether food has been previously frozen, made from concentrate, pasteurized, or irradiated, and we believe the label should also say if food is genetically engineered’. Overall, people should have the right to know everything that’s in their food epically GMO, it is their body’s and their lifestyles they are trying to keep healthy and companies shouldn’t be withholding this from them.
Food companies that do not require labeling genetically modified foods would argue that it is ethical and should not be a requirement of the law. Big food companies believe that when labeling food, they will lose money to other foods. A big argument from the big food companies is when people see ‘contains GMO ingredients’ they automatically become inferior to other foods that are all natural or organic. Companies argue that genetic engineering is almost the same as traditional breeding which they state humans have been doing for thousands of years. (GMOS in Food- Consumer Reports’). However, Michael Hansen, Ph.D., senior scientist at Consumers Union and an authority on genetic engineering says “scientists around the world agree that GMOs have the potential to introduce allergens and create other unintended changes that may affect health.” This is causing states to pass laws withdrawing the withhold of the labeling.
