Food labeling conundrums often do not serve all consumers
By Mohammad Abdullah
May/June 2023
As of last Jan. 1, “GMO” labels on grocery store food and beverage products were replaced with round green USDA-created label saying “bioengineered” or “derived from bioengineering” or providing a phone number to call, text for more information or a QR code that takes you to an online disclosure. These changes are part of the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s new rules on controversial genetically modified organisms (GMOs), crops and ingredients. The National Bioengineered Food Disclosure Standard (NBFDS), published by the Federal Registered (December 2018), requires that products containing GMOs be labeled by 2022 (www.foodbusinessnews.net).
Currently 65 or so countries, including the U.S., require labeling of genetically modified foods, although the laws may vary widely (www.justlabelit.org). This new law, directed at grocery products, requires food manufacturers, including manufactures of dietary supplements, importers and retailers, to disclose whether foods are bioengineered or contain bioengineered ingredients.
However, it only requires labeling bioengineered foods intended for human consumption that contain more than 5% of GMO ingredients. Under the new rule, a food does not contain genetic material if it cannot be detected. If one or more ingredients come from a modified plant, but the ingredients themselves contain that plant’s DNA, a voluntary label may carry a “derived from bioengineering” disclosure. The problem here is that starches, oils and sweeteners made from bioengineered plants are so highly processed that no DNA remains. Therefore, they aren’t likely to be labeled.
Another loophole — the new disclosure rules don’t cover products that list meat, poultry or eggs as their first or second ingredient after water, stock or broth. Thus, meat lasagna, chicken burritos and many other prepared foods may contain modified ingredients without disclosure. The milk from a cow that ate bioengineered alfalfa isn’t considered a bioengineered food. Moreover, according to The Washington Post (Jan. 1, 2022), it ignores more than 100 million Americans who have no access to smartphones or cell service, because companies are allowed to rely on smartphone-based scannable QR codes to share information with consumers.
The USDA’s Organic and Non-GMO Project Verified labeling will be allowed. Food sold by restaurants, food trucks and delicatessens or served by airlines aren’t required to carry bioengineered food labels even if they are produced with GMOs. This is true for companies whose annual sales are less than $2.5 million (www.specialityfood.com).
The Center for Food Safety Consumer and other advocacy groups say that there are too many loopholes and that the rules will leave most genetically modified foods unlabeled. They maintain that all genetically engineered foods should be labeled, regardless of whether the GMO material is detectable, and that disclosure statements should be made through labels with clear understandable terms (www.ota.com).
What is a Bioengineered Food?
A bioengineered plant or animal has a new gene inserted into it to give it a useful trait, such as making it resistant to a pest or disease or enhancing its nutritional value. Many GMO crops are used to make ingredients found in cornstarch, corn syrup, corn oil, soybean oil, canola oil and granulated sugar. Few fresh fruits and vegetables in GMO varieties include potatoes, summer squash, apples and papayas (www.fda.gov).
A host of animals are being researched for genetic modification. Researchers behind many of the projects want to breed more efficient, nutritious animals for human consumption, such as goats whose milk can prevent children from contracting diarrhea, a potentially deadly disease in some parts of the world (www.medicalnewstoday.com).
Researchers are also using gene-editing technology to create pigs that could provide organs to save human lives. Early this year, history was made when a team that included Dr. Mohammad Mohiuddin, a graduate from the Dow Medical College, Karachi (now a U.S. citizen) transplanted a pig’s heart into a human. It demonstrated for the first time the feasibility of a pig-to-human heart transplant, a field made possible by new gene editing tools (www.nytimes.com).
Genetic Engineering
The use of microorganisms to make cheese, yogurt, bread, beer and wine, as well as selective breeding and crossbreeding to breed plants and animals with more desirable traits, has been ongoing for centuries. Early farmers developed crossbreeding methods to grow corn with a range of colors and sizes. But changing plants and animals through traditional breeding can take a long time, and it’s difficult to make specific changes. By developing genetic engineering in the 1970s, scientists could make similar changes in a more specific way and in a shorter amount of time by inserting DNA from one organism into another. The first genetically engineered product for human use was insulin, which the FDA approved in 1982. However, genetically modified food only received FDA approval in 1994, when a GMO tomato became the first to go commercial.
According to World Health Organization (WHO), “GMO” (genetically modified organism) has become the common term for foods created through genetic engineering, such as corn and soybeans. Genetically modified (GM) foods are derived from organisms whose genetic material (DNA) has been modified in a way that does not occur naturally (e.g., by introducing a gene from another organism). The technology is called “gene technology,” “recombinant DNA technology” or “genetic engineering” (www.who.int).
The processes for creating a GMO plant, animal or microorganism may be different. For example, to create a GMO plant scientists must first identify the desired trait (e.g., resistance to drought), find an organism (e.g., plant, animal or microorganism) whose genes contain that trait and copy it and then use tools to insert the gene into the plant’s DNA. Scientists are developing new varieties of crops and animals via “genome editing,” which can make it easier and quicker to make changes that were previously done through traditional breeding (www.fda.gov).
It’s quite likely that you’ve eaten GMO food recently without even knowing it. GMO-derived ingredients are prevalent in processed foods, such as lecithin and emulsifiers from soybeans and high-fructose corn syrup, which is found in everything from soft drinks to bread, cereal, frozen meals and sweetened yogurt. GMO soy can be found in infant formula, protein drinks, tofu, canned tuna and salad dressing. GMO grains, especially corn, soybeans and alfalfa, are fed to most of the livestock used in the meat and dairy industries.
GMO foods are also marketed as healthy vegan alternatives to meat, such as the popular brand of Impossible Burgers. These plant-based burgers contain GMO soy protein and heme, the molecule responsible for replicating the beef-like taste and appearance. This molecule is genetically engineered by combining soybean DNA with yeast. It’s said that unless an item is sold under an organic label or considered a whole food, it likely contains GMOs (www.ecowatch.com). Also, consumers are being blindsided by the pricing mantra that because they can save on resources, food producers can also charge lower prices for GMO foods. In some cases, the costs of foods like corn, beets, and soybeans may be cut by 15% to 30%.
What Are GMOs
WHO, the National Academy of Sciences (NAS) and several other major science organizations across the globe that reviewed available data on GE foods found no evidence that they are harmful. A NAS report says there is no difference in potential or adverse health effects in GMO crops compared to non-GMOs, which means that GMO crops are just as safe to eat as their non-GMO counterparts (medlineplus.gov).
However, according to another report, some consumers feel that GM foods are unnatural, immoral and unsafe, which is ironic because some 70% of processed foods in the U.S. already contain GMOs (www.ama.org).
Concerns about GE foods
According to one report, GMO is a concern because it could escape and introduce engineered genes into wild populations, the gene’s persistence after the GMO has been harvested and the susceptibility of non-target organisms (e.g., insects that aren’t pests) to the gene product (www.who.int). Another report says consumers are mainly concerned about the biotech-crops’ long-term human health effects (e.g., antibiotic resistance, allergenicity, unnatural nutritional changes and toxicity) (www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov).
In short, biotechnology offers potentially enormous benefits but also risks. It utilizes living cells and cellular materials to create pharmaceuticals, vaccines, diagnostic, agricultural, environmental and other beneficial products. Genetic engineering can create pest-resistant crops that can fight drought, improve yield and help fight world hunger. While not the only answer for food security, GMOs can play an important role in this regard because the global population is expected to reach 10 billion by 2050.
However, although the FDA considers GMOs safe, their long-term effects are still being studied — but only on animals. This may be why several countries ban them either partially or completely. Given that many questions remain unanswered, biotech companies must proceed cautiously and avoid causing unintended harm to human health and the environment.
The USDA needs to understand that enforcing the new rules requires that consumers understand them well enough to be able to ask relevant questions. Meanwhile, consumers should read labels and become knowledgeable so they can choose the best product for themselves. They can also choose organic food by buying from local farmers.
Dr. Mohammad Abdullah, who retired after serving 29 years with the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Food Safety and Inspection Service, the agency that regulates the meat industry, is the author of “A Closer Look at Halal Meat from Farm to Fork” (2016)
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