Social, Ethical, & Legal Issues
Social Issues
GM Foods will always pose a social problem due to the fact that we are manipulating the way the food is supposed to be produced naturally. However, what most do not understand is the impact that GMOs can have on the entire world. As the world population continues to grow, the demand for more food, and more nutrient-rich food, grows as well. However, the concept of GMOs is hard to sell because of the cloud that surrounds the topic itself, and if you do not look deep into it, it does seem like a bad idea. However, when investigated deeper, one will notice that GMOs are just modified DNA sequences, producing different proteins, which pose little to no harm to the consumer.
Ethical Issues
Many ethical problems arise when talking about GMOs, due to the lack of known impacts this new technique has on human health. Another problem that is often discussed in the sect of Religion is the fact that GMOs is, in a way, acting like God. The fact that we are not producing the plants naturally also scares some people that like their food all natural. The use of recombinant DNA technology to transform agricultural plants and animals has been the subject of ethical controversy for the last quarter century. The argument favouring these technologies hinges on their role in lowering costs of farm production, as well as potential benefits to farmers. Arguments against cite a long litany of problems. Environmental and food safety risk debates touch upon both the nature and likelihood of potential hazards, and also the overall philosophy that should guide the assessment and management of these risks. In addition, critics of the technology have argued that risk assessments have neglected two categories of hazard entirely: impact on animals and socio‐economic impacts, especially on organic and smallholder farms. The latter issue makes the use of genetic engineering into a key episode in a more comprehensive debate over the future of agricultural production. In addition, ethical debates have taken up the extension of intellectual property rights to genes and their impact on the use, production and control of seeds. Labeling and consumer choice has also been debated. Finally, some authors have extended arguments over the possible unnatural character of genetic engineering from their more conventional medical setting to the domain of food.
EPA regulates pesticides, including genetically engineered pesticides, under the following two laws:
• Federal Insecticide, Fungicide, and Rodenticide Act (FIFRA). This act provides the legal requirements for EPA's registration process for all pesticides. With regard to biotechnology, EPA's jurisdiction under FIFRA covers regulation of the new substance and DNA in the plant when it is pesticidal in nature. For example, the substance produced by a plant that has been genetically modified to resist disease comes under FIFRA authority, whereas the substance produced by a plant that has been modified to resist drought does not.
•Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetics Act (FFDCA), as amended by the FFDCA requires EPA to set tolerances, or exemptions from tolerances, for the allowable residues of pesticides that are applied to food and animal feed.
The USDA works to ensure that crops produced through genetic engineering for commercial use are properly tested and studied to make sure they pose no significant risk to consumers or the environment.
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FDA regulates the safety of foods and food products from plant sources including food from genetically engineered plants. This includes animal feed, as under the Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act, food is defined in relevant part as food for man and other animals. FDA has set up a voluntary consultation process to engage with the developers of genetically engineered plants to help ensure the safety of food from these products.