What are the pros and cons of GM foods

To live every living thing needs to feed and the people living in the modern world have something in their food which they may be aware of or not. GMOs which means Genetically Modified Organisms are made to make the food more tasty and nutritious. GM foods are made from crops like soy, corn, cotton etc with genetically engineered DNA. These GM foods are tough and last longer, and also are better in taste and have more nutrition. But people have concerns whether these are completely safe to consume. What are the benefits and risks in consuming these foods. So what are the pros and cons of GM foods. Lets have a look.

Pros and Cons of GM foods.

ProsI

Using GMOs means improved quality of food that is grown. Which means longer shelf life to tolerate weather changes and last longer. They are used to create strong colors to the food, or make the food seedless. These crops are the reason behind seedless watermelons and grapes etc.

GMOs are easier to farm and grow. These genetically modified crops can be farmed in environments which are not suitable for normal crops to grow. They are more tolerant to weather changes and are resistant to insects. This means the farmers have better crops yields and make more profit.

The food being produced is more than the need of the world, the problem is how to distribute it in remote and far areas without spoiling it. GMOs are the solution to that, where normal crop and food is spoiled before it can be consumed because of the time it takes to ship them somewhere, GMOs having having better tolerance and long life reach that place completely fresh and ready to be consumed.

So these are pros of GM foods but what are the cons, surely not anything is all perfect and good. What are the cons here ?

Cons

GMOs may contribute to food related allergies. Reports from, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), show an increase of food allergies in children in the last decade from 3.4% to 5.1%.

In genetic engineering, the transfer of specific proteins from one plant to another plant is another concern as these proteins can trigger allergic reactions. One example is the tree nut from Brazil which causes allergic reation to people which are allergic to them but they don’t know what their food contains so the consume it.

Anti-biotic resistant genes are incorporated in GMOs to give them more strength. However, to the human body these genes can cause resistance to antibiotic treatments which may cause health concerns.

Some research papers have been published linking GMOs to cancer. Because cancer is spread by mutations in DNA, introducing new genes to the body can be dangerous. However there no proof of it but researchers argue that no proof does not mean that it does not spread the disease and are making efforts to learn more about the effects of these crops.

So, there is much controversy and also facts about GMOs or GM Foods. They can feed the hungry world but they may also be the cause of health problems. There is much to be learned about these crops to better know their effects.