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  • Essay / Divergent views from the Center for Food Safety and the FDA on GMOs in the United States

    The topic of food safety has today become a widely discussed topic among people around the world. Since the new development of GMOs, genetically modified organisms, problems have arisen in many different cases in which people or animals were affected by this new advent. In an effort to promote food safety, the Center for Food Safety and the Food and Drug Administration have put forward their own ideas on what societal “food safety” should look like, as it relates to the topic of GMO foods. The Center for Food Safety believes that all foods should be labeled with or without GMOs, while the Food and Drug Administration strongly opposes such an idea. Although both organizations want to create a safer way to consume food, the two groups disagree on one aspect: the labeling of GMO foods. Even if the two sides remain strongly opposed, a compromise can certainly be reached by analyzing similar concepts of what food safety is, such as ensuring the contents of food products and labeling them correctly, and implementing these ideas in their plans. Both groups should follow a series of steps that will allow them to achieve a common goal, encourage the groups to present their ideas to the public, and bring them to a compromise. Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on “Why Violent Video Games Should Not Be Banned”? Get the original essay The Center for Food Safety (CFS) is a national nonprofit organization that serves to promote safer health for people and the environment. The Center for Food Safety has found new ways to encourage the use of organic food and agriculture while discouraging the implementation of unnatural food production technologies. Their motto, “protecting our food, our farms and our environment,” can be displayed throughout the group’s history of action for change (Center for Food Safety 1). For around fifteen years, the organization has opposed the genetically modified organism industries. The Center for Food and Safety has fought against the misuse of pesticides and how these chemicals could potentially damage all crops on a larger scale. The CFS acted as a powerful voice to farmers and agricultural communities to defend them against large corporations attempting to usurp and destroy natural methods of agriculture. CFS participated in the first-ever U.S. Supreme Court case regarding genetically modified crops, fighting opponent Monsanto. Monsanto is the world's leading agricultural biotechnology company that has launched outrageous lawsuits aimed at destroying the fundamental ways American farmers farm. Monsanto has illegally begun its genetic engineering (GE) invasion of Oregon farmers' crops. What Monsanto didn't know was the extremely detrimental factors its genetically modified wheat crops had on local farmers' crops. Transgenic wheat has contaminated conventional wheat, making it unfit for consumption and benefiting various markets that do not accept transgenic products. Such contamination of genetically modified crops has devastated many agricultural organizations, causing over a billion in losses as well as economic burdens for local farmers. The Center for Food Safety took the initiative torepresent farmers affected by contaminated crops by filing a lawsuit against Monsanto to compensate for its mistakes (Center for Food Safety 1). Following an incident like the previous case, the CFS quickly understood how important it was for food products to be labeled according to their true composition. Speaking on behalf of everyone who has the right to know what's in their food, the Center for Food Safety is committed to labeling GMO foods. The Food and Drug Administration is another group that holds the highest responsibility for all aspects of public health and oversees the topic of food safety. President Obama signed the FDA Food Safety Modernization Act on January 4, 2011, which ensures that the U.S. food supply is safe and effectively responds to and prevents contamination (US Food and Drug 1). Although the recent law effectively reformed food safety laws dating back more than seventy years, the FDA found it plausible to establish rules against the labeling of GMO plants. The FDA collaborated with bioengineering companies and approved the production of genetically modified salmon on November 19, 2015. Despite the fact that evidence has proven the potential harms of GMOs, the FDA has continued to treat GMO foods like salmon. Shortly after, the FDA also stated that it would be unnecessary to label plants GMO or non-GMO. Reactions to the two procedures carried out by the FDA were inevitable. Wenona Hauter, executive director of Food and Water Watch in Washington, DC, said: “This unfortunate and historic decision ignores the vast majority of consumers, many independent scientists, many members of Congress and salmon farmers from around the world, who have spoken out. strong opposition” (FDA approves 1). What Hauter said was extremely concerning to health-conscious people, especially since what was once looked down upon is now accepted around the world. The Center of Food Safety also immediately responded to the FDA's actions by announcing its intention to sue the FDA so that the administration would not be able to qualify the production of this type of salmon (FDA approves 1). As both sides began to move away from each other, it was evident that both sides needed to come to some sort of mutual agreement. The Center for Food Safety and the Food and Drug Administration both advocate a similar idea: ensuring food safety. However, the Center for Food Safety is working to implement GMO food labeling, while the FDA colludes with food technology companies to do the opposite. The best approach to solving this problem would be to ensure that both parties feel comfortable with GMO food labeling. The Center for Food Safety wants to see food labels stating “GMO” or “non-GMO” for health-conscious people who are concerned about the contents of their foods. Because signs reading GMO in obscene letters can scare consumers and those who do not care about their health, labels can be reduced to miniature size in a small corner of nutritional information. This way, there is no clearly visible discrepancy for those on the FDA side, who despise the idea of ​​seeing "GMO" in big letters on all food products. Instead, only those who are looking to know whether their food is organic in composition or not will be able to find the “GMO/Non-GMO” warning sign on food labels. The Center for Food Safety and the FDA should be happy enough with this.