Contaminated Food: A Consumer's Choice?

by Caitlin Duffy

In the past few months, many products made from corn have been pulled from supermarket shelves and from restaurants such as Wendy's and Applebee's throwing the food industry into chaos. In fact, in the last few months, tortillas, more than 80 types of taco shells, and more than 70 types of corn chips have been recalled. Approximately 300 products are affected, according to a Wall Street Journal article (November 2nd). Taco Bell Home Originals, Mission Foods, and Kelloggs have announced recalls until they can verify that the corn they used in their products is safe.

The problem? Corn that has been approved for the consumption of animals, but not humans, has made its way into our food supply. This raises very serious questions about how safe our nation's food supply actually is. How is this unapproved corn getting into our food supply? Is our regulatory system, The Food and Drug Administration, doing its job protecting American consumers? Do consumers, geneticists, and biotechnology companies know as much as they should about the effects of genetically modified foods on both the environment and on the health of human beings? If the foods we are eating are not compatible with our digestive system, then, can we assume that these foods aren't healthy? Who is protecting our health? The producers of genetically modified foods? The Food and Drug Administration? How will genetically modified foods affect you, a teenager, your health, both now and in the future?

For answers, TeenSpeak went to the FDA (Food and Drug Administration) in Washington, D.C. to speak with Dr. James Maryanski, Chairman of Biotechnology. According to Dr. Maryanski, there is really no difference between a genetically modified food and a food that results from nature. "Having examined recombinant DNA technology, our conclusion was the kinds of safety questions that would need to be addressed were similar to the kinds of questions we would ask about other methods of plant breeding," he told us when we asked him why gm foods weren't classified differently from other foods. He went on to say, "If the food had changed, and the consumer had to cook it differently, or prepare it differently, that would be information that would be important to know and would constitute a difference."