GENETICALLY MODIFIED FOOD PRODUCTS AND YOUR HEALTH.

Since the beginning of science which is as old as man, science kept evolving from generation to generation with a lot of researches, analysis, hypothesis, propositions and postulations. Science didn’t die with the earliest philosophers and scientists like the Socrates, John Dalton, Albert Einstein, Isaac Newton, Robert Hooke, etc, there has has always been follow ups which has led to a lot of innovations and discoveries in a quest to make life easier and more meaningful through modern theories and inventions.

Over the years, there has been a whole lot of misconceptions about genetically modified food products which is a product of scientific researches and hypothesis. Many people all around the world have been griped with biases about the consumption of genetically modified foods reasons according to them being that it is unhealthy owing to their carcinogenic nature. Genetically modified food products haven’t enjoyed wide acceptance across the countries of the world owing to these speculations. Sadly those who think it’s unhealthy do not actually have facts about it, it’s been mostly propaganda based. There also haven’t been concrete proves from scientific researches and analysis on those products to prove that they are carcinogenic.

Before progressing further into the topic, I will define genetically modified foods and what gave rise to such food products for all intents and purposes. DEFINITION OF GENETICALLY MODIFIED FOOD PRODUCTS. Genetically modified foods are defined as foods gotten through the alteration of the DNA in the cells of food plants and animals. This the simplest definition. It is achieved through various Technics such as breeding, mutation breeding, etc. This is done to either remove or introduce new genetic traits into the DNA of the parent food plants or animals. A lot of reasons gave rise to genetic modifications of foods and these reasons cannot be over emphasized. Like I said earlier, science since it’s beginning had continued to experience innovations giving rise to the modern day science with lots of inventions which is obvious and even inevitable. REASONS FOR GENETIC MODIFICATIONS OF FOOD MATERIALS. (1) To improve on the nutrients of food plants and animals. (2) To remove undesired traits or to introduce desired traits. (3) To produce food plants and animals with high/fast growth rate. (4) To produce food plants and animals that are highly resistant to pest and diseases. (5) To produce food plants that has delay in ripening properties. (6) To produce food plants and animals with high yield. (7) To produce food plants and animals that are more weather and climate friendly owing to the persistent climate change due to the activities of people across different countries of the world.

With the reasons listed above, it should be clearer to people that the benefits of genetically modified foods are very important with enormous advantages, the disadvantages, if there is any are so insignificant, provided that during the modifying stage, there isn’t any introduction of chemical compounds that is not approved by Food and Agricultural regulatory bodies which vary from country to country. For more than two decades now, hunger and starvation has been one of the greatest challenges ravaging the world, these led to the Food and Agricultural Organization (FAO) launching it’s millennium Development goals fight hunger, hidden hunger and starvation. The efforts has yielded reasonable results in some countries, but in Africa, reasonable results haven’t been achieved owing to different challenges such as post harvest losses, poor processing, lack of Agricultural incentives, Government policies and so on. If the fight against against hunger all around the world will ever produce reasonable results, then genetic modifications of food products must be embraced whole heartedly but Government will have to do a lot of jobs to regulate the processes to ensure it conforms to set standards and specifications. Genetically modified foods is inevitable, just as other aspects of science and technology keeps experiencing innovations, so as the Food and Agricultural sector. If people keep resenting on genetically modified foods due to perceived unhealthy characteristics of such, then the world should be prepared to experience more hunger and starvation. The so called “natural and unprocessed foods” that many medical practioners and people with tiny knowledge of foods and Sciences and Technology behind it’s production and processing advocate comes with loads of challenges. Some of such foods materials contain toxicants, and inhibitors that resists the absorption certain nutrients by the body, only reasonable form of processing or modifications can remove that thereby making those nutrients absorbable by the body.