Τα γενετικά τροποποιημένα τρόφιμα (αγγλικά: GM foods και GMO foods), γνωστά ως γενετικά επεξεργασμένα τρόφιμα ή βιολογικά επεξεργασμένα τρόφιμα, είναι τρόφιμα που παράγονται από οργανισμούς, που έχουν υποστεί αλλαγές στο DNA τους, χρησιμοποιώντας τις μεθόδους της γενετικής μηχανικής. Οι τεχνικές γενετικής μηχανικής επιτρέπουν την εισαγωγή νέων χαρακτηριστικών καθώς και τον μεγαλύτερο έλεγχο των χαρακτηριστικών από προηγούμενες μεθόδους όπως η επιλεκτική διασταύρωση και η μεταλλαξιογένεση, όπου ένας οργανισμός εκτίθεται σε ραδιενέργεια ή χημικά ώστε να δημιουργηθεί μία μη συγκεκριμένη, αλλά μόνιμη αλλαγή.[1]
Η εμπορική πώληση γενετικά τροποποιημένων τροφών ξεκίνησε το 1994, όταν η εταιρεία Calgene προώθησε για πρώτη φορά την ανεπιτυχή ντομάτα της Flavr Savr με βραδεία ωρίμανση.[2][3] Οι περισσότερες τροποποιήσεις των τροφίμων επικεντρώθηκαν κατά κύριο λόγο σε καλλιέργειες με υψηλή ζήτηση από αγρότες όπως η σόγια, το καλαμπόκι, η κανόλα και το βαμβάκι. Οι γενετικώς τροποποιημένες καλλιέργειες έχουν σχεδιαστεί για αντοχή σε παθογόνους παράγοντες και ζιζανιοκτόνα και για καλύτερα θρεπτικά προφίλ. Γενετικώς τροποποιημένα ζώα έχουν αναπτυχθεί, αν και μέχρι τον Νοέμβριο του 2013 κανένα δεν ήταν διαθέσιμο στην αγορά, σε οποιαδήποτε χώρα.[4]
Υπάρχει επιστημονική συναίνεση[5][6][7][8] ότι τα διαθέσιμα σήμερα τρόφιμα που προέρχονται από γενετικώς τροποποιημένες καλλιέργειες δεν ενέχουν μεγαλύτερο κίνδυνο[9] για την ανθρώπινη υγεία από τα συμβατικά τρόφιμα,[10][11][12][13][14] αλλά ότι κάθε γενετικά τροποποιημένο τρόφιμο πρέπει να δοκιμάζεται κατά περίπτωση πριν από την εισαγωγή.[15][16][17] Ωστόσο, οι πολίτες είναι πολύ λιγότερο πιθανό από ότι οι επιστήμονες να θεωρούν τα γενετικά τροποποιημένα τρόφιμα ως ασφαλή.[18][19][20][21] Το νομικό και κανονιστικό καθεστώς των γενετικώς τροποποιημένων τροφίμων ποικίλλει ανάλογα με τη χώρα, με ορισμένα έθνη να τα απαγορεύουν ή να τα περιορίζουν, ενώ άλλα τα επιτρέπουν με πολύ διαφορετικούς βαθμούς ρύθμισης.[22][23][24][25]
Ωστόσο, υπάρχουν συνεχιζόμενες ανησυχίες του κοινού σχετικά με την ασφάλεια των τροφίμων, τη ρύθμιση, την επισήμανση, τις περιβαλλοντικές επιπτώσεις, τις μεθόδους έρευνας και το γεγονός ότι ορισμένοι γενετικώς τροποποιημένοι σπόροι υπόκεινται σε δικαιώματα πνευματικής ιδιοκτησίας που ανήκουν σε εταιρείες.[26]
The literature about Biodiversity and the GE food/feed consumption has sometimes resulted in animated debate regarding the suitability of the experimental designs, the choice of the statistical methods or the public accessibility of data. Such debate, even if positive and part of the natural process of review by the scientific community, has frequently been distorted by the media and often used politically and inappropriately in anti-GE crops campaigns."
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↑«State of Food and Agriculture 2003–2004. Agricultural Biotechnology: Meeting the Needs of the Poor. Health and environmental impacts of transgenic crops». Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations. Ανακτήθηκε στις 8 Φεβρουαρίου 2016. Currently available transgenic crops and foods derived from them have been judged safe to eat and the methods used to test their safety have been deemed appropriate. These conclusions represent the consensus of the scientific evidence surveyed by the ICSU (2003) and they are consistent with the views of the World Health Organization (WHO, 2002). These foods have been assessed for increased risks to human health by several national regulatory authorities (inter alia, Argentina, Brazil, Canada, China, the United Kingdom and the United States) using their national food safety procedures (ICSU). To date no verifiable untoward toxic or nutritionally deleterious effects resulting from the consumption of foods derived from genetically modified crops have been discovered anywhere in the world (GM Science Review Panel). Many millions of people have consumed foods derived from GM plants - mainly maize, soybean and oilseed rape - without any observed adverse effects (ICSU).
↑Ronald, Pamela (May 5, 2011). «Plant Genetics, Sustainable Agriculture and Global Food Security». Genetics188: 11–20. doi:10.1534/genetics.111.128553. PMID21546547. PMC3120150. http://genetics.org/content/188/1/11.long. «"There is broad scientific consensus that genetically engineered crops currently on the market are safe to eat. After 14 years of cultivation and a cumulative total of 2 billion acres planted, no adverse health or environmental effects have resulted from commercialization of genetically engineered crops (Board on Agriculture and Natural Resources, Committee on Environmental Impacts Associated with Commercialization of Transgenic Plants, National Research Council and Division on Earth and Life Studies 2002). Both the U.S. National Research Council and the Joint Research Centre (the European Union's scientific and technical research laboratory and an integral part of the European Commission) have concluded that there is a comprehensive body of knowledge that adequately addresses the food safety issue of genetically engineered crops (Committee on Identifying and Assessing Unintended Effects of Genetically Engineered Foods on Human Health and National Research Council 2004; European Commission Joint Research Centre 2008). These and other recent reports conclude that the processes of genetic engineering and conventional breeding are no different in terms of unintended consequences to human health and the environment (European Commission Directorate-General for Research and Innovation 2010)."».
↑«Statement by the AAAS Board of Directors On Labeling of Genetically Modified Foods»(PDF). American Association for the Advancement of Science. 20 Οκτωβρίου 2012. Ανακτήθηκε στις 8 Φεβρουαρίου 2016. The EU, for example, has invested more than €300 million in research on the biosafety of GMOs. Its recent report states: "The main conclusion to be drawn from the efforts of more than 130 research projects, covering a period of more than 25 years of research and involving more than 500 independent research groups, is that biotechnology, and in particular GMOs, are not per se more risky than e.g. conventional plant breeding technologies." The World Health Organization, the American Medical Association, the U.S. National Academy of Sciences, the British Royal Society, and every other respected organization that has examined the evidence has come to the same conclusion: consuming foods containing ingredients derived from GM crops is no riskier than consuming the same foods containing ingredients from crop plants modified by conventional plant improvement techniques.
↑«AMA Report on Genetically Modified Crops and Foods (online summary)». American Medical Association. Ιανουαρίου 2001. Ανακτήθηκε στις 19 Μαρτίου 2016. A report issued by the scientific council of the American Medical Association (AMA) says that no long-term health effects have been detected from the use of transgenic crops and genetically modified foods, and that these foods are substantially equivalent to their conventional counterparts. (from online summary prepared by ISAAA)" "Crops and foods produced using recombinant DNA techniques have been available for fewer than 10 years and no long-term effects have been detected to date. These foods are substantially equivalent to their conventional counterparts. (from original report by AMA: [1])
↑«Restrictions on Genetically Modified Organisms: United States. Public and Scholarly Opinion». Library of Congress. 9 Ιουνίου 2015. Ανακτήθηκε στις 8 Φεβρουαρίου 2016. Several scientific organizations in the US have issued studies or statements regarding the safety of GMOs indicating that there is no evidence that GMOs present unique safety risks compared to conventionally bred products. These include the National Research Council, the American Association for the Advancement of Science, and the American Medical Association. Groups in the US opposed to GMOs include some environmental organizations, organic farming organizations, and consumer organizations. A substantial number of legal academics have criticized the US's approach to regulating GMOs.
↑«Genetically Engineered Crops: Experiences and Prospects». The National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine (US). 2016. σελ. 149. Ανακτήθηκε στις 19 Μαΐου 2016. Overall finding on purported adverse effects on human health of foods derived from GE crops: On the basis of detailed examination of comparisons of currently commercialized GE with non-GE foods in compositional analysis, acute and chronic animal toxicity tests, long-term data on health of livestock fed GE foods, and human epidemiological data, the committee found no differences that implicate a higher risk to human health from GE foods than from their non-GE counterparts.
↑«Frequently asked questions on genetically modified foods». World Health Organization. Ανακτήθηκε στις 8 Φεβρουαρίου 2016. Different GM organisms include different genes inserted in different ways. This means that individual GM foods and their safety should be assessed on a case-by-case basis and that it is not possible to make general statements on the safety of all GM foods. GM foods currently available on the international market have passed safety assessments and are not likely to present risks for human health. In addition, no effects on human health have been shown as a result of the consumption of such foods by the general population in the countries where they have been approved. Continuous application of safety assessments based on the Codex Alimentarius principles and, where appropriate, adequate post market monitoring, should form the basis for ensuring the safety of GM foods.
↑Funk, Cary· Rainie, Lee (29 Ιανουαρίου 2015). «Public and Scientists' Views on Science and Society». Pew Research Center. Αρχειοθετήθηκε από το πρωτότυπο στις 9 Ιανουαρίου 2019. Ανακτήθηκε στις 24 Φεβρουαρίου 2016. The largest differences between the public and the AAAS scientists are found in beliefs about the safety of eating genetically modified (GM) foods. Nearly nine-in-ten (88%) scientists say it is generally safe to eat GM foods compared with 37% of the general public, a difference of 51 percentage points.
↑Bashshur, Ramona (Φεβρουαρίου 2013). «FDA and Regulation of GMOs». American Bar Association. Αρχειοθετήθηκε από το πρωτότυπο στις 29 Σεπτεμβρίου 2016. Ανακτήθηκε στις 24 Φεβρουαρίου 2016.
