Transgenic food: To eat or not to eat

Lately, I have heard a lot of people complaining about the taste of some vegetables and meat. I don’t know if this is actually real, but one thing is certain, transgenic food has entered to the market and our houses causing changes in flavor and size.

Transgenic food can be defined as meat and vegetables modified through genetic engineering. Food modification is not new since a long time humans have being using a technique called selective breading which is possible only within the same species and using natural reproduction. But now food engineering allows humans to transfer genetic material from one organism to another, it doesn’t matter if it is from the same species. The problem with this is that the alien gens are forced in the animal or plant producing mutated food which long-term effects for the human health are still unknown.

Many people like farmers and Scientifics argue that transgenic food may result harmful for our health and the environment. One of the most worrying claims is that transgenic food cause cancer. According to Dr Samuel Epstein of the University of Chicago and Chairman of the Cancer Prevention Coalition, a growth hormone (GH) injected in cows to make them produce more milk is responsible for several cases of breast cancer. Canadian studies proved that the growth hormone induces malignant transformation in the breast cells.

Monsanto whom are one of the biggest owners of transgenic seeds and food (if not the only ones) argued that the hormone was killed after the process of pasteurization therefore the breast’s cancer cases had nothing to do with their products.

Whether to eat transgenic food can cause cancer and others diseases or not is still under investigation. There are many experiments and studies around the world that prove that genetically altered food represent a menace for the human being and fewer studies that claim the opposite. In my opinion, until we don’t have a clear answer, I will try to avoid this new kind of mutant food.