These days, the topic of labels is one that is highly debated in society. Whether it’s a fashionable designer brand or an issue pertaining to your identity or political views, defining and understanding labels is important in our contemporary society. However, one form of labels we’ve yet to uncover are those related to GMO food and produce.
If you haven’t heard about them – don’t worry, they don’t exist yet. This article is here to tell you that by the year 2022, the FDA has decided that all foods that are created through GMO processes or contain GMO products in them will have to be labeled so as to indicate that they do.
This is great news for a lot of people out there, as most of us have been really worried about the long-term effects of eating GMO food. At the end of the day, while many agree that GMO produce could be the way forward towards ending mass hunger and lowering overall food prices (from production through to sales), a lot of people are worried about what the effects of eating GMO produce or products will be on our bodies over a longer period of time or complain about the ecological effects of utilizing GMO crops en masse.
So to make the transition into a GMO-friendly world, the FDA has decided to make the distinction between the two types of food clear for once and for all.
Up until now, a lot of products and brands have been able to keep selling food products without directly labeling their products as containing GMO ingredients. Besides that, most people wouldn’t be able to tell the difference between a genetically modified fruit and one that isn’t – a large fear for critics of the idea.
The current forms of produce that are highlighted on the list (which is sure to grow in the future) are alfalfa, canola, corn, cotton, potato, soybean, squash, and sugarbeet, as well as more specific varieties of apples, eggplants, papayas, pineapples, and salmon. The labeling is designed to clearly indicate that the product or produce item is GMO or non-GMO, but only time will tell how many people wind up trying one or the other – or both!
