Wednesday, October 31, 2007

Biotechnology and labeling

My personal opinion is that producers should put labels on food to let consumers know if it is GM or not. Consumers have the right choose what they want to eat. They should not be kept unaware of what is going inside their body. So, that in the end they are the ones reliable for what they choose and not the producers.
Advantages of labeling:
The number one advantage of labeling is that consumers would know what they are eating and based on the labeling information they can decide weather or not they want to eat it or not.
In my opinion another advantage is that if everything is clearly labeled on the packages, then it will not be the producers liability later on. And the only one responsible would be the consumer because the consumer was provided with all the necessary information
Many people are allergic to the proteins used in biotechnology and by labeling all the information, those consumer would be warned to to eat that food. This would again mean that the producers will not be held reliable later on as everything was printed on the label before.
Disadvantages of labeling:
The primary disadvantage of labeling biotechnology derived food is that most people will not prefer that food and instead opt for regular food. This will mean great loss to the producers of the company.
Another disadvantage of labeling the crops derived from biotechnology has higher yields and if the consumers don't buy it after seeing the label, then the GM food producers would have to slow down the production. This will cause a rise in the price of food which consumers will have pay and also there will not be enough food to feed the world. It is biotechnology that has made it possible to feed the growing population.
Conclusion:
I think that overall, if it is labeled that a food is GM or not, then consumers would benefit from it as they can chose weather or not they want to eat it or not base on their resources. While producers would certainly feel a decrease in the sale of their food as most people would opt for regular food instead of GM food. But, society will also suffer negatively from the labeling as the population is growing so fast and the only way to feed it is through increasing the food supply by biotechnology.

1 comment:

Rae Stevens said...

Great blog, I agree that the consumer has a right to know what they are putting into thier body. I think the tenology has come alonge way with this and will continue to grow in the future.