Recent issues about food safety

A genetically modified food is a food product extracted in whole or in part from a genetically modified organism (GMO) such as an animal, crop plant, or microbe (such as yeast). Modified foods generated by genetic engineering have been available since the 1990s. The principal components of these GM foods are extracted from maize, soybean, cottonseed and canola oil.

Transgenic crops are developed commercially or in field tests in more than 40 countries and on six continents. The primary crops are herbicide- and insecticide-resistant corn, soybeans, canola and cotton; iron- and vitamin-fortified rice (golden rice); and lysine-enhanced maize

A number of governments in Europe and Japan stressed risks over benefits from genetically modified foods. They require compulsory labeling and traceability. In the U.S., regulatory groups do not recognize the need of such prerequisites.

Pros and Cons of Genetically Modified Foods

Pros

The bulk of commercially available crops have an agronomic benefit like herbicide tolerance or insect resistance. These qualities offer key benefit s to the farmer and the environment.

GM crops are also more valued in developing countries compared to industrialized ones because agriculture in the former is a big part of the economy and employs a big labor force. Agriculture is often handicapped by losses from insects, insect protected GM crops remedies this problem.

Nevertheless, in industrialized countries, the consumer advantaged from GM traits are primarily indirect, and transmitted through their benefits to the environment, including support of effective use of free arable land and water.

Cons

Microwaving with plastic containers

For years, stories have circulated about the dangers of microwaving plastic containers and wraps, that doing so gives out toxic, cancer-causing substances into food.

There is some proof that substances used to make specific plastics can transfer into some foods. But the Food and Drug Administration has weighed the migration levels of these substances and has found them to be well within the boundary of safety.

The FDA cautiously reviews the substances used to make plastics intended for food use, including microwave-safe plastic wraps and containers. These plastics are graded as "food contact substances." The FDA must find them safe for their intended use before these products can be promoted as such.

Other assertions have suggested that plastics have dioxins, a group of contaminants labeled as a "likely human carcinogen" by the Environmental Protection Agency. But according to the FDA, there is no indication that plastic containers or wraps contain dioxins.

Aspartame as a safe sugar substitute

Claims of terrible behavioral, carcinogenic, neurological, allergic, and other adverse effects have been made versus sugar substitutes, specifically aspartame. These allegations are often greatly circulated through e-mail and Internet sites, but they have not been backed up by scientific research. In fact, various studies have been conducted that have found aspartame to be safe and these claims to be baseless.

Aspartame is the only U.S.-approved sugar substitute that requires a label for safety. Products that have aspartame must be marked with a statement indicating that they contain the amino acid phenylalanine. This is to protect individuals with a rare, hereditary, metabolic illness called phenylketonuria, or PKU. Individuals with this condition cannot metabolize phenylalanine and must fully restrict this amino acid from their dietary plan.

Unless the ailment is detected in early infancy and treated with a phenylalanine-restricted diet, mental retardation and other serious, permanent effects ensue. Hence, apparently normal individuals cannot have the disease without knowing it. Newborns have been monitored for phenylketonuria in the U.S. and other developed countries for the past 50 years. For that reason, there is no need for undue alarm in relating to the safety labeling on aspartame-containing products. If you or a loved one has phenylketonuria, you be aware of it.

Cooking & Eating Smart