GMOs – genetically modified organisms – are crops developed using precise plant breeding to achieve benefits such as resistance to certain insects and diseases, herbicide tolerance to help the farmer manage weeds or enhanced nutritional value.
The development of GMOs helps create better, stronger crops for farmers to grow – and ultimately for Canadians to eat. That makes GMOs an important tool in making sure we have a sustainable food supply for the long term, especially in the face of climate change.
But despite their many benefits, GMOs are often misunderstood. Here are five of the most common myths about GMOs, debunked.
MYTH: GMOs cause health problems, including cancer.
FACT: GMOs are safe to eat and have no links to diseases, according to a 2016 scientific report that reviewed 900 GMO studies.[1]
GMO crops aren’t a health risk to humans or animals. Canadian farmers have been growing GMO crops for nearly 25 years and over that time, scientists haven’t attributed a single case of illness to them.[2] There have been thousands of scientific studies on GMO safety, many of which were independently funded and confirmed GMOs don’t pose a risk to human health. In 2016, researchers from 15 different scientific societies looked at 900 studies of GMOs from around the world. They found no evident risk from GMOs to human health or the environment.
In fact, the body of research on GMOs and their impact on health spans nearly three decades, representing analysis of over 100 billion animals who have eaten trillions of GMO-based meals and scientists have found no extraordinary impact on the health of the animals or on human health.[3]
Canadian farmers grow GM crops because they’re confident in the food they provide – and wouldn’t grow them it they weren’t sure they were safe.
MYTH: GMOs aren’t as nutritious as traditional crops.
FACT: GMO crops have the same nutritional value as traditional crops. In some cases, they’re bred to be even healthier.[4][5]
Along with being safe, GMOs are also just as healthy as traditional crops. In 2016, the National Academies of Science, Engineering and Medicine confirmed that GMOs are equivalent to non-GMO foods, in both composition and nutritional value.[6]
Scientists also use genetic modification to produce biofortified crops – foods engineered to be more nutritious, with a higher content of key vitamins and minerals, like iron, zinc and protein. A few examples include scientists in developing countries working on iron biofortification of rice, beans and sweet potato and provitamin A carotenoid biofortification of bananas and maize.[7]
MYTH: GM crops are too new, so we don’t know if they’re safe.
FACT: There have been thousands of global studies on the safety of GMOs. None have credibly shown that GM foods harm humans or animals.[8][9]
Regulatory agencies around the world and in Canada – including the World Health Organization, United Nations Food and Agricultural Organization, the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development, the U.S. National Academy of Sciences and the Royal Societies of London and Canada – have supported the safety of GM crops.
Canada has some of the highest standards for health and safety when it comes to food.
MYTH: GMOs are bad for the planet.
FACT: GMOs actually help farmers till the soil less and use less water, so they can reduce their greenhouse gas emissions.[10]
It’s not uncommon to hear people say GMOs are bad for the environment, but that’s simply not the case. In fact, GM crops can help farmers grow more sustainably. Some GM crops, such as canola, allow farmers to employ conservation tillage – a strategy that lets farmers plant seeds directly into the soil, without having to till the ground to control weeds, leaving more water and nutrients in the ground. In many cases, this process prevents soil erosion, so fields of crops can grow more sustainably over time, especially in the face of growing severe weather and drought.
When farmers can spend less time driving tractors up and down their fields for tillage, they can also reduce their carbon emissions, and their whole environmental footprint.[11] Saving water is another key environmental benefit of farming GM crops. For instance, growing GM cotton reduces the water required to grow enough cotton for a pair of jeans by 1,500 gallons – enough for roughly 20 full bathtubs[12].
GM crops can help reduce food waste, too. As food decomposes, it releases methane, a harmful greenhouse gas, so reducing how much food ends up in landfills can help in the fight against climate change.[13] Here, GM crops play an important role. Certain genetically modified varieties, such as apples bred to be non-browning, allow more food to make it to the shelf, rather than being thrown away.
MYTH: GMO seed makers force farmers to use their seeds.
FACT: Farmers in Canada and around the world choose what seeds to use and what crops to grow. Many choose GMOs because they can stand up to extreme weather and pests.[14]
Farmers choose to plant GMO crops for a variety of reasons. For example, GMO crops can be more tolerant to severe environmental conditions, such as drought, or pests. They can also be tolerant to certain pests, which makes it easier for farmers to maintain their crops effectively. A great example is Bt corn, a GM crop bred to control specific insect pests like the European corn borer or corn rootworm.[15] This helps farmers in their constant battle to protect crops from damaging insects.
In some cases, GMOs can also be tolerant to certain diseases. A good example of this is the GM Rainbow Papaya in Hawaii, which actually helped bring the fruit back from the brink of extinction.[16] More recently, scientists are turning to genetic engineering as the long-term solution to huanglongbing or HLB (more commonly known as citrus greening), a disease that devastates citrus fruits like oranges.
In short, GMOs allow farmers to grow high quality and abundant crops on their existing land – and Canadians can reap the benefits for years to come by having access to safe, healthy and affordable food.
[1] https://www.nap.edu/catalog/23395/genetically-engineered-crops-experiences-and-prospects
[2] https://croplife.ca/facts-figures/gmos-in-canada/
[3] https://geneticliteracyproject.org/2014/09/10/19-year-study-of-trillions-of-meals-shows-ge-crops-do-not-harm-food-producing-animals-humans/
[4] https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4346933/
[5] https://www.nap.edu/catalog/23395/genetically-engineered-crops-experiences-and-prospects
[6] https://gmoanswers.com/gmos-and-nutrition
[7] https://gmoanswers.com/gmos-and-nutrition
[8] https://jasbsci.biomedcentral.com/articles/10.1186/2049-1891-4-37
[9] https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/22155268
[10] https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/21645698.2018.1476792
[11] https://gmoanswers.com/gmos-environment
[12] https://croplife.org/news/what-would-happen-if-cotton-disappeared/
[13] https://www.worldwildlife.org/stories/fight-climate-change-by-preventing-food-waste
[14] https://allianceforscience.cornell.edu/blog/2018/02/gmo-crops-increasing-yield-20-years-progress-ahead/
[15] https://www.cornpest.ca/bt-corn/what-is-bt-corn/
[16] https://gmoanswers.com/genetically-modified-organisms-101