First "Frankenfish" Now Infant Formula

The infant formula, made by a company here in the US named Pfizer is the center of attention now. Activists have labeled it S-26 Soy. When a program aired telling people of the findings of GM products in the formula, mom's decided to do something about it. They staged a large sit in at a major Woolworth's outlet in Sydney. They want all Infant Formula products removed until properly labeled. Parents want to know exactly what they are feeding their babies.

Dr Selvey, from Australian Greenpeace Australia Pacific has said: "Australian parents have the right to know what they are feeding their kids and how safe it is.". Here's where the problem comes in. Does it stop at infancy? Because we have been feeding our children modified food for years. Our cattle is given antibiotics and growth hormones, I feel that is modified. It scares me a lot, to be honest but I plead ignorance on this one. Although I have often wondered about the different rate of growth and puberty in our children today, I try not to think of the long-term effects. To do so would greatly limit consumption of foods. Unless one chooses to be Vegan, which is a fine choice if its your choice, not forced, it is almost impossible to avoid food that does not have some type of modification. Even as a Vegan, you would then have to carefully inspect labels to be sure everything you eat is "organic" and even then, can you really be sure? There certainly would be many hungry families because I can tell you right now, the more the label promises untouched, the more expensive it is.

Here's where it gets even scarier. A direct quote from the WHO website is: "GM foods currently available on the international market have passed risk assessments and are not likely to present risks for human health." Not likely? I don't really think that's the answer I was looking for.

So now that "frankenfish" has been let out of the bag, it has many people wondering. When I did my article on it called FDA Considers Genetically Modified Salmon I explained how there are both pros and cons to this, and I still feel the same way. I cannot say I'm against it since over 70% of US stocks have been fed antibiotic enhanced food, and yet I still eat meat. It just goes to show that every issue has three sides. what the public knows, what the government knows and the truth. We really don't know what we are putting in our mouths, but what is the alternative?

I do however believe that these foods should be labeled and we all have a right to know what we are eating. I have an intolerance to Gluten. I am lucky, because today most food is labeled with that information. If it had been a decade ago, the already hard diet I have to follow would have been near impossible because labeling was not in use. So in the end, its not really the GM part that has people so upset, when it comes down to it, its more like the labeling and the right to know what we are ingesting.

http://www.associatedcontent.com/article/5813584/fda_considers_genetically_modified.html?cat=5
http://www.who.int/foodsafety/publications/biotech/20questions/en/
http://www.ausfoodnews.com.au/2010/09/27/mums-taking-action-to-label-genetically-modified-infant-formula.html