These plants and animals have been modified in the laboratory to enhance a desired trait, such as increased resistance to herbicides and insecticides or improved nutritional content. The enhancement of desired traits has traditionally been undertaken through breeding, but conventional plant breeding methods can be very time consuming and are often not very accurate. Through genetic engineering scientists can isolate a gene responsible for the desired trait.

Scientists and many governments claim altering the food will help keep the world population fed and healthy. Some of the reasons our crops are being genetically altered are to become disease resistant, resistant to weed killer, cold, drought and salinity tolerant, increasing the nutritional levels and developing foods into vaccines to make them easier to ship, store and administer.

So the next time you go shopping at the grocery store and believe that what you are buying are products that are safe. You may want to rethink that, because these products don’t have to be labeled as “modified” in the United States. However, reports have indicated that up to 70% of what you purchase is a product that has at least one ingredient that has been altered scientifically. Everything from soda to soup, crackers to condiments and many others, will most likely contain some kind of genetically engineered ingredient.

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