Mandatory GMO Labeling ESSAY

Mandatory GMO Labeling

Genetically modified foods are the ones that have foreign genes inserted into their genetic codes. Mandatory GMO labeling requires that all food products that contain bioengineered ingredients have labels that can inform the consumers. This paper explains the advantages and disadvantages of GMO labeling and recommends whether no GMO labeling or require GMO labeling is the best.

One of the main advantages of required GMO labeling is that it lets the consumers know that the foods are bioengineered. Consumers have the right to know the contents or ingredients in their foods. Some consumers might be concerned about the GMO ingredients in various food products (Roseboro, 2017). GMO labeling enables consumers to make purchasing decisions with the necessary information about a specific product. It allows them to know what they are consuming.

Another advantage is that GMO labeling increases the confidence of people in purchasing GMO foods. When there is mandatory GMO labeling, companies will be indicating that certain foods are bioengineered. The consumers will not feel like something is being hidden from them (Roseboro, 2017). Due to increased confidence, the sales of GMO foods might increase. GMO labeling might; therefore, have a positive impact on sales as more people get confident to purchase the foods.

Mandatory GMO labeling might be good because the big companies are already doing it. Major food companies have been labeling their GM foods. These include Frito Lay, General Mills, Mars, and Dannon. Many countries worldwide also require that companies label their GMO foods (Zilberman, 2012). These include Russia, Japan, China, Brazil, Australia, and the European Union. Most US consumers have voiced their support for mandatory GMO labeling.

A major disadvantage of mandatory GMO labeling is that it might create a stigma that reduces the demand for GMO foods. Consumers are likely to have fears when all products containing GMOs are labeled (Zheng et al, 2021). Labeling GMOs might harm the sales of GMO foods. That is because consumers might not purchase the products. Consumers might view the GMO labels as a warning not to purchase GMO foods.

Another disadvantage is that there might be a misinterpretation. GMO labels can confuse the customers. Consumers do not have adequate information on GMOs; therefore, they might put any foods with a GMO label back on the shelves. There is a lack of understanding of GMOs among consumers (Roseboro, 2017). Some consumers do not understand the meaning of “bioengineered” or “genetically”. They might misinterpret GMOs as poisonous foods. Lack of awareness among the consumers hurts the manufacturers.

Mandatory GMO labeling would bring about extra costs to the manufacturers. There would be implementation costs in ensuring that all GMO foods are labeled. The costs would eventually trickle down to the consumers. This would mean that consumers have to pay more for all products with GMO labels (Zheng et al, 2021). Prices in the grocery stores would be driven up by the requirement that all products be GMO labeled. Consumers might not be happy when they see that the costs of various goods have increased due to mandatory GMO labeling.

The best option would be ensuring that there is required GMO labeling. There should be required GMO labeling to ensure that there is transparency. Consumers should know everything that is in the foods they eat. There should be nothing to hide when it comes to indicating the ingredients or components of certain foods (Zheng et al, 2021). When there is mandatory GMO labeling, consumers can easily know the ingredients that are in their foods. Manufacturers should not be afraid that consumers will change their minds when they see GMO labels. They should be transparent to show the consumers what is in the foods they consume.

There should be mandatory GMO labeling to give consumers the ability to choose what they eat. Consumers should have the right to choose the products they feel are best for them. Proper labeling ensures that consumers can read about the ingredients and select what is good for their lifestyles and avoid what is bad (Zilberman, 2012). Consumers that do not like GMO foods can choose the ones that do not have GMOs.

There has to be an increase in ingredient awareness. Lack of information is a big challenge in the food supply. Some consumers do not know the contents of foods they purchase from supermarkets and stores. There is a need to focus on increased ingredient awareness among the consumers by encouraging GMO labeling. There has to be GMO labeling to ensure that there is consistency with the global standards on food labeling. Some of the foods might have to be exported to countries that require GMO labeling. It is therefore, good to have mandatory GMO labeling.

Content: good

– some knowledge of subject

– limited development of thesis which is mostly relevant to the topic

– discusses only ONE advantage or ONE disadvantage

Organization: good

– contains a thesis

– loosely organized

– uses some logical sequencing of main ideas

– didn’t include one of the following: topic sentences, supporting sentences, and wrap-and-tie sentences

Language use: good

– effective but limited use of different sentence structures

– several errors of agreement, tense, number, word order/function, articles, pronouns, prepositions

– meaning seldom obscured

Documentation: very good

– includes properly formatted in-text citations and references page

– follows APA page format (title page, page number, Times New Roman, 12 points, double-spaced, etc)

Mechanics: good

– few errors of spelling, punctuation, capitalization, and paragraphing

-indent all paragraphs

REFERENCES

Roseboro (2017). Food companies say GMO labels having no impact on product sales. The Organic & non-GMO report. September 28, 2017.

Zheng, Q., & Wang, H. H. (2021). Do Consumers View the Genetically Modified Food Labeling Systems Differently?“Contains GMO” Versus “Non-GMO” Labels. The Chinese Economy, 1-13.

Zilberman (2012). Why labeling GMOs is bad for the people and the environment. UC Berkeley. Retrieved from https://blogs.berkeley.edu/2012/06/06/why-labeling-of-gmos-is-actually-bad-for-people-and-the-environment/