Summary: Dr. Lisa Weasel helps us understand the GM food controversy.<br> <br> Host: Gloria Tsang, RD<br> Guest: Lisa Weasel, PhD<br> <br> There is quite a bit of coverage of genetically modified foods in the media, but a lot of it seems quite emotional. In the often passionate debate about GM foods, it is sometimes difficult to get the real scoop on what is fact vs. fiction. Molecular biologist Dr. Lisa Weasel, author of Food Fray, helps us understand the GM food controversy.<br> <br> <br> <br> <br> Transcript:<br> Gloria Tsang, RD: There is quite a bit of coverage of genetically modified foods in the media, but a lot of it seems quite emotional. In the often passionate debate about GM foods, it is sometimes difficult to get the real scoop on what is fact versus fiction. Welcome to the Nutrition Tidbits Podcast. This is Gloria Tsang, Editor-in-Chief for HealthCastle.com. Joining me today is molecular biologist Dr. Lisa Weasel, author of the book Food Fray. She is here today to help us understand the GM food controversy. Welcome to the show Dr. Weasel.<br> <br> Lisa Weasel, PhD: Thanks for having me.<br> <br> Gloria Tsang, RD: Now with any controversial topics, there are always supporters and opponents. What exactly are the opposite camps debating about?<br> <br> Lisa Weasel, PhD: I think that there is a lot of controversy around food systems today. We see a lot of food contamination incidents. I think people are having trouble trusting our food regulations. And when you get to a new technology, something that has never been tested out before, and it involves moving genes from one species to another species (that being our food), people can be concerned about playing god or if there is enough safety testing. On the other hand, genetically modified foods agricultural biotechnology may have the potential to help us address some of the pressing environmental issues that we have, like droughts, climate change, and increasing the security of our food supply globally as we see the cost going up. As more and more people are slipping into food insecurity and hunger around the world, we are looking for better ways to use technology to improve our food security. So I think those are the two opposing sides of the debate. To question whether this is a safe and responsible technology for our health and the environment versus whether it might have good humanitarian outcomes.<br> <br> Gloria Tsang, RD: Currently, our foods are not labelled with GM (genetically modified) technologies so what are some of the GM foods that are widely consumed in North America?<br> <br> Lisa Weasel, PhD: That's an area where there is a lot of misunderstanding. I don't think that people know which foods have genetically modified ingredients and it's pretty simple. 92% of the soybeans grown in the United States last year were genetically modified. 80% of the corn, canola, cotton seed oil (any processed foods with cotton seed oil in it) and papayas are genetically modified. Starting next year (2010), sugar produced form sugar beets contained genetically modified ingredients. But that's basically it in terms of what's out there. So in general, soy, corn, canola and starting next year, sugar.<br> <br> Gloria Tsang, RD: Are there any differences in nutritional value of foods that have been genetically modified?<br> <br> Lisa Weasel, PhD: I think that some of the questions about nutritional value and how the genetically modified technologies affect the entire plant and overall biochemistry have yet to be answered. Technically, genetically modified foods, are engineered to have two traits. One is a gene that allows a plant to resist the application of herbicides so the plant will grow even when weed killer herbicides are applied to it. The second trait is a gene that includes a pesticide protein that kill pests when they bite into the food. So genetic modification is not intended to have nutritional a...
