Science

16 genetically modified foods that are critical to the US food supply

Rebecca Harrington

2015-10-21T09:11:00Z

"Genetically modified" (GM) can technically refer to the majority of fruits and vegetables found in supermarkets today.

Humans have been genetically modifying plants since we first started domesticating and breeding them to look and taste the way we wanted them to. By combining plants with desirable traits, we have altered their DNA over millennia in a so-called "natural" fashion.

But when people refer to genetically modified organisms, or GMOs, they typically mean those which scientists have deliberately altered the genome using scientific DNA modifying techniques in a lab.

While the concern over GM foods is growing in the general public, a majority of scientists agree that they are safe.

In a Pew Research Center survey from earlier this year, 57% of the general public said they thought GM foods were unsafe, while 88% of American Association for the Advancement of Science members said they are generally safe.

All genetically engineered crops grown in the United States have been reviewed and approved by the U.S. Department of Agriculture and given "nonregulated status."

Just because a crop has this approval doesn't mean it's being widely distributed or even grown in the US, though. The USDA has approved GM crops that aren't eaten, as well, like cotton and roses.

This definition also means that not all of the produce in your grocery store is GM even if a GM variety exists.

But these are all of the GM crops that can be grown, sold and consumed in the US today.

GM crops are on the rise, partly due to the fact that they work. Farmers grew genetically modified (GM) crops on more than 73 million hectares of land across the US in 2014.

Source: International Service for the Acquisition of Agri-biotech.

Many GM foods are altered to resist herbicides or insecticides, which makes the crops more productive — and lets farmers use fewer of these chemicals. Others are given genes that help them ward off diseases, allowing them to grow when infections have wiped out all of their non-GM cousins.

papaya virus — This papaya is infected with ringspot virus. scotnelson/Flickr

Most GM plants aren't even eaten directly by humans, but consumed as meat from animals that eat them, or as part of processed foods.

A tomato was actually the first GM crop approved by the USDA, in 1992. It was resistant to ripening. Several other GM tomatoes have been okayed over the years, for resistance to insect pests and to make the fruit thicker.

Yellow Straightneck, Yellow Crookneck, and green Zucchini squash have all been genetically modified. They were first approved in 1994 to protect the squash against viruses.

Source: Monsanto

Monsanto was the first company to receive permission to sell GM soybeans in 1994. Herbicide tolerant GM soybeans made up 94% of the acres planted in 2015, many of which were turned into oil to fry other foods. Soybeans have also been altered to be resistant to insects, and to be lower in saturated fats.

Source: USDA

Though it has the worst name ever, rapeseed has been modified by several companies to make it pesticide tolerant, and to give it a higher oil content, since its first approval in 1994. It's used as animal feed and turned into vegetable and canola oils.

Source: Cornell University Extension

The potato has seen several nonregulated statuses for GM developments, which do everything from protect the tuber from potato beetles to cutting down on bruising. It's the newest approval from the USDA that was just handed down in September, but the first was back in 1995.

Perhaps the most well-known, corn received its first nonregulated status 20 years ago, and now the vast majority of it that's planted in the US is GM. Corn can be GM to be pesticide, insect and virus resistant, as well as drought tolerant. It gets turned into corn syrup, which sweetens tons of processed foods.

The GM papaya, which has a modification that protects the fruit against the deadly ringspot virus, helped save the papaya industry in Hawaii. The first one was approved by the USDA in 1996.

Source: Hawaii Tribune-Herald

Roundup Ready herbicide resistant sugarbeets were the fastest adopted GM crop in history, according to Monsanto. The first determination of nonregulated status for beets occurred in 1998. Sugarbeets account for 20% of the world's sugar.

Sources: Monsanto and EastArgi

Rice was genetically modified to be herbicide resistant, and received its first USDA approval in 1999.

Flax can be made into linens and oil, and it can be eaten as seeds or sprouts. Its USDA nonregulated status for a gene that confers herbicide resistance was approved in 1999.

GM tobacco that contained less nicotine than its natural counterpart received nonregulated status in 2002. (It's not a food, but you still ingest it.)

The USDA first granted nonregulated status to alfalfa for herbicide resistance in 2005. The crop can also be altered to decrease its lignin content so it's easier for cows to digest it. The most common place humans might eat it would be as sprouts in a sandwich or salad.

Source: University of California

The GM plum was developed to be resistant to a virus, and received approval in 2007.

Canola seeds are 44% oil, which is why most of the plants go into making oil for frying and baking. The USDA granted its first GM petition for herbicide tolerant canola seeds in 2013.

Source: US Canola Association

The GM non-browning apple made by Okanagan Specialty Fruits was just approved by the USDA in February 2015.

New varieties of genetically modified foods will continue to enter the market. And while every genetically modified plant is different, they'll all have to pass the FDA's and USDA's strict safety tests to get there.

Logan Huff, Soy Plant Specialist Lead, examines corn plants in the Monsanto research facility in Chesterfield, Missouri, July 28, 2014. REUTERS/Tom Gannam — Logan Huff, Soy Plant Specialist Lead, examines corn plants in the Monsanto research facility in Chesterfield Thomson Reuters

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