Genetically modified foods

It's important that a chef knows about the ingredients they are using. Army chefs are schooled in an array of food and safety subjects, one being genetically modified foods. GM are Individual characteristics of plants, such as their height and colour or the shape of their petals, are determined by their genes (like DNA). These traits are inherited from generation to generation. GM involves copying the genes which govern a particular trait in one organism, and transferring them to another. In ordinary breeding, fertilisation and pollination, traits can only be transferred between plants or animals of the same (or closely related) species. GM enables traits to be transferred between different species and, potentially, between animals and plants.

Two Famous GM Experiments

1. The isolation of a bacteria gene was processed to make a protein which was then added to the ‘genetic make-up’ of maize (sweetcorn) cells. This particular protein’s purpose in life was to kill things and, in this instance, its purpose was to kill the insects that eat the inside of maize ears. The result: less bugs, more maize, as the corn could now kill its own pests.

2. Tomatoes are traditionally associated with warm weather and often perish in the cold. The question was how this could be reversed. By adding a doctored gene from a fish (the Arctic Char) that lives in cold water to the tomato’s genetic structure, it enabled the fruit to grow in cooler climates.

What You Need to Know

There are plenty of people who demand that their food is untouched by GM modification, or at the very least want to know if the food that they are eating is GM produce. They are entitled by law to know this and so the all customers (and that includes you) can seek information from suppliers concerning GM foods, and the suppliers themselves must give it.

Are there risks?

One concern about GM foods is the fear of a new gene escaping. New pollen could drift to other organisms, however GM crops are only able to recreate with its own relatives at present. Another concern is that insufficient research has been completed that rules out any chance of a chemical change a affecting humans.