Genetically Modified Crops

ngm.nationalgeographic.com/2013/07/125-explore/shared-genes

Not sure it worked first time.

How many genes do fish and tomatoes already have in common?

"Every species on Earth carries a genetic code that is, for all intents and purposes, identical and universal. "
"A Human and a grain of rice may not, at first glance, look like cousins. And yet we share a quarter of our genes with that fine plant. "
National Geographic Magazine

Play a genetic code game - ngm.nationalgeographic.com/2013/07/125-explore/shared-genes

You're not developing a big, shiny red nose as well are you, roses?

Are you rurning into a mermaid, rosesarered ?

Wait a minute! I am developing scales and fins! Aaaaaaaaaargh!

All forms of life on the planet share some genetic code. Does that mean animals are plants or that plants are animals? No. It means we share some of the code that makes us living things. That's all. So using a gene or two from one life form to another for a particular purpose does not change the kind of life form the other was in the first place.

Alarmism out of ignorance. Only to be expected, I suppose, but still sad.

Don't be silly, dj. It has nothing to do with mating. Genes often work as switches; the switch tells a cell what to do about something or other, e.g. stop that particular pest from doing something that inhibits the plant's growth.

If you really think GM has anything to do with sexual reproduction it is perhaps no wonder you are against them because talking about mating in that way shows complete ignorance of what GM is and what it does. What it does is extremely limited. It does not break the normal species barriers that prevent species interbreeding.

When did you last see a fish mate with a tomato?
Thought not.

Thatbags, spot on! we have been using genetic modification for a long, long time, have people forgotten that?

Ahh, thanks for the explanation.

The OP, nanaej, is no longer nanaej, so if she did come back, she would not be recognised. It was three years ago, after all. I don't suppose she has been in an agony of suspense all this time.

I find it interesting that the OP has not come back on this. I hope he/she found it useful.

Until this year only one GM crop could be grown in EU countries (bt-maize in Spain) so it's not surprising if we are not yet seeing foods labelled as containing new fangled genetic modifications. Plenty already contain old fangled genetic modifications that we have been developing since the dawn of agriculture.

I have had a look at some. Cant find any.

As you say, it may not been done now.

I cant remember specifically. I will have a look at some I have now.

I used to have to read a lot of food labels [oh what fun] as one of my sons is severely nut allergic.

I have seen food which says contains no GM ingredients. That's what I try to buy.
What foods have you seen which say they contain GM?

I have seen food saying it contains GM. Cant say I have looked relatively recently though.

That is people breaking the rules. It does not mean there are no rules, and they should be prosecuted for their transgressions. People also break the rules about producing organic food and should be punished. Choice needs good labelling regulation, adhered to by all

www.gmcontaminationregister.org/index.php?content=default

My point is that in Europe GM food for humans must be labelled. When you spoke of not finding any GM food I naturally assumed that you were concerned about your own intake.

If an animal eats GM feed it digests it into its componets, and any GM genes are converted into the animal who ate the feed.

Your point is, Elegran?
Supermarkets, which is where most people get their food, have decided not to source their feed from non-GM, apart from Waitrose.
That's because it is difficult to find out, because much of the feed comes from the US, which does not label GM feed.

It used to be that supermarkets could trace GM, but now they cannot.

When I had my guest house, I used to state that none of the food contained GM as far as I was aware. Then the law changed so that anybody who used food which did contain GM had to state so. I never saw a restaurant change its menus to say so, but lots of them used oils that could have been.
I used to source my food through companies that I knew did the research, like Suma wholefoods. But I wasn't allowed to say so on my menu.

"GM food and feed must be approved by EU regulators and must be labelled, but meat and dairy products produced from animals fed on GM feed are not required to be labelled."

"Most British retailers do not sell other GM foods and if they stock them they must be labelled (this is also the case elsewhere in Europe). "

www.genewatch.org/sub-568547

"The British Retail Consortium and Food and Drink
Federation issued a joint identity-preservation
standard for sourcing non-GM soya and maize which do
es not support ‘GM(O)-free’ claims, but is a
basis for ‘best practice’ (<0.9%). The British Poultr
y Council (BPC) also inform
ed major retailers of its
position that it would use non-GM
feed in poultry and egg production. This position was not stipulated
on any label, nor advertised to consumers.
UK supermarkets eliminated GM ingredients (as far as
possible) in their own branded products in the
1990s. This included the use of non-GM feed for ani
mals used in meat production. Retailers did not
actively communicate th
is position to customers (although their positions could be found by
searching company websites). Retailers consulted fo
r this study indicated that this approach was
taken to avoid providing consumers with an absol
ute guarantee that prod
ucts are ‘GM(O)-free’.
Supplies of GM(O)-free soya have become harder
to guarantee and the sector has attempted to
retract their non-GM policy with British retailers.
British supermarket chain Asda stated in 2010 that
they would allow their poultry producers to source GM feed. Morrisons announced a similar change
in the spring of 2012. Sainsbury’s, Tesco, The
Cooperative and Marks and Spencer also changed
their policy in April 2013, leaving Waitrose as
the only major supermarket to maintain a non-GM
poultry meat and egg production policy. "

From the EU final report on GM traceability.

Elegran, have you ever seen any food labelled contains GM ingredients, because I haven't.
I buy foods which say does not contain GM.