RADIO TRANSCRIPT

Date: April 17, 2020
Agent: Emily Troutman

This is Emily Troutman, FCS Agent with N.C. Cooperative Extension, Burke County Center.

You may have heard the controversy over GMO labeling in the media. In 2016, Congress passed a law directing the USDA to create a standard for disclosing foods that might be genetically engineered. This standard was implemented in January, 2020.
According to the USDA, “The Standard defines bioengineered foods as those that contain detectable genetic material that has been modified through certain lab techniques and cannot be created through conventional breeding or found in nature.” This standard covers all the crops that are available in a bioengineered form, which are: alfalfa, apples, canola, corn, cotton, eggplant, papaya, pineapple, potato, salmon, soybean, squash, and sugarbeet.

Although humans have been modifying plant varieties for centuries through breeding, genetically modified organisms refers specifically to foods where the DNA has been modified by technology. This includes genetic engineering to enhance the ability to store a food, to improve nutritional quality, or to make plants more resistant to diseases or insects. Genetically engineered foods are regulated by the FDA, and have been in the food system for decades. Over 90% of the soybeans and about 88% of the corn grown in the US is genetically engineered.

This has been Emily Troutman Family and Consumer with N.C. Cooperative Extension, Burke County Center and for more information, contact us at 764-9480