Genetically modified foods: benefits and harms. Genetically modified products: harm or benefit

Much has been written about GMOs. Negative and positive. But I was struck by this phrase I read on the Internet: “There are no reliable methods for determining the consequences of the spread of GMOs and their products for nature and humans. Many of the negative effects of GMOs will only appear over generations.” This is a quote from a report that was compiled for Vladimir Putin four years ago. It was prepared by the Federation Council Committee on Agricultural and Food Policy.

So...

The impact on plant genetics is the same impact on nature, only deeper than the impact on the environment.
The use of such products in food cannot improve the genetics of the consumer of this product. Simply because the modern knowledge of geneticists is still only destructive, like that of small children who love to tinker with complex toys. Just like a small child can take apart an alarm clock and “study” it with interest, but he can only assemble, and even more so improve, such an alarm clock by “putting it in a bag.”
The perception of the dangers of GMOs among ordinary citizens is dulled. Most people do not think about this at all: some due to lack of attention to this topic, and others due to poor awareness.
It is important to understand that for those people who think about their descendants, it is useful to exclude all GMO products from the diet... out of harm's way... Take care of your children.
I think today it is no longer a secret to anyone that genetically modified foods are dangerous to the health of people and all living organisms on the planet. They have a particularly negative effect on the immune and genitourinary systems. The immune system is responsible for resistance to pathogenic bacteria and viruses, and genitourinary for procreation Exclamation.
The influence of GMOs has not yet been fully studied, but there is a danger that they can lead to the complete destruction of all living organisms on the planet.
Foreign DNA, entering the human body with food, is absorbed from the intestines into the blood and from there it is able to penetrate any cell of the body and change (mutate) its DNA. In addition, according to research data, the transgene has strong resistance to antibiotics.

GMO – genetically modified products:

List of genetically modified products:

Genetically modified organisms (GMOs) are being developed as biological weapons, a means of curbing population growth and a means of undermining the food security of countries.

So, first on the list:

Lipton tea

Nescafe coffee

Modified coffee The Nescafe company is now actively growing it. So far, large plantations of this type of coffee are grown only in Vietnam.

List of GMOs:

Manufacturing company Unilever

Lipton(tea)

Brooke Bond(tea)

Conversation(tea)

Calve(mayonnaise, ketchup)

Rama(oil)

Pumpkin(margarine)

Delmi(mayonnaise, yogurt, margarine)

Algida(ice cream)

Knorr(seasonings)

Manufacturing company Nestle

Nescafe(coffee and milk)

Maggi(soups, broths, mayonnaise, seasonings, mashed potatoes)

Nestle(chocolate)

Nestea(tea)

Nesquik(cocoa)

Manufacturing company Kellog's

Corn Flakes

Frosted Flakes (cereals)

Rice Krispies (cereal)

Corn Pops (cereals)

Smacks (cereals)

Froot Loops (colored ring flakes)

Apple Jacks (apple flavored cereal)

All-bran Apple Cinnamon/Blueberry (apple, cinnamon, blueberry flavored bran)

Chocolate Chip (chocolate chips)

Pop Tarts (filled cookies, all flavors)

Nutri-grain (toast with filling, all types)

Crispix (cookies)

Smart Start (cereals)

All-Bran (flakes)

Just Right Fruit & Nut (cereals)

Honey Crunch Corn Flakes

Raisin Bran Crunch (cereals)

Cracklin' Oat Bran (flakes)

Manufacturing company Hershey's

Toblerone (chocolate, all types)

Mini Kisses (candies)

Kit-Kat(chocolate bar)

Kisses (candies)

Semi-Sweet Baking Chips (cookies)

Milk Chocolate Chips (cookies)

Reese's Peanut Butter Cups (peanut butter)

Special Dark (dark chocolate)

Milk Chocolate (milk chocolate)

Chocolate Syrup (chocolate syrup)

Special Dark Chocolate Syrup (chocolate syrup)

Strawberry Syrop (strawberry syrup)

Manufacturing company Mars

Snickers

Milky Way

Crunch(chocolate rice cereal)

Milk Chocolate Nestle(chocolate)

Nesquik(chocolate drink)

Cadbury(Cadbury/Hershey's)

Fruit & Nut

Company - manufacturer Heinz

Ketchup (regular & no salt)

Chili Sauce (Chili sauce)

Heinz 57 Steak Sauce (meat sauce)

Manufacturing company Hellman's

Real Mayonnaise (mayonnaise)

Light Mayonnaise (mayonnaise)

Low-Fat Mayonnaise (mayonnaise)

Manufacturing company Coca-Cola

Coca-Cola

Cherry Coca

Minute Maid Orange

Minute Maid Grape

Manufacturing company PepsiCo

Pepsi Cherry

Mountain Dew

Manufacturer Frito-Lay/PepsiCo (GM components may be contained in oil and other ingredients)

Lays Potato Chips (all)(chips )

Cheetos(all) (chips)

Manufacturing company Cadbury/Schweppes

Dr. Pepper

Pringles manufacturing company (Procter&Gamble)

Pringles(chips with flavors Original, Low Fat, Pizza-licious, Sour Cream & Onion, Salt & Vinegar, Cheezeums)

Honeycan be collected from genetically modified plants.

There is a high frequency of information that bees cannot pollinate genetically modified buckwheat. So there is one.

Rice.In general, it is better to buy not anonymous varieties of plant products, but quite specific ones. For example, Basmati rice. There is a high probability that in this case the product will not be GMO.

Anonymous rice, as well as Chinese or Taiwanese rice, is most likely transgenic.

Russia is one of the main importers of this product from China. However, according to environmentalists, the Chinese have been producing GM rice unofficially for two years and exporting it.

Environmentalists reported that genetically modified rice was being grown illegally in China back in April. “In the spring of 2005, Greenpeace took rice samples obtained from supplying companies, farmers and millers from China for genetic testing in the German Genescan laboratory,” Greenpeace Russia press secretary Maya Kolikova told NI. – It turned out that more than 2/3 of the samples (19 out of 25) turned out to be genetically modified.

When interviewing farmers and grain suppliers from China, we found out that for more than two years, transgenic rice has been illegally grown and actively sold both within the country and abroad.”

The situation, according to environmentalists, is aggravated by the fact that the Chinese government is considering the possibility of legalizing industrial production GM rice. The Greens believe that the Russians will suffer the most from the actions of the Chinese authorities - product supplies from this country account for more than 60% of our total rice imports.

However, in this matter there are not only disadvantages, but also advantages. After all, until now, rice supplied to Russia was formally considered unmodified, and no checks were carried out for the content of GMI in it. Therefore, no one can say how many transgenes we have already eaten and will still eat. If the consumer has information about where the rice comes from, he will be able to decide for himself whether to buy this product or not.

Environmentalists, however, see the problem not so much in the cereal itself, which can really be abandoned, but in the distribution of products with additives rice flour, including many for children - milk formula and cereals, noodles, semi-finished products. Manufacturers, as a rule, do not indicate the country where the ingredients come from.

I would like to point out that "Indica", a term that can be found on rice packets, is not original name of any kind. It just means long grain rice. It could also be from China.

Attention! Traits of transgenic vegetables and fruits.

Is it possible to distinguish modified fruits and vegetables from natural ones?

Excessively clean potato tubers that differ little from each other or perfectly shaped tomatoes are a reason to think. After all, a sure sign of natural products is the presence in the total mass of “eaten” by insects and rotten specimens. Insects never eat GM products! If you cut a natural tomato or strawberry, they will immediately give juice; unnatural ones retain their shape.

The most famous products containing GM ingredients:

(according to Greenpeace)

1. Snickers chocolate bars

2. Pepsi

3. Maggi Seasonings

4. Pringles chips

Vegetable stalls are overwhelmed"Volgograd" tomatoesorami, like twins similar to Turkish ones. It turns out that in Volgograd, for several years now, only imported “plastic” varieties without taste and smell have been grown on a mass scale.

I wouldn't be at all surprised if they turn out to be GMO. I stopped buying tomatoes of these varieties, and I rarely bought them before.

From the article by E. Yakusheva “What are transgenic products?”:

Currently, 90% of exports of transgenic food products are corn and soybeans. Popcorn, which is sold on the streets everywhere, is 100% made from GM corn, and there is still no corresponding labeling on it. Soy products from North America or Argentina, 80% are GM products.

GM foods are attractive to retail. For example, genetically modified vegetables and fruits are 4-5 times cheaper than their natural counterparts.

From the book of Liniza Zhuvanovna Zhalpanova:

"Foods That Kill You":

Transgenic products are purchased by Russia from other countries with the permission of the Ministry of Health and Social Development of the Russian Federation. According to statistics, about 70% of imported products are made from genetically modified raw materials. These products include: soy products, flour, chocolate, chocolate bars, wine, baby food, milk powder, milk, kefir, yogurt, cottage cheese, carbonated drinks, canned corn and tomatoes, corn oil, cookies, starch, soy protein, soybean oil, soy sauce, lecithin, cottonseed oil, syrups, tomato sauces, coffee and coffee drinks, popcorn, breakfast cereals, etc.

It is assumed that some imported beer also contains genetically modified molecules taken over by the drink from modified yeast.

According to the National Association of Genetic Safety, about 1/3 of all products on the Russian market contain genetically modified components.

Greenpeace Handbook “How to Avoid Using Products with Genetically Modified Ingredients (GM Products)?”

You can from here, from the Greenpeace website

The directory contains lists of food enterprises, divided into three categories (green, orange and red lists) according to the criterion of the presence of GM components in products.

IN New Year's menu often include canned store-bought vegetables. But canned corn and green peas extremely undesirable. They are GMO.

According to a month and a half study, our food is simply crammed with genetically modified organisms. Moreover, the food is the most popular in our area - sausages, dumplings, dry soups, canned vegetables, chocolates.

Environmentalists (Greenpeace and the All-Ukrainian Environmental League) categorically include in this list the products of the most famous brands - Coca-Cola, Pepsi, Nestle, Gallina Blanka, Knorr, Lipton, Bonduel. WITH full list companies that have confirmed that their products may contain GM components or have not denied their use can be found at .

“The results of the study showed that 18 out of 42 randomly selected food products contained genetically modified soybeans exceeded 3 percent,” said Mikhail Mukharovsky, general director of Ukrmetrteststandart. “However, nine of them did not contain soy protein at all.”

Bonduel, thus, blacklisted!

I understand that the reliability of what is included in the list is not guaranteed, since the sources of information may be dubious. But otherwise I have practically no way to keep such a list at all.

Orchard, Rich puree- Genetically modified foods.

By the way, the very first genetically modified product on the market is food banana, and any one (to increase productivity, roughly speaking, it has a duplicated set of chromosomes).

If about banana: artificially induced polyploidy is also a form of genetic modification (because the chromosome set becomes larger compared to the original organism), most importantly, it is cheap and cheerful. But journalists have not yet learned to scare people with it.

Company "Mistral", probably deliberately does not mark the country of origin of those cereals and legumes, which are packaged in them. The fact is that she appeared in the sale of American crops, which, most likely, are genetically modified. “Basmati Rice” is also not labeled. Unfortunately, as I only found out today, it is highly likely that he may be transgenic. From the book “Seeds of Destruction. The Secret Behind Genetic Manipulation by William F. Engdahl:

Texas biotech company RiceTech has decided it will receive payments on a patent for Basmati rice, a variation that has been a daily staple in India, Pakistan and Asia for thousands of years. In 1998, RiceTek patented genetically modified Basmati rice, and thanks to American laws, which prohibits the labeling of genetic products, RiceTek managed to sell it legally, labeling it as regular Basmati rice. It turned out that RiceTech, through dubious means, had obtained precious Basmati seeds, which were deposited at the Rockefeller Foundation International Rice Research Institute in the Philippines (RIRIP). (10)

In the name of “security,” MRRI duplicated a priceless collection of rice seeds collected in the Philippines and stored it in a seed bank in Fort Collins, Colorado, making the very dubious promise that the seeds would be stored as a safe seed supply for farmers in the rice regions. MRID convinced farmers that sharing their invaluable finds in MRID rice seed varieties would serve their own safety.

In Colorado, far from the Philippines, MNIIR transferred valuable seeds (without which RiceTek might not have made its patented genetic modifications) to RiceTek researchers, who immediately patented everything possible. They knew it was highly illegal: Even in Texas, rice researchers know that Basmati rice does not typically grow on the dusty plains around Crawford, Texas. (eleven)

RiceTek, in collusion with MNIIR, stole seeds for its patent. In addition, according to carefully developed rules established by the Rockefeller Foundation, although seeds from a gene bank cannot be patented, any man-made improved variation based on them can be patented.

The Jasmine variety also has a GM modification.

From the article “Transgenic “Senior Tomato” and Dolly the Sheep...”:

You can delay the ripening of already collected fruits by placing them in special conditions. Using carbon dioxide, the effect of ethylene released by fruits is blocked. These properties are manipulated by traders transporting bananas, citrus fruits, and vegetables– and tomatoes in particular. They are harvested green and treated with ethylene along the way, causing artificial ripening. Such fruits and vegetables lose their taste and ripen unevenly. And it’s easy to verify this. For example, the tomatoes that we buy at the market are red on the outside but white on the inside. The delay in ripening is also due to the fact that most of the tomatoes that we sell are imported from Turkey, and they are all transgenic. Even on the boxes in which they are packaged it is written: TRANSGEN.

Excerpts from the book by Mikhail Efremov: “Caution! Harmful products!

Additives with a high degree of likelihood of containing GI components:

E-153 – Vegetable Carbon (vegetable coal);

E-160d – Annatto, Bixin, Norbixin (annatto, bixin, norbixin);

E-161c – Paprika extract, Capsanthin, Capsorubin (paprika extract, capsanthin, capsorubin);

E-308 – Synthetic Gamma-tocopherol (synthetic y-tocopherol);

E-309 – Synthetic Delta-tocopherol (synthetic d-tocopherol);

E -471 – Mono- and Diglycerides of Fatty Acids ( mono- and diglycerides of fatty acids);

E-472a – Acetic Acid Esters of Mono- and Diglycerides of Fatty Acids ( esters of mono- and diglycerides of acetic fatty acids);

E -473 – Sucrose Esters of Fatty Acids ( sucrose esters of fatty acids);

E -475 – Polyglycerol Esters of Fatty Acids ( esters of polyglycerides and fatty acids);

E -476 – Polyglycerol Polyricinoleate ( polyglycerol polygrycerololeates);

E -477 – Propane-1, 2-diol Esters of Fatty Acids ( propane -1, 2-diol esters of fatty acids);

E -479b – Thermally Oxideized Soya Bean Oll Interacted with Mono- and Diglycerides of Fatty Acids ( thermally oxidized soybean and bean oil with mono- and diglycerides of fatty acids);

E -570 – Fatty Acids (fatty acids);

E-951 – Aspartame (aspartame, or nutrosvit).

Additives based on GM components:

Riboflavin (B2)otherwise known as E 101 and E 101A, made from GM microorganisms, is approved for sale in a number of countries. It is added in cereals, soft drinks, baby food and weight loss products.Caramel(E 150) and xanthan (E 415) can be produced from the grain.

Lecithin (E 322) is produced from soybeans, which can be genetically modified. like this soy uses, in particular, company Nesltein your chocolate, baby food and other products.Other additives that may contain GM components: E 153, E 160 d, E 161 c, E 308-9, E-471, E 472a, E 473, E 475, E 476 b, E 477, E479 a, E 570, E 572, E 573, E 620, E 621, E 622, E 633, E 624, E 625.

I would like to emphasize that food additives for any purpose (technological, to “improve” consumer qualities) can also be included in dietary supplement. Therefore, it is important to know which food additives are prohibited or dangerous.

I saw how it works dairy production. I just don’t really want to drink milk after that.

And only raw cow's milk can be consumed. You can make yogurt from store-bought milk, and not just any kind, but preferably from the one that says it’s made from natural (whole) milk. cow's milk(its fat content is usually indicated as 3.4-6%). It is not worth drinking such milk in its pure form, because it is pasteurized and if it is consumed regularly, after a while the joints will begin to ache - most likely due to the deposition of inorganic calcium in them, which appears during pasteurization (transfers from an organically bound form to an inorganic one). But you can make curdled milk from it - it turns out quite well and does not cause any problems.

But any milk normalized by fat content is real poison. And even curdled milk from such milk is not very good, except from milk with a fat content of no more than 1% - lactobacilli can at least cope with such concentrations of modified milk fat.

GMO - manufacturing company :

Catbury

Mars

Snickers

Twix

Milky Way

Uncle Bans

Coca Cola

Sprite

7 up

Pepsi

Nestlé

Knorr

Lipton

Parmalat (cookies)

Similak (baby food)

Potatoes (from Monsant USA)

LIST OF INTERNATIONAL PRODUCERS NOTICED USING GMOs:

''Greenpeace'' has published a list of companies that use GMOs in their products. It's interesting that in different countries these companies behave differently depending on the laws of a particular country.
In total, more than 120 names (brands) of GMO products are registered in Russia, according to voluntary registration data and a special register of products imported from abroad. Among the manufacturers whose products contain GMOs are:
LLC ''Daria - semi-finished products'', LLC ''Klinsky Meat Processing Plant'', MPZ ''Tagansky'', MPZ ''CampoMos'', CJSC ''Vichyunay'', LLC ''MLM-RA'', LLC '' Talostoproducts, LLC Bogatyr Sausage Plant, LLC ROS Mari Ltd.
Manufacturer company Unilever: Lipton (tea), Brooke Bond (tea), ''Conversation'' (teas), Calve (mayonnaise, ketchup), Rama (butter), ''Pyshka'' (margarine), ''Delmi'' (mayonnaise, yogurt, margarine), ''Algida'' (ice cream), Knorr (seasonings); Nestle manufacturing company: Nescafe (coffee and milk), Maggi (soups, broths, mayonnaise, Nestle (chocolate), Nestea (tea), Neseiulk (cocoa);
Kellog's manufacturer: Corn Flakes, Frosted Flakes, Rice Krispies, Corn Pops, Smacks, Froot Loops, Apple Jacks apple flavor), Afl-bran Apple Cinnamon/Blueberry (bran with apple, cinnamon, blueberry flavor), Chocolate Chip (chocolate chips), Pop Tarts (cookies with filling, all flavors), Nulri grain (toast with filling, all types) , Crispix (cookies), All-Bran (cereals), Just Right Fruit & Nut (cereals), Honey Crunch Corn Flakes (cereals), Raisin Bran Crunch (cereals), Cracklin'Oat Bran (cereals);
Hershey's Manufacturing Company: Toblerone (chocolate, all types), Mini Kisses (candies), Kit-Kat (chocolate bar), Kisses (candies), Semi-Sweet Baking Chips (cookies), Milk Chocolate Chips (cookies), Reese 's Peanut Butter Cups (peanut butter), Special Dark (dark chocolate), Milk Chocolate milk chocolate), Chocolate Syrup (chocolate syrup), Special Dark Chocolate Syrup (chocolate syrup), Setoawberry Syrup (strawberry syrup);
Mars manufacturing company: M&M'S, Snickers, Milky Way, Twix, Nestle, Crunch (chocolate rice cereal), Milk Chocolate Nestle (chocolate), Nesquik (chocolate drink), Cadbury (Cadbury/Hershey's), Fruit
Heinz manufacturing company: Ketchup (regular&no salt), Chili Sauce, Heinz 57 Steak Sauce;
Coca-Cola manufacturing company: Coca Cola, Sprite, Cherry Cola, Minute Maid Orange, Minute Maid Grape;
Manufacturing company PepsiCo: Pepsi, Pepsi Cherry, Mountain Dew;
Manufacturer Frito-Lay / PepsiCo: (GM components may be contained in oil and other ingredients), Lays Potato Chips (all), Cheetos (all);
Manufacturing company Cadbury/Schweppes:7-Up, Dr. Pepper;
Pringles manufacturing company Procter&Gamble: Pringles (chips with Original, LowFat, Pizzalicious, Sour Cream&Onion, Salt&Vinegar, Cheezeums flavors).
1 Hershey’s Cadbury Fruit&Nut chocolate products
2 Mars M&M
3 Snickers
4 Twix
5 Milky Way
6 Cadbury chocolate, cocoa
7 Ferrero
8 Nestle chocolate ''Nestlé'', ''Russia''
9 Nestle Nesquik chocolate drink
10 Soft drink Sosa-Cola ‘‘Coca-Cola’’ Sosa-Cola
11 ''Sprite'', ''Fanta'', ''Kinley'' tonic, ''Fruittime''
12 Pepci-Co Pepsi 13 ''7-Up'', ''Fiesta'', ''Mountain Dew''
14 Kellogg's breakfast cereals
15 Campbell Soups
16 Uncle Bens Mars Rice
17 Knorr Sauces
18 Lipton Tea
19 Parmalat cookies
20 Seasonings, mayonnaise, Hellman’s sauces
21 Seasonings, mayonnaises, Heinz sauces
22 Nestle baby food
23 Hipp
24 Abbot Labs Similac
25 Yogurts, kefir, cheese, Danon baby food
26 McDonald's (McDonald's) chain of fast food restaurants
27 chocolate, chips, coffee, baby food Kraft (Kraft)
28 ketchups, sauces. Heinz Foods
29 baby food, Delmi products Unilever (Unilever)

Products whose preparation technology uses GMOs:

JSC “Nizhny Novgorod Oil and Fat Plant” (mayonnaise “Ryaba”, “Vprok”, etc.).
- Bonduelle products (Hungary) - beans, corn, green peas.
- CJSC ''Baltimore-Neva'' (St. Petersburg) - ketchups.
- CJSC ''Mikoyanovsky Meat Processing Plant'' (Moscow) - pates, minced meat.
- CJSC EUROPE FOODS GB'' (Nizhny Novgorod region) - soups ''Galina Blanca''.
- Concern “White Ocean” (Moscow) - “Russian Potato” chips.
- JSC ''Lianozovsky Dairy Plant'' (Moscow) - yoghurts, ''Miracle milk'', ''Miracle chocolate''.
- JSC ''Cherkizovsky MPZ'' (Moscow) - frozen minced meat.
- Campina LLC (Moscow region) - yoghurts, baby food.
- LLC ''MK Gurman'' (Novosibirsk) - pates.
- Frito LLC (Moscow region) - Layz chips.
- OOO ''Ermann'' (Moscow region) - yoghurts.
- LLC ''Unilever CIS'' (Tula) - ''Calve'' mayonnaise.
- Factory ''Bolshevik'' (Moscow) - cookies ''Yubileinoe''.
- ''Nestlé'' (Switzerland, Finland) - dry milk mixture ''Nestogen'', puree ''Vegetables with beef''.

note how carefully products for children are screened out - there are GMOs everywhere, not here so here, and if your child does not eat yoghurt, he eats Nesquik or cereal or puree. And one way or another, GMOs end up
into his body. This is the situation in supermarkets now: absolutely all products have a “Non-GMO” label. We read the ingredients on the label: modified soy, modified starch, and so on.

Update: October 2018

Today, in many countries (including Russia), the concept of GMOs has been turned into almost equivalent to the concepts of “products that cause mutations and tumors.” GMOs are being vilified from all sides and for a variety of reasons: they are unsafe, tasteless, and threaten the country’s food independence. Are these same GMOs really that scary, and what are they really? Let’s try to figure it out.

GMO - deciphering the concept

Genetically modified organisms are those modified by methods genetic engineering alive organisms. In a narrow sense, the concept applies to plants. Previously, breeders like Michurin had to achieve certain useful (from a human point of view) properties in plants using various tricks: grafting cuttings of one tree onto another or selecting for sowing seeds of plants only with certain qualities, and then wait long and hard for the results that persisted only after a couple of generations of plants. Today you can transfer the right gene to the right place and get what you want.

Thus, GMOs are an acceleration of evolution and directing it in the right direction.

How are GMOs created?

To create a GMO plant, several techniques can be used. Today the most popular method is transgenes. To do this, the desired gene (for example, drought resistance) is isolated from the DNA chain in its pure form, and then introduced into the DNA of the modified plant.

Genes can be taken from related species, and then the process is called cisgenesis. When a gene is taken from species that are distant from the given organism, they speak of transgenesis.

They are talking about transgenesis creepy stories. Having learned that there is now wheat with the scorpion gene, many begin to fantasize about whether those who eat it will now grow a tail and claws, and whether poison will appear in their saliva. Numerous illiterate publications on websites and forums where the topic of GMOs is actively discussed add fuel to the fire.

This is not the only thing that “specialists” who have little knowledge of biology and biochemistry scare potential consumers of GMO products.

Products containing GMOs

Today, we have agreed to call GMO products everything that is genetically modified organisms or all products that contain components of such organisms. That is, not only genetically modified corn or potatoes will be GMO food, but also sausages, which, in addition to sodium nitrate, toilet paper and liver, will contain GMO soy. But the meat of a cow that was fed GMO wheat will not be a GMO product. And that's why.

Are GMOs built into our cells?

Journalists who have not read any normal physiology and biochemistry, who understand the relevance and relevance of the topic of GMOs, but are too lazy to seriously study the issue, launched a “duck” to the masses that the cells of GMO products, entering our stomach and intestines, are absorbed into the bloodstream and spread throughout the body. organs and tissues where they cause mutations and cancer.

It is with great regret that we have to note that this fantasy plot is untenable. Any food in the stomach and intestines breaks down into its component parts under the influence of gastric juice, pancreatic secretion and intestinal enzymes. And these components are not genes or even proteins, but:

Then, in different parts of the gastrointestinal tract, all this delight is absorbed into the bloodstream and used either for:

getting energy (sugar)
or for its reserves (fats)
either as building material human own proteins (amino acids)

And if, for example, you take a certain genetically modified organism (say, an ugly apple that looks more like a cucumber), then it will easily be chewed, swallowed and broken down into its component parts in the same way as any other thing that has not undergone genetic modification. Let's give another somewhat strange/creepy example, but which will explain more popularly that genes are not integrated anywhere when assimilated into the gastrointestinal tract: if a crocodile (or cannibal) eats a child with Down syndrome and eats a healthy child, both will be equally absorbed and by no one will not affect the crocodile or cannibal in any way.

GMOs: harm or benefit

The American company Monsanto introduced genetically modified cotton and soybeans to the market in 1982. They are also the author of the herbicide Roundup, which kills all vegetation except GMO-modified vegetation.

In 1996, when Monssanto's GMO products were released onto the markets, competing corporations, saving their income, began a large-scale campaign to limit the circulation of products containing GMOs. The first to mark the persecution of GMOs was the British scientist Arpad Pusztai, who fed GMO potatoes to rats. True, later experts tore all the scientist’s calculations to smithereens.

Potential harm from GMO products for Russians

No one hides the fact that on lands sown with GMO grains, nothing ever grows except themselves. This is due to the fact that herbicide-resistant soybean or cotton varieties are not stained by the herbicide, which can be sprayed in any quantity, causing the total extinction of other vegetation.
The most common herbicide is glyphosate. In fact, it is sprayed even before the ripening of what goes into food, quickly decomposes in plants and is not stored in the soil. But resistant GMO plants allow you to spray a lot, a lot of it, which increases the risk of its accumulation in GMO vegetation. Glyphosate is also known to cause obesity and bone growth. And in the USA and Latin America there are too many overweight people.
Many GMO seeds are designed for only one planting. That is, what grows out of them will no longer produce offspring. This is more of a commercial ploy, as this increases the sales of GMO seeds. There are excellent GMO plants that give excellent results to the next generations.
Allergization. Since some artificial genetic mutations (for example, in potatoes or soybeans) can increase its allergenic properties, they say that all GMOs are powerful allergens. But some varieties of peanuts, devoid of their usual proteins, do not cause allergies even in those who previously suffered from it specifically for this product.
GMO plants can displace other varieties of their species. Due to the nature of pollination, they may reduce the number of other varieties of their species. That is, if two plots nearby are planted with GMO and regular wheat, there is a risk that the GMO will displace the regular one, pollinating it. Who would let her grow up next to her?
Dependence on companies that hold the seed fund. Having abandoned its own seed funds and switched only to GMO seeds, especially disposable ones, the state will sooner or later become food dependent on the holders of the seed fund of GMO plants.

A response to the aspirations of the people

After repeated replication in all media of tales and horror stories about GMO products, the vector of wide public resonance was directed against the machinations of imperialism, completely denying the possibility of expensive Russians consuming harmful and unsafe products containing GMOs or their traces.

Rospotrebnadzor, meeting the wishes of its compatriots, took part in numerous conferences on this issue. In March 2014, at a conference in Italy, a delegation from Rospotrebnadzor took part in technical consultations on the low content of GMOs in food products and the low content of GMO products themselves in Russian trade turnover. Thus, today the policy has been taken to almost completely prevent GMO products from entering the Russian food market and the use of GMO plants in agriculture has been delayed, although in 2013 it was planned to begin using GMO seeds (Resolution of the Government of the Russian Federation of September 23, 2013).

The Ministry of Education and Science went even further and, taking into account people's aspirations, proposed instead of using the “does not contain GMOs” label to use a barcode that would contain all the information about the genetic modification of a given product or its absence. It's a good start, but it will be impossible to read the barcode without a special device.

CONCLUSION: the GMO problem is clearly overblown, the real consequences of long-term consumption of GMO products are unknown, and no authoritative scientific experiments have been conducted on this issue to date.

For those who are still wary of eating GMO foods, here is a partial list of foods containing GMOs.

Products

Manufacturers using GMOs in their technologies

Chocolate products Hershey's Cadbury Fruit&Nut
Mars M&M, Snickers, Twix, Milky Way
Cadbury chocolate, cocoa
Ferrero
Nestle chocolate "Nestlé", "Russia"
Chocolate drink Nestle Nesquik
Soft drink Sosa-Cola "Coca-Cola" Sosa-Cola
Sprite, Fanta, Kinley tonic, Fruittime
Pepci-Co Pepsi
"7-Up", "Fiesta", "Mountain Dew"
Kellogg's breakfast cereals
Campbell Soups
Uncle Bens Mars Rice
Knorr Sauces
Lipton tea
Parmalat cookies
Seasonings, mayonnaise, Hellman's sauces
Seasonings, mayonnaise, Heinz sauces
Baby food Nestle, Hipp, Abbot Labs Similac
Yogurts, kefir, cheese, Denon baby food
McDonald's (McDonald's) chain of fast food restaurants
Chocolate, chips, coffee, baby food Kraft (Kraft)
Ketchups, sauces. Heinz Foods
Baby food, Delmi products Unilever (Unilever)

JSC "Nizhny Novgorod Oil and Fat Plant" (mayonnaise "Ryaba", "Vprok", etc.)
Bonduel products (Hungary) - beans, corn, green peas
CJSC "Baltimore-Neva" (St. Petersburg) - ketchups
CJSC "Mikoyanovsky Meat Processing Plant" (Moscow) - pates, minced meat
JSC UROP FOOD GB" (Nizhny Novgorod region) - soups "Galina Blanca"
Concern "White Ocean" (Moscow) - chips "Russian Potatoes"
OJSC "Lianozovsky Dairy Plant" (Moscow) - yoghurts, "Miracle Milk", "Miracle Chocolate"
OJSC "Cherkizovsky MPZ" (Moscow) - frozen minced meat
LLC "Campina" (Moscow region) - yoghurts, baby food
LLC "MK Gurman" (Novosibirsk) - pates
Frito LLC (Moscow region) - Layz chips
LLC "Ehrmann" (Moscow region) - yoghurts
LLC "Unilever CIS" (Tula) - mayonnaise "Calve"
Factory "Bolshevik" (Moscow) - cookies "Yubileinoe"
"Nestlé" (Switzerland, Finland) - dry milk mixture "Nestogen", puree "Vegetables with beef"

List of GMO food manufacturers

LLC "Daria - semi-finished products"
LLC "Klinsky Meat Processing Plant"
MPZ "Tagansky"
MPZ "CampoMos"
JSC "Viciunai"
LLC "MLM-RA"
LLC "Talosto-products"
LLC "Sausage plant "Bogatyr"
LLC "ROS Mari Ltd"

Unilever:

Lipton (tea)
Brooke Bond (tea)
"Conversation" (teas)
Calve (mayonnaise, ketchup)
Rama (oil)
"Pyshka" (margarine)
"Delmi" (mayonnaise, yogurt, margarine)
"Algida" (ice cream)
Knorr (seasonings)

Manufacturing company Kellog's:

Corn Flakes
Frosted Flakes (cereals)
Rice Krispies (cereals)
Corn Pops (cereals)
Smacks (cereals)
Froot Loops (colored ring flakes)
Apple Jacks (apple flavored cereal rings)
Afl-bran Apple Cinnamon/ Blueberry (bran with apple, cinnamon, blueberry flavors)
Chocolate Chip (chocolate chips)
Pop Tarts (filled cookies, all flavors)
Nulri grain (toast with filling, all types)
Crispix (cookies)
All-Bran (flakes)
Just Right Fruit & Nut (cereals)
Honey Crunch Corn Flakes
Raisin Bran Crunch (cereals)
Cracklin'Oat Bran (flakes)

Manufacturing company Mars:

M&M'S
Snickers
Milky Way
Nestle
Crunch (chocolate rice cereal)
Milk Chocolate Nestle (chocolate)
Nesquik (chocolate drink)
Cadbury (Cadbury/Hershey's)
Fruit & Nut

Manufacturing company Nestle:

Nescafe (coffee and milk)
Maggi (soups, broths, mayonnaise, Nestle (chocolate)
Nestea (tea)
Neseiulk (cocoa)

Manufacturing company Hershey's:

Toblerone (chocolate, all types)
Mini Kisses (candies)
Kit-Kat (chocolate bar)
Kisses (candies)
Semi-Sweet Baking Chips (cookies)
Milk Chocolate Chips (cookies)
Reese's Peanut Butter Cups (peanut butter)
Special Dark (dark chocolate)
Milk Chocolate (milk chocolate)
Chocolate Syrup (chocolate syrup)
Special Dark Chocolate Syrup (chocolate syrup)
Strawberry Syrup (strawberry syrup)

Manufacturing company Heinz:

Ketchup (regular & no salt)
Chili Sauce
Heinz 57 Steak Sauce

Coca-Cola manufacturing company:

Coca Cola
Sprite
Charry Cola
Minute Maid Orange
Minute Maid Grape

Manufacturing company PepsiCo:

Pepsi
Pepsi Cherry
Mountain Dew

Frito manufacturing company - Lay / PepsiCo:

(GM ingredients may be present in oil and other ingredients) Lays Potato Chips (all)
Cheetos (all)

Manufacturing company Cadbury/Schweppes:

Dr. Pepper

Pringles manufacturer Procter&Gamble:

Pringles (chips in Original, LowFat, Pizzalicious, Sour Cream & Onion, Salt & Vinegar, Cheezeums flavors).

The same product manufacturing company can produce three categories of the same product:

the first is for domestic consumption (in industrialized countries)
the second is for export to other developed countries
the third - for export to developing countries

The third category includes about 80% of food, drinks, tobacco products, exported from the USA and countries Western Europe. According to the UN Food Commission, some Western firms are expanding the export of goods that are not only environmentally hazardous, but also prohibited in developed countries.

Meanwhile, more than two hundred types of food additives are not approved for use in Russia due to the incompleteness of the testing package. Listing them would take too much space.

Let us name only the definitively prohibited and absolutely harmful preservatives and emulsifiers for humans:

Finally, I would like to name some dangerous preservatives and emulsifiers that can negatively affect your health. As a rule, labeling with their name is provided on product packaging.

E121 - citrus red dye
E123 - red amaranth
E240 - preservative formaldehyde
suspicious: E-104, E-122, E-141, E-150, E-171, E-173, E-180, E-241, E-477
prohibited: E-103, E-105, E-111, E-125, E-126, E-130, E-152
dangerous: E-102, E-110, E-120, E-124, E-127
contribute to the development of oncology: E-131, E-142, E-210, E-211, E-212, E-213, E-215, E-216, G: 217, E-240, E-330
harmful to skin: E-230, E-231, E-232, E-238
contribute to the occurrence of rash: E-311, E-312 and E-313
cause intestinal disorders: E-221, E-222, E-223, E-224 and E-226
stomach upset: E-322, E-338, E-339, E-340, E-311, E-407, E-450, E-461, E-462, E-463, E-465, E-466
increase pressure: E-250 and E-251
increase cholesterol: E-320 and E-321

The operating principle of genetic engineering is based on crossing genes that are incompatible in nature into one object. If selection crosses homogeneous plants, then genetics combines incompatible things: for example, a variety of tomatoes has been developed that are not afraid of the cold due to the fact that they contain the northern flounder gene. This technology makes it possible to obtain plants that are not susceptible to diseases and produce high yields. The attractiveness of genetically modified products in the eyes of producers is obvious: their cost is much lower than that of analogues grown without the use of genetics.

Genetically modified products: history of appearance

Transgenic products first appeared in the 80s of the last century in America and have since spread throughout the world. Initially, scientists pursued the goal of ridding humanity of hunger and feeding third world countries. The consequences turned out to be diametrically opposite: most African countries have long abandoned such products, restrictions have been introduced on them in Europe, and only in the United States are transgenic potatoes, soybeans, corn and other products widely consumed.

In our country the situation is no better. If in Europe it is easy for consumers to distinguish modified products due to their low price, then on the shelves of domestic stores, tomatoes with GMOs cost the same as regular vegetables. The import of products containing GMOs into Russia is also not prohibited.

The benefits and harms of GMOs

If it became known for sure that genetically modified products are harmful to health, they would already be banned in the United States. But for now there is a lot of controversy and little truth born from it.

Although the relationship between health status and the consumption of transgenic foods has not been proven, some facts make you think. Thus, in the USA, where most products contain GMOs, about 70% of the population suffers from allergies. Whereas in Sweden, where a ban on their use has been introduced, such patients are only about 7%. Of course, the reason for the spread of allergies in the United States may lie in something else (at least even in the climate), but many experts associate this specifically with GMOs.

Another negative to talk about the dangers of genetically modified products- This is a change in the intestinal microflora and gastric mucosa, due to which the body becomes less susceptible to the action of antibiotics. All this has an impact on, reducing it. The consequences can be very diverse, from frequent colds to cell mutation leading to cancer. So the benefits of genetically modified foods are quite questionable.

However, there is also harm. But we have one thing, but many products. There are plenty to choose from. So why eat questionable foods when there are many truly healthy and harmless ones? A list of genetically modified products—or rather, products that are more often modified—would be useful.

How to establish a healthy diet and exclude genetically modified foods from your diet.

It is unlikely that it will be possible to completely get rid of such products, since components that have undergone genetic engineering are included in many products. But it is quite possible to reduce their use.

To do this, it is necessary first of all avoid soy and products containing it- such as soy sauce, starch and, alas, delicious tofu cheese (after all, it was a good, healthy product until geneticists took up soy).

Imported corn is also undesirable on the table.

It is these products (soybeans and corn) that are genetically modified first.

The exception is Hungarian corn, where the cultivation of GM products is prohibited.

At the same time, sausages can also contain GMOs, since in addition to meat they also add the same soybeans. This is especially true for sausages and boiled sausage. Considering that the benefits of eating such products are quite doubtful, then best way to cook meat at home.

Potatoes are no less often subjected to genetic modification. It is quite easy to distinguish it: large, even, seemingly calibrated tubers appear on the market at a time when domestic young potatoes are at the ovary stage. It is best to purchase local potatoes - this guarantees the absence of GMOs in the tubers.

You need to look especially carefully at the appearance of fruits and vegetables. Not provided by nature perfect sizes fruits, while genetic engineering strives to achieve perfect proportions. Such fruits and vegetables are stored for a long time and are not eaten by insects.

Quite often, soy is added to baked goods, as well as to sweets. Therefore, they can also be called genetically modified products. Therefore, widely advertised American-made chocolate bars can be harmful to health not only in terms of weight gain. The less often such delicacies appear on the table, the better.

Life is easier for people who eat a healthy diet: the problem of choice concerns only fruits and vegetables, because... There are no sausages, sausages, or sweet bars on their tables.

So, a short list of genetically modified products:

1. Soy products (soy meat, soy milk, Tofu cheese)
2. Inexpensive sausages, sausages
3. Many store-bought semi-finished products (frozen cutlets, dumplings, minced meat, etc.).
4. Chips
5. Imported corn (except Hungarian)
6. Popcorn (yes, it is often made from imported corn)
7. Sweet chocolate bars, inexpensive chocolate bars and candies (read the ingredients: if there is soy, don’t take it)
8. Ice cream (alas, the manufacturer also adds soy to ice cream - see the composition)
9. Seasoning mixtures in packets
10. There are widespread reports that rice is also increasingly genetically modified.
11. Peas are also starting to be modified, so imported green peas in cans are not very reliable in this sense, as are American and Argentine beans in packs.

If you move a modern person two or three hundred years ago, he would probably die of starvation. Modern technologies made life easier for busy people. Now we practically no longer prepare nutritious food. Food instant cooking, semi-finished and ready-made meals delivered to your home - that’s all a tired person needs at the end of the working day. For many people, the process of cooking has become impossible due to the busy life that most major cities live.

For many residents of the metropolis, a hot home-cooked dinner is a childhood memory. Do not forget that all these products familiar to city dwellers from a bag bought in a supermarket are simply stuffed with various chemical additives: taste improvers, flavors, dyes, preservatives, a huge amount of salt and GMOs. The decoding of these letters is known, if not to everyone, then to very many. Most people on the planet have heard of such products, but not everyone is aware of the consequences of their consumption.

Why are GMOs needed?

The term GMO, which stands for “genetically modified organism,” was introduced by scientists in the twentieth century. What does it mean?

Genetics is the science that studies the properties of genes and their manipulations that will help humanity in the future. The creation of such organisms was dictated by the natural need to develop food for the Earth's population, whose numbers are growing every year. Over two hundred years, the number of people living on our planet has grown by five billion, and this process has not ended. The scientific world is concerned about this growth in the human population, so it is creating genetic engineering products that could provide a stable population for the inhabitants of the planet.

Plants change

Plant species have changed greatly over the past centuries. Many species have disappeared, and those that remain have been transformed beyond recognition. For example, carrots in their original form were an unusual purple color for us and we would hardly have liked the taste.

It was used as a medicinal plant. But thanks to the efforts of breeders, we eat carrots in the form in which we are used to now, and we don’t even think that everything was once different. We grow and cultivate those types of plants that are convenient for us to use as food. Thus, many species are left unattended and simply disappear from the face of the Earth.

Selection and genetic engineering have been part of our everyday lives for quite some time now and have ceased to be something supernatural. We and our children consume high-tech products every day, without even noticing it and without thinking about what this could lead to for our humanity in the future.

First stage

Selection is the process of biological crossing of similar organisms in order to obtain a new species with better adaptive characteristics. This process began in ancient times. Thus, animals were domesticated and wild plant species became cultivated.

Through selection, crossbreeding is carried out various types plants, as well as animals, and ultimately obtain an organism that has the required properties. For example, frost-resistant wheat or large strawberries. Scientists even tried to crossbreed a lion and a tiger, a dog and a cat, and these experiments had some success.

Discovery of GMOs

The further stage of progress was the development of genetic engineering. Genetic scientists created a sensation with their bold statement: “We can create organisms with the properties that humanity requires without much difficulty.” The concept of GMOs was introduced. The meaning of the abbreviation is genetically modified organism. This opened up enormous opportunities for a large group of people. Imagine for yourself: millions of farmers suffer from crop failure, poor growth and development of livestock. Some vegetable and fruit crops are difficult to store and transport over long distances. In cold regions it is simply impossible to grow many heat-loving plants. These and many other difficulties can be solved with the help of genetic engineering.

The creation of the first similar products and the introduction of the term GMO, the meaning of which is clear to us, inspired researchers, politicians, businessmen and ordinary people. Scientists rejoiced at the new opportunity for great discoveries, politicians admired the prospects for the mechanisms of power, businessmen began to calculate future profits, and ordinary people were surprised at the height of technical progress.

What are the benefits of genetic engineering?

The ability to decipher and defragment the genome of any organism has made it possible for genetic scientists to isolate a section of the DNA of one organism responsible for a certain property and insert it into the DNA of another.

So, the donor DNA endowed the recipient organism with its own special property. In this way, potatoes with the genes of the scorpion and the Colorado potato beetle, resistant to insect pests, appeared. An example would also be tomatoes and strawberries with an introduced flounder gene that are resistant to frost. Genetic manipulations are actively carried out with animals. Examples - breeding cows consisting only of muscle tissue, and chickens with disproportionately large legs. All these organisms are capable of protecting farmers from the vagaries of nature and field pests, giving them a stable profit. Genetic experiments have made it possible to produce perfectly beautiful and smooth fruits and vegetables that can be stored for a long time without losing their appearance and can be easily transported over long distances. For businessmen, this is a real Klondike.

Farmers, rapeseed and politics

Politicians see the term GMO (the abbreviation as “genetically modified organism”) as an attractive facet. It all started with the creation of transgenic rapeseed, which became resistant to weeds and pests. The new crop grew to the happiness of the farm owners, gave an excellent harvest, and its seeds scattered throughout the surrounding area. The joy of American farmers gave way to deep concern when this rapeseed began to fill all nearby fields and crowd out other crops. This turned out to be a real problem for plant growers and aroused interest politicians. You can use the spores of a certain plant to infest the fields of an unfriendly country and thus weaken its economy. And then a good pricing policy will interest you in purchasing GMOs of your own production.

Why were GMOs developed?

GMOs were originally created to meet the food needs of hungry people in Southern Africa. Residents of the region have never heard of GMOs. The decoding (what it is) and the features of such products were unknown to them. The idea seemed brilliant and very humane. But why then did the African government soon ban the import of GMOs into the country? The population and government of the starving region preferred local, albeit meager, but familiar and safe food. All progressive humanity has pondered this fact. Are genetically engineered foods really that bad for humanity?

Experimental studies

Doubts among scientists about the safety of GMOs have led to a number of studies. An experiment was conducted in which male and pregnant female rats participated. The experimental animals were divided into two groups.

One group, called the control group, was offered their usual food. Another group of rats were fed GMO soybeans. As a result, a large percentage of stillborn pups were identified in the litter of the rats of the last group. About 35% of the surviving offspring were smaller and had low body weight compared to the control group. Scientists also discovered pathological changes in the blood supply to the testicles and destruction of liver cells in males.

In females, males and pups of rats fed transgenic soybean as food, it was noted increased level anxiety and aggression. Then the researchers tried to get a second generation from the first one. In the control group this was achieved without difficulty. In the second one it was not possible to do this. Thus, we can conclude that GMOs have a detrimental effect on the body, inhibiting reproductive function and causing mutations in offspring. This is such an unfavorable decoding for GMOs. Soy has become synonymous with death.

The modified gene itself is not able to integrate into human DNA, but when it enters the digestive tract, it is perceived as foreign, causing allergic reactions. By the way, in the USA, where the law is relatively loyal to GMOs, allergy sufferers account for about 70% of the population. And in Hungary, where the use of GMOs is prohibited by law, only 8% of citizens suffer from allergies.

State against GMOs

These shocking facts have been taken into account by all progressive humanity. People concerned about their health avoid consuming GMOs. Measures have also been introduced at the state level. In Japan, the permissible limit for the content of transgenic substances in a product is 5%, in the USA - 10%, in Europe and Russia - 0.9%. Greenpeace activists are actively fighting to ensure that GMOs are not allowed in baby food. There is a provision that a product containing a transgenic substance must be labeled accordingly. But not every manufacturer is ready to honestly declare the presence of such a substance in their products. For a businessman, this is a sure way to lose most of his customers. Therefore, you need to carefully read the composition.

GMO. Decoding on food products. General information

The definition of the term GMO was presented above. Products of genetic engineering are marked with specific alphabetic and numeric symbols. We often see the presence of substances with index E in the composition of a product. This is a kind of GMO decoding (which contains an unsafe component, we will list below).

Here is a list of these additives:

E101 and E101 A (B2, riboflavin);

E153 (carbonate);

From E301 to E304;

From E306 to E309;

From E325 to E327;

From E460 to E469;

E470 and E570;

Fatty acid esters (E471, E472a&b, E473, E475, E476, E479b);

E481 (sodium stearoyl-2-lactylate);

From E620 to E633 (glutamic acid and glutamates);

From E626 to E629 (guanylic acid and guanylates);

From E630 to E633 (inosinic acid and inosinates);

E951 (aspartame);

E953 (isomaltite);

E965 (maltinol);

E957 (thaumatin).

This list is a GMO transcript, where information about the safety of a particular product is obtained. You can independently study the composition on the label and assess whether the product contains a transgenic organism.

Which manufacturers use GMOs?

A list of companies and their products that contain transgenic substances has been compiled. New items are regularly added to the list, and old ones are removed from it (due to the cessation of the use of GMOs). Here is the list brands permanent members of this list:

TM Mars, which produces Mars, Snickers chocolate bars, etc.

TM Nestle, producing chocolate and baby food.

TM Heinz, manufacturers of sauces and ketchups.

TM Coca-Cola and Pepsi with their super popular products.

Fast food chain Mc'Donalds.

TM Danone, producing dairy products.

TM Kellogs and breakfast cereals that we are used to giving to children.

TM Cadbury, producing chocolate and cocoa.

Ferrero TM, which produces Rafaello, Kinder, TicTac products.

TM Similac, specializing in the production of baby food.

Baby food HIPP and Unilever.

Parmalat cookies.

Campbell Soups.

Hellmans and Knorr sauces.

TM Kraft, producing baby food, chips and chocolate.

Lipton tea.

Uncle Benz rice.

How to protect yourself and your family?

Now you know manufacturers who use transgenic products. You have a GMO decoding, which means a guarantee of safety for the whole family. This information is especially important for expectant mothers and babies.

GMO decoding should not cause bewilderment or surprise among educators. You should clearly monitor what children eat in kindergartens and understand the responsibility for the health of the younger generation. On the issue of “GMOs: decoding, school and nutrition of students,” adjustments are being made at the state level. It is unacceptable to give transgenic products to children. Scientists say that such food causes persistent allergic reactions, eczema, rashes, neurological disorders, chronic fatigue syndrome, headaches, irritable bowel syndrome and digestive disorders.

Every person on the planet should understand the responsibility for consuming GMOs (you already know the definition of the term). You need to be especially sensitive to children who are not yet able to appreciate the seriousness of the problem. Parents and employees of preschool institutions and schools must be responsible for them.

One of the characteristic features of the 21st century. is the active development of such a scientific field as biotechnology. The history of the existence of this science goes back 20-25 years, however, despite its young age, biotechnology has now moved from the category of projects or theoretical developments to our objective reality, not only in the industrial and commercial sphere, but also in everyday life, and has become as commonplace as, for example, computerization or mobile telephony. This science studies the possibilities of using living organisms, their systems or the products of their vital activity to solve technological problems, as well as the possibilities and ways of creating living organisms with the necessary properties using the method genetic engineering. One of the tasks of genetic engineering is the creation of genetically modified organisms (GMOs).

Genetically modified organism - This is a living organism of any level of complexity, containing genetically engineered material from other organisms, capable of reproduction and transmission of hereditary genetic material. In simpler words, it looks like this: GMO is an organism that contains genes of other organisms in its chromosomes and is capable of transmitting them to inheritance.

How are GMOs obtained? Genetically modified organisms are obtained using special molecular biological technologies that make it possible to transfer selected individual genes from an organism of one species or genus to another organism, and this transfer can be carried out between phylogenetically quite distant organisms. Such transfers of hereditary material are almost never possible to obtain naturally.

Several different methods are used to create genetically modified organisms:

recombinant methods, in which new combinations of genetic material are formed by introducing molecules nucleic acid(produced by any means outside the body) into any virus, bacterial plasmid or other vector system. Then this system with a new genetic material(donor) is introduced into the host (recipient);
a set of methods, providing for the direct introduction into the body of hereditary material prepared outside the body, including microinjections, macroinjections and microencapsulations;
cell fusion, or methods cell hybridization, when living cells with new combinations of genetic material are formed by the fusion of two or more cells in a way that does not occur naturally.

The production of genetically modified organisms has never been “art for art’s sake”, but pursued very specific goals. The integration of “foreign” genes into the host genome is aimed at obtaining a new trait that is unusual for the recipient organism, for example:

resistance to certain diseases;
resistance to chemicals that have a detrimental effect on the body;
increased synthesis of certain chemical compounds;
new consumer properties, etc.

Since GMOs are methodically created by transferring genetic material from one organism to another, they are called transgenic organisms(from Latin trans - “through, through, behind”; a prefix meaning transfer).

The United States of America is a pioneer in the creation of transgenic organisms. A brief history of the appearance of genetically modified organisms is as follows: the first transgenic bacteria were obtained in 1972, the first transgenic mammal (mouse) was obtained in 1974, the first transgenic plant (tobacco) in 1983. In 1985, in the same place, in the USA , the first genetically modified farm animals were produced - rabbit, sheep and pig.

Currently, transgenic plants and microorganisms are already being grown on an industrial basis, however, at the current pace of development of biotechnology, in the future we can expect the appearance of representatives of the animal world in this series. World science has created more than a hundred different types of transgenic plants that are grown in many countries around the world, some of them on an industrial scale, and some for research purposes.

The increased interest in transgenic plants from a social point of view is due to the fact that traditional agricultural crops do not provide food for the entire population of the Earth. Approximately 13% of the planet's population suffers from malnutrition and hunger, and in the light of the forecasts of international experts, the population on Earth is growing steadily, mainly due to developing countries, where agriculture is at a low level and is not able to provide the population of their countries with food even in present time.

It is possible that by cultivating transgenic plants the problem of hunger will be solved, however, how safe this is for humanity cannot be answered by any group of scientific experts, since along with the new genetic material the recipient organism acquires not only the desired trait, but a whole set of new ones. qualities that are determined both by the properties of the built-in gene itself and by its indirect action. All negative phenomena and events that occur during the cultivation and consumption of GMOs represent potential risks that can be combined into three groups: food, environmental and agrotechnical.

There are four main areas in the classification of food risks.

1. Risks associated with the direct effect of toxic and allergenic transgenic GMO proteins. Humanity has already faced such a risk: genetically modified corn from the Starlink line caused severe allergic reactions in humans and is currently banned for use throughout the world.
2. Risks associated with the indirect effect of transgenic proteins on plant metabolism.
3. Risks associated with the accumulation of herbicides and their metabolites in modified plants.
4. Risks associated with the possibility of transferring transgenic constructs to microorganisms that are in symbiosis with humans or are widely used in food production, for example, Escherichia coli, bifidobacteria, Bacillus acidophilus, Bacillus bulgaricus, thermophilic streptococcus, lactic acid streptococcus, etc.

Research to assess the safety of genetically modified raw materials and products is certainly being carried out in world science, but, unfortunately, it must be admitted that they lack a system, systematicity and globality. They do not follow programs developed jointly by the entire scientific world community.

The results of studies on the safety of GM food raw materials and products obtained to date cannot be called unambiguous. A number of scientists believe that these raw materials and products do not pose any danger to human health, and in some cases are even beneficial. However, most of the scientific world, based on their scientific research, adhere to a different point of view and, publishing the results of their research year after year, do not confirm such rosy conclusions, but prove the existence of a real threat from GMOs to living organisms.

Here are just a few examples of work demonstrating the real biological danger of GMOs and GM food products.

It has been reliably established that transgenic soybeans containing the gene for the Brazil nut 2S albumin protein have an increased allergic potential. Significant changes in blood parameters (level of red blood cells, hemoglobin, hematocrit, reticulocytes, lymphocytes, basophils; average concentration of hemoglobin in a red blood cell; prothrombin time value) were revealed in rats fed a diet with a 33% content of GM corn. A transgenic bacterium that produces the amino acid tryptophan along with regular tryptophan synthesizes 1-G-ethylene-bis-tryptophan in small quantities, which enters food in the form of a food additive along with regular tryptophan. An altered form of tryptophan causes a serious disease in humans - eosinophilia-myalgia syndrome. GM corn from the Starlink line is prohibited for consumption because it causes severe allergies in humans. When feeding rats with soybean meal obtained from GM soybeans (line 40.3.2. resistant to the herbicide Roundup, transgene CP4 EPSPS), the mortality of first generation offspring (/ () exceeded 50%, and surviving individuals who reached reproductive age suffered from infertility. GM - peas provoke inflammation of the lungs and cause changes in the functioning of the immune system in mice; GM potatoes cause suppression of the immune system in rats, weight loss and pathological changes in internal organs: destruction of the mucous membrane of the digestive organs, changes in the spleen, heart mass, morphological gland; changes in the liver, kidneys, colon; decreased hemoglobin; increased diuresis. scientific experiments It has been shown that GM raw materials and products:

have an increased allergic potential;
suppress the immune system;
cause morphological changes in many organs and tissues;
change blood counts;
reduce the viability and reproductive qualities of animals, etc.

Based on the above, it is very relevant that it has already become catchphrase Canadian microbiologist, Professor D. Feigap: “Today using transgenic products in food is like playing Russian roulette with the whole world.”

Potential and real risks associated with GMOs force state governments to regulate the production, import and use of food raw materials and products using DNA technologies. IN Russian Federation Issues related to the use of GMOs are regulated by more than 100 legislative acts, the fundamental of which are: Law of the Russian Federation dated 02/07/1992 No. 2300-1 “On the Protection of Consumer Rights”, Federal Law dated 07/05/1996 No. 86-FZ “On State Regulation in the field of genetic engineering activities" and Federal laws on amendments to the above laws (No. 234-FZ dated October 25, 2007 and No. 96-FZ dated July 12, 2000, respectively). The threshold level of GMO content in food products in Russia, as well as in EU countries, is 0.9%, and GMO content in quantities exceeding this value must be reflected on the product label. It should be noted that in different countries there is no consensus on the safe concentration of GMOs in food products, for example, in EU countries the threshold value subject to labeling is 0.9%, in Australia and Japan - 5% (as was the case in our country until 2007), in the USA, Canada, Argentina - products containing EMO are not labeled.

How are things going with growing crops on an industrial scale on our planet? The sown areas occupied by these crops have been constantly increasing since the 90s of the last century until 2010 (Fig. 9.1). The annual increase in land occupied by transgenic plants averaged 11.5%. The expansion of the area over the past four years has not been officially registered. But despite this, the numbers speak for themselves. The real world reserve of arable land on our planet is approximately 1 billion hectares. And if you consider that in 2010-2013. About 13% of the land was occupied by genetically modified plants, which means that currently approximately every eighth hectare of agricultural land is sown with transgenic crops.

The harvest collected from these areas, one way or another, goes either to our table or to feed animals, which are the raw materials for our food products. Such a spread of EM plants in the world certainly entails an increase in the influx of raw materials and products containing EMO into our country. 90% of genetically modified plants are grown in five countries: USA (40%), Brazil (23%), Argentina (14%), Canada (6%), India (6%). However, the number of countries that account for the remaining 11% already exceeds 20.

Rice. 9.1.

Until recently, the cultivation of genetically modified plants was prohibited in our country, but on July 1, 2014, Decree of the Government of the Russian Federation dated September 23, 2013 No. 839 came into force. “On state registration of genetically engineered modified organisms intended for release into the environment, as well as products obtained using such organisms or containing such organisms,” which specifies the rules for registering transgenic plants for targeted cultivation. Types of intended use of modified organisms are:

a) production of medicines for medical use;
b) production of medical devices;
c) production of food raw materials and food products;
d) production of feed and feed additives for animals;
e) production of medicines for veterinary use;
f) breeding and (or) cultivation on the territory of the Russian Federation of modified plants and animals, as well as microorganisms for agricultural purposes.

In general, food raw materials and products containing GMOs can be divided into the following categories.

1. Transgenic plants (vegetables and fruits in their natural form).
2. Products of processing of transgenic raw materials.
3. Products containing GM ingredients (usually food additives).

All of them contain genetically modified components to one degree or another and must be subject to examination. The analysis of raw materials and food products in our country is entrusted to the Federal Budgetary Institution of Health "Centers for Hygiene and Epidemiology", which should include laboratories for the qualitative and quantitative research of food products for the presence of GMOs. Systematic research of food raw materials and products has been carried out in our country since 2003 (Fig. 9.2). Maximum amount samples were examined in 2008 (almost 50 thousand), then the number of tested samples decreased and in the last three years, it fluctuates between 27,000-28,000. The share of products containing GMOs decreased from 11.9% in 2003. up to 0.05% in 2013

Rice. 9.2.

Largest specific gravity food products containing GMO components are found in the Central, Ural and Volga Federal Districts. It should be noted that in a number of districts only single analyzes are carried out to examine food raw materials and products for the presence of GMOs - in the Republics of Altai, Sakha, Vladimir, Sverdlovsk, Tomsk, Sakhalin and other regions, Khanty-Mansiysk, Taimyr, Evenkiy, Ust- Ordynsky, Buryatsky, Chukotka and other autonomous districts.

In conclusion of this chapter, it must be said that despite the fact that, according to official data, the number of products on our market containing genetically modified components is decreasing year by year, you should know that, firstly, even 50,000 samples examined for content GMOs are a figure too small for our country; secondly, the crop of genetically modified plants collected from 130 million hectares somehow ends up in food chain person. Therefore, there is no absolute confidence in the adequacy of the assessment of this situation in the food market at the present time. In addition, the appearance of transgenic plants in domestic fields in the near future will increase the flow of these raw materials into domestic food production. Therefore, the modern consumer can only count on the fact that the state will take real control over the flow of products containing GMOs, and manufacturers and distributors of food products will strictly comply with state laws and regulations. The author of this textbook, a biochemist and geneticist by training, treats the problem of genetically modified food raw materials and products with great caution.

Test questions and assignments

1. How are genetically modified organisms obtained?
2. Why are genetically modified organisms obtained?
3. List the potential risks associated with the use of transgenic plants and microorganisms.
4. What are the results of the study on the safety of genetically modified food raw materials and products?
5. What regulatory documents regulate the use of transgenic organisms in the food industry?
6. In which countries are genetically modified plants grown?