The 130th Annual Meeting of APHA

Abstract #39685

Eileen Gay Jones, PhD and Jeffrey Masson, MS. Law Center, Southern University, P.O. Box 9294, Baton Rouge, LA 70813-9294

The population is expanding, requiring an increased food supply. At the same time, environmentally-friendly methods for increased food production must be implemented. Governments are faced with the challenge of balancing the tensions inherent in the production of food with the demands for environmentally-green farming policies. Regardless of the scientific validity of the risks associated with new agricultural technologies such as genetically modified organisms (GMOs), issues associated with GMOs regularly appear in headlined news stories and political debate. To date, the U.S. has taken very few steps to address this important public health issue. In contrast, the E.U. has forged ahead by regulating GMOs, even in the face of scientific uncertainty concerning their health and environmental effects. GMOs can currently be found in numerous consumer products, including candy bars, baby food, cooking oil, and potato chips. Canola, potatoes, soybeans, rice, corn, and cotton crops are all currently being produced with the influence of GMOs. The extent to which GMOs are in our food supply are more pervasive than some realize. Canola, soybean, and cottonseed for oil, are frequently mixed with other products. GMOs are also contained within the feed consumed by livestock; this in turn is processed for human consumption. This paper will review the federal administrative agencies struggling to address the emerging public health concern over GMOs, a review and analysis of the regulatory scheme covering GMOs, a statistical summary of GMO production across the states, and the status of scientific knowledge about the health and environmental effects with GMOs.

Learning Objectives:

• Knowledge of regulatory scheme over GMOs;
• Status of research concerning the health effects related to GMOs;
• Knowledge of emerging issues in GMO regulation;
• Understanding of the evolution in administrative agency capacity to monitor GMO production;
• Knowledge of GMO use and marketing across the states.

Keywords: Food Safety, Regulations

Presenting author's disclosure statement:
I do not have any significant financial interest/arrangement or affiliation with any organization/institution whose products or services are being discussed in this session.