ETHICAL ISSUES IN LABELING AND TRACING GM FOOD

Although the ethical issues in genetic modification or engineering are largely confined to medical applications and human therapy, debate around issues such as use of genetically modified food at the current time is a hot topic between scientists and even the lay public. The exercise of informed choice by consumer requires that they have accurate and unbiased information regarding what they eat. Since it is difficult to predict the impact of the GMF issue on consumer food choice in the world’s markets due to the lack or inadequate information on food products at the point of purchase, consumers have not faced a choice between GM and non-GM food products. Furthermore, a growing segment of the population worldwide that has ethical or religious belief may classify GMF carrying animal or human genes as being unacceptable as food. A labeling policy and also tracing, to control and validate the information found on a label, considered among tools developed to backup any allegations and increase consumer’s trust. Regulation concerning these aspects and the necessity of developing standards on a voluntary or mandatory basis in developing countries will be described.

Keywords:

Biotechnology , genetically modified foods , ethics , labeling , mandatory labeling , voluntary labeling