Is GMO food safe? They are more nutritious. FDA has approved GMO foods

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Is GMO food safe?
Introduction
The safety of GMO foods has sparked heated debates and, in many countries, there is legislation on their consumption. The proponents of GMO foods assert that they cannot be dismissed as categorically harmful. GMO has been going on for millennia and most of the foods consumed today are GMO. Previously, GMO was done through grafting of some plants, selective breeding among other processes to propagate desirable genes. Technological advancement has pushed the genetic modification a notch higher where possibly a frost tolerance gene in a fish found in icy waters can be introduced into spinach to prop its’ frost tolerance. Though it is not possible to prove food is safe, only to say that no hazard has been shown to exist.
They are more nutritious
GMOs have been engineered to be more nutritious, and they have offered a sustainable solution to malnutrition especially in many parts of Africa and Asia. For example, golden rice is very rich in vitamin A more than spinach is genetically modified purposely to improve its nutritional value CITATION Jan18 \l 1033 (Brody). Other foods which are continually being engineered to improve their nutritional value are apples, tomatoes, etc. Pink pineapples are being engineered to have tomato-based antioxidant lycopene; tomatoes are also being genetically engineered to contain the antioxidant-rich purple pigment from blueberries. All these modifications are aimed at improving the nutritional value of these foods, and there is no sufficient proof to show that they are hazardous, rather they are more nutritious. There are other foods which are continually being improved to increase the protein content and mineral value to address food shortage and malnutrition in affected areas. Thus, GMO is providing a sustainable solution to the looming problem of food security with the ballooning world population.
FDA has approved GMO foods
Foods and Drugs Administration (FDA) is a government body that is tasked with ensuring that all foods are safe for human consumption. For any GMO food to be approved for production, distribution, and consumption, it must be approved by the FDA. Interestingly, ‘traditional’ foods are not required to be approved by FDA though most of them are also genetically modified in a way or another CITATION Jam16 \l 1033 (Borrell). However, FDA moved in due to public demand to ensure that all the foods are safe for human consumption. Before GMO foods are approved for production, distribution, and consumption, FDA carries out extensive tests to ensure it has the right nutritional content; it does not contain hazardous compounds either introduced artificially or as unintended development due to gene editing. FDA also feeds the product to lab animals and monitor how the animals’ biological mechanisms respond to the GMO food. The tests are performed extensively and for a relatively long period until FDA finds no sufficient evidence to prove that the food is hazardous.
GMO has been produced to meet global food demands
The world’s population has grown exponentially in the recent few decades. It is estimated to reach 9.8 billion people by 2050 CITATION Uni171 \l 1033 (United Nations). As the ...