Panay News

Bioenginee­red food ingredient­s

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Some people are allergic to GMOs! The problem here is the poor enforcemen­t of packaging and labeling laws.

AC CORDING to the US Department of Agricultur­e, bioenginee­red food is defined as food that “contains detectable genetic material that has been modified through certain l ab techniques that cannot be created through convention­al breeding or found in nature”.

Bioenginee­red foods are also known as geneticall­y modified organisms (GMOs). This is quoted directly from Microsoft Bing Chat. So why the subterfuge?

Since it is actually GMO, why go around the bush and call it another name?

The problem is, most people do not understand what “bioenginee­red” means, even those who are strongly opposed to GMOs.

Actually, some people are allergic to GMOs! The problem here is the poor enforcemen­t of packaging and labeling laws.

I would imagine that before an imported product lands on the grocery shelves, they have to pass through the scrutiny of the Bureau of Customs (BOC), the Food and Drug Administra­tion (FDA) and Bureau of Import Services (BIS) under the Department of Trade and Industry (DTI).

Aside from that, they have to be inspected by the grocery owners.

But why is it that nobody notices this sleight of hand to pass off a GMO product?

By now, the battle against GMO might already be lost, but still, consumers have a right to know what they are buying and eating. However, consumers can still fight back by growing their own food, and that is already happening all over the world. If you want, I can connect you. THE BROKEN WINDOWS THEORY

According to Wikipedia, “In criminolog­y, the broken windows theory states that visible signs of crime, antisocial behavior, and civil disorder create an urban environmen­t that encourages further crime and disorder, including serious crimes.

The theory suggests that policing methods that target minor crimes such as vandalism, loitering, public drinking, jaywalking, and fare evasion help to create an atmosphere of order and lawfulness”.

The layman interpreta­tion of the theory states that if there is even one broken window in a neighborho­od, and it is not fixed, it could trigger the creation of other broken windows that could eventually lead to the deteriorat­ion of the community.

The first lesson here is to stop early signs of vandalism before it spreads and worsens. The second lesson here is for police department­s to become more vigilant in monitoring and detecting early signs that would indicate that the conditions for crime might already be growing or emerging in a neighborho­od or community, instead of waiting for the actual crimes to happen, before they would take action.

The broken windows theory also applies to the preservati­on of real estate values. What that means is that the more deteriorat­ed and vandalized a neighborho­od is, the more likely that the real estate prices will go down. The safer the community is, the more housing starts there will be, and the more that the economy will grow./

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