GMOs may be safe, but skeptics say otherwise
Research may prove genetically modified organisms are safe to eat, but the swelling trend toward non- GMO foods shows many skeptical shoppers don’t care.
Data show customers want non- GMO foods, and companies will continue to face pressure to introduce non- GMO products to meet demand.
A report out Tuesday that took two years to compile concluded genetically modified crops do not adversely affect human health. A committee convened by the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering and Medicine reviewed more than 900 studies and 20 years worth of data. Despite its thoroughness, it’s not likely to drastically alter consumer opinion, says Darren Seifer, food and beverage industry analyst at NPD Group. The reason: At the crux of the debate over GMOs is the fact it’s one largely “based on fear, not logic,” Seifer says.
And the stakes are high when people feel like they don’t know what they’re eating.
“Consumers are looking for purity in their food,” Seifer says. “Particularly for those that try to find that authenticity in their food, (the report) is not going to phase them.”
Non- GMO advocates reiterated that thought. A Los Angelesbased online subscription company that exclusively sells non-GMO products to about 250,000 customers around the country says the report is only the latest in a string, with many conflicting when it comes to their findings.
“We feel like it’s too early to know if it’s safe,” says Gunnar Lovelace, co-CEO of Thrive Market. “We are taking a huge risk in inserting GMOs into the food stream at the rate we are.”
The report found genetically engineered crops have not caused increases in cancer, obesity, autism or a number of other health risks. Sales of foods labeled as non- GMO have gone from $12.9 billion in 2012 to $21.2 billion in the year ended April 30, according to Nielsen, yet most people don’t understand what genetically modified organisms are. In a survey NPD conducted in 2013, when asked to describe in their own words what GMO means based on what they’d heard or read, the most common response NPD got was, “I don’t know.”