First introduced in the 1980s, foods made with genetically modified organisms (GMOs) contain any type of organism, plant, or animal, whose genetic material has been manipulated through genetic engineering.
There has been growing controversy over the production and consumption of GMOs. In fact, Vermont passed legislature in 2014 that foods containing GMOs sold in the state had to be labeled. The law is supposed to take effect on July 1, 2016; however, food manufacturers are using the First Amendment to challenge the law that requires labeling.
In a new perspective published in the Journal of the Science of Food and Agriculture, Tony Yang, associate professor of Health Administration and Policy, and his co-author, Brian Chen of the Arnold School of Public Health at the University of South Carolina, discuss the development of GMO food sources, the history of legislation and policy for the labeling requirements of GMO food products, and the health, environmental, and legal rationale for and against GMO food labeling.