In the ongoing debate about whether or not genetically modified foods should be labeled, some maintain that consumers should have the right to know all about what’s in their food. Others insist there’s no evidence that such foods harm health and that labeling isn’t necessary.
The controversy about GMOs, or genetically modified organisms (GMOs)—crops made with spliced genes to make them more resilient or bigger—was addressed in a five-part WGBH radio series called “Food Fights” that aired the week of October 5, 2016 and that featured Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health’s Walter Willett, Fredrick John Stare Professor of Epidemiology and Nutrition and chair of the Department of Nutrition.
Willett told WGBH that there’s no firm evidence that GMOs have an impact on health. “I think we’ll almost never be able to make a general statement about GMOs being good or bad for us,” he said. “This is a technology, and like most technologies, you can use it for good or you can use it for bad.”
He added, though, that he thinks people have a right to know if GMOs are in their food. “How can you withhold information people would like to have, even though interpreting that information may be difficult at this point in time?” he asked. “I think it’s reasonable for someone to say, ‘I prefer not to eat crops with GMOs,’ just given some uncertainty, even though we haven’t proved that they’re different in terms of health consequences.”
In another segment of the WGBH series that focused on nutrition inequality, Willett said that only some people are eating more fresh fruits and vegetables. “That improvement has been almost entirely in people with upper incomes and very minimal improvement in people with low incomes,” he said, adding that “the gap has about doubled over the last 12 years.”
Listen to Walter Willett’s comments on GMOs: Genetically Modified Food: Worries Outstrip the Science
Read Walter Willett’s comments on nutrition inequality: Nutrition Inequality: The Gap Between The Poor And Everyone Else