Genetically engineered foods per se do not worry many consumers as much as the covert manner by which they have crept into the marketplace. Meanwhile, news reports worldwide tell of consumers, farmers, and activists dumping milk, suing governments, destroying GE crops, and persuading supermarket chains and companies to shun GE ingredients. Here are some of the issues that matter to consumers. Allergic reactions to foods are hard to predict, but they can be life-threatening. Once sensitized, individuals may react more strongly to subsequent exposures to the same allergen.
Genetic engineering can introduce unknown allergens into food.
Virtually every gene transfer in crops results in some protein production, and proteins are what trigger allergic reactions. Biotechnology can introduce new proteins into food crops not just from known sources of such common allergens as peanuts and shellfish, but from plants of all kinds, animals, bacteria, and viruses whose allergenicity is largely unknown. If someone has an allergic reaction to a conventional food, he or she can check the food label, which typically identifies all the ingredients precisely enough that the person can avoid future re-exposure to the allergen. However, if one has a reaction to an allergen in a food on account of a genetic modification, and the label does not disclose the presence of the GE food, one has little clue as to what to avoid in the future. This could very well increase the risk of subsequent exposures to the allergen.