TRANSGENIC FOOD: YES OR NOT? THE SOUTH AMERICAN PERCEPTION

Abstract

In 1983, after a decade of direct research in genetic engineering, the first transgenic tobacco plant was created. Some ten years later, the introduction of transgenic plants in agricultural production was approved, thus initiating a vertiginous upward race in the presence of genetically modified organisms (GMOs) in agriculture. However, until today, there is a heated controversy between those who, on the one hand, defend the harmlessness of genetically modified foods and those who, on the other hand, vehemently oppose their consumption. The debate has led to many countries have legislated on the use of transgenic crops and the food resulting from them. The objectives of this article were to analyze the possible risk of transgenic foods and the state in which the laws on them are found in South America. A Documentary research was conducted on the risks of food obtained from GMOs and the legislation in force in the subcontinent. The study made it possible to define that although there have been no reports of transgenic foods affecting human health, the data are inconclusive. As for the laws on them, these exist in most of the South American countries, but their durability is not guaranteed, which could cause damage to consumers.