A debate about genetically modified organisms (GMO), including food, has been a long and exhausting one. We have yet to reach the consensus about the safety of such foods for our consumption and the effects it has on the environment. Another category of food that you may or may not know exists is synthetic food, and it raises all kinds of questions.
What to Consider
Synthetic, or synbio, products have yet to reach the commercial market, but people are already angry about them. First of all, people are puzzled by the fact that synthetic foods apparently can be labeled as “organic”. How?
Synbio foods come from completely computer-generated genes. The process is so perfected that the scientists are able to produce identical things to those that can be found in nature. At first, the synbio industry only made drugs and biofuels, but they are now branching out into food and fragrances.
How It’s Labeled
The Food and Drug Administration considers any food free of added color, artificial flavors, or synthetic substances natural. This is how the synbio products could end up with a “natural” label on them. However, no genetically modified or synthetic substances will be able to get the “100% organic” label, as the rules for that are much more strict.
