GMOs (genetically modified organisms)
Organisms whose genetic material has been altered by genetic engineering, regulated in Europe by mandatory labelling and excluded from organic farming.
A GMO is an organism whose genome has been modified using genetic engineering techniques to give it a new characteristic: resistance to a herbicide or an insect, drought tolerance, or enrichment in a nutrient.
The European framework is among the strictest in the world. Very few GM crops are authorised for cultivation there, although imports of GMOs for animal feed remain common, and any product containing more than 0.9% GMOs must say so on the label. The specifications for organic farming exclude them.
Meat and milk from animals fed on GMOs are not labelled. This is the most concrete blind spot in the regulations: the obligation applies to ingredients, not to livestock feed. A large share of the GMOs consumed in Europe therefore pass through livestock farming without appearing anywhere on the packaging. Only the voluntary “GM-free fed” claim indicates it.
On the health side, assessment bodies have not identified any specific risk from authorised GMOs, each being examined case by case. The debate concerns agronomic, environmental and economic questions (dependence on herbicides, biodiversity, patents on living organisms) more than food toxicity.