Published: Sunday, June 29, 2014 at 4:47 p.m. Last Modified: Sunday, June 29, 2014 at 4:47 p.m.
But their work is not destined for commercialization, due to a lack of financial backing and interest in getting these products through all the regulations necessary to put them on the path to the local supermarket and our dinner tables.
Public opinion is having a detrimental effect on research, scientists say, because growers in Florida don't want to invest the millions it would take to push GMOs short for genetically modified organisms through the federal regulatory process for fear the public won't buy them.
People are afraid, they don't understand why, they are just told they should be afraid of genetically engineered products, said Sam Hutton, a plant scientist specializing in tomato genetics at the Gulf Research and Education Center in Wimauma, located east of Interstate 75 between Tampa and Bradenton. The anti-GMO crowd screams really loud, and there is a lot of fearmongering. It sounds bad to people who don't understand the science.
Very few of the whole foods that consumers buy are genetically modified. Less than 1 percent of genetically modified foods are eaten whole, some sweet corn, papaya and squash, scientists say.
The bulk of genetically modified foods 75 percent are corn and soybean crops used in livestock feed, researchers say. Some genetically modified crops are used to make industrial chemicals as well starch, high fructose corn syrup, lecithin, vegetable oil and protein extracts that go into the processed foods that are colorfully packaged and found in the center aisles of the neighborhood grocery store.
None of the genetically modified corn or soybeans are grown in Florida, scientists say.
We don't have much genetically modified acreage in Florida, said Kevin Folta, professor and chairman of UF's Horticultural Sciences Department.
Folta recently organized and conducted a seminar on genetic engineering or transgenics to dispel misperceptions about genetic modification.
The speakers at the seminar, which was held in Emerson Alumni Hall at UF, addressed their comments to an audience of about 60 most of them fellow researchers and graduate students. Folta was well aware they were preaching to the choir.
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Genetically modified foods face hurdles