GMO's and Our Protein Needs

Increasing global demands to produce economical proteins to meet the future population requirements require cautious advances. The US Department of Agriculture defines proteins as “all foods made from meat, poultry, seafood, beans and peas, eggs, processed soy products, nuts and seeds”. Research has proven that humans are relying on making advances to maximize animal’s genetic potential to provide the additional proteins which will be necessary to feed the estimated 7.8 billion inhabitants forecasted in 2025.

Quality protein will be demanded to satisfy the increased demands.  The industry often feels that the government does not see the importance of the trade in raw food materials as part of the food production link. Corn/maize has been grown in the USA and Canada since 1987 and is a staple in many regions of the world.  It is interesting to note that 86% of the US maize crop was genetically modified in 2010 and 32% of the worldwide maize crop was genetically modified in 2011 with 49% of the total harvest used for livestock feed.

Genetically modified organisms (aka GMO’s) have increased public concern bringing about a demand for safety regulations of food we consume. Animal protein has been banned as feed in some large countries.  The waste case issue of animal feed safety and its implications to the livestock industry has been threatened due to factors such as BSE (Bovine Spongiform Encephalopathy), also known as “mad cow disease”, and E. coli poisonings and their resulting deaths. Controversy over GMO products has made it mandatory to label or introduce labeling for consumer awareness of all GMO products.