About the Center for Science in the Public Interest and its Biotechnology Project
The Center for Science in the Public Interest (CSPI) is a nonprofit education and advocacy organization that
focuses on improving the safety and nutritional quality of our food supply. CSPI seeks to promote health
through educating the public about nutrition; it represents citizens’ interests before legislative, regulatory, and
judicial bodies; and it works to ensure advances in science are used for the public good. CSPI is supported by
the 900,000 member-subscribers to its Nutrition Action Healthletter and by foundation grants. CSPI receives
no funding from industry or the federal government.
The CSPI Biotechnology Project addresses scientific concerns, government policies, and corporate practices
concerning genetically engineered (GE) plants, animals, and other organisms that are released into the
environment or that may end up in our foods. Accurate identification of the risks and benefits of agricultural
biotechnology, ensuring that the U.S. regulatory system is up to the task of preventing significant risk, and
keeping the public informed are some of the goals of CSPI’s Biotechnology Project.
Introduction
In 1996, farmers started growing genetically engineered (GE) crops, and they have become part of mainstream
agriculture in high-income and low-income countries alike. American farmers planted almost 180 million
acres of GE corn, soybeans, cotton, canola, sugarbeet, alfalfa, papaya, and squash in 2014. Food manufacturers
estimate that most processed foods contain at least one ingredient made from those GE crops. Their advent,
however, has not been without controversy and concern for human health and the environment, and critics, as
well as devotees, are plentiful.
Are GE foods harmful to eat? Do GE crops benefit the environment? What is the federal oversight of GE
crops and animals and is it adequate? What can we expect from this technology in the coming years both in the
U.S. and for low-income countries? These questions and many others are answered below based on evidence
that has been accumulated over the past almost twenty years.
