“GMOs cause cancer.”
Strong confidence because the National Academies review found no substantiated evidence of greater risk from marketed GE foods, a decade-scale review found no significant hazard, and a two-year rat feeding study of a GM maize found no treatment-related adverse effects. Population comparisons cannot exclude every small effect, and herbicide questions are a separate topic.
Eating assessed GMO foods has not been shown to cause cancer. Studies of the foods do not support the claim that changing a crop's genes makes it cancer-causing. Studies of herbicide exposure address a separate question.
A two-year rat experiment with a specific GMO maize found no related adverse effects. That supports the safety of the tested food, not a zero-risk guarantee for every food or farm chemical.
An animal drinking a herbicide formulation and a person eating a food ingredient receive different substances and doses. Those results cannot be treated as interchangeable.
Safety note: Follow food recalls and ordinary food-safety precautions regardless of GMO status.
There is no research-based reason to remove assessed GMO foods specifically to prevent cancer.
Evaluate the food itself rather than treating GMO as a cancer warning.
Similar claims on GMO foods: safety, cancer, allergies, DNA and the non-GMO label
“GMO foods are unsafe to eat.”
FalseReviews of the research, including by the U.S. National Academies, find that GMO foods on the market are as safe to eat as their…
See the evidence“Non-GMO foods are healthier.”
FalseA non-GMO label does not make a food healthier. It does not tell you how much fiber, protein, added sugar or sodium the food contains.…
See the evidence“GMO foods cause allergies.”
FalseAssessed GMO foods are not shown to be more allergy-causing than comparable non-GMO foods. A person with soy allergy still needs to avoid…
See the evidence“Eating GMO food changes your DNA.”
FalseEating GMO food does not turn its genes into your genes. Food DNA is largely broken down during digestion, just as it is from conventional…
See the evidenceJudge the food, not the label. GMO status alone is not a health signal in either direction.