Organic Food Causes Autism and Diabetes

Collide-a-Scape
By Keith Kloor
Feb 5, 2013 5:14 PMNov 19, 2019 8:37 PM

Newsletter

Sign up for our email newsletter for the latest science news
 

That is the wickedly clever title of a post by Kevin Folta, a plant geneticist at the University of Florida, in Gainsville. To make his point, Folta, as he says on twitter, uses logic "borrowed from the anti-GMO crowd." That would be logic like this:

Is it a coincidence that autism has risen since GMOs have been introduced in the US diet?

That's from Jeffrey Smith, a purveyor of the worst kind of fallacious, anti-GMO fearmongering. His views are so fringe that he wouldn't be worth mentioning, but alas, he's been legitimized by popular media personalities, such as Amy Goodman and and Dr. Oz. (Incidentally, The New Yorker has recently published a must-read profile of Oz by Michael Specter.) So the notion that GMO foods are somehow linked to everything from organ damage to autism has gotten wide play. Never mind, as Folta says in his post, that "there is no legitimate causal relationship between biotechnology and human disease or disorders." I know, I know: Who cares? 

To be on the safe side, let's just label those frankenfoods. Enough already. Even Grist, that open-minded, pro-science bastion of environmental news, asks:

Want to be able to tell the difference between a natural fish and a genetically engineered frankensalmon in the dystopian food future?

Well, now that you put it that way...

[Illustration by Russell Taysom]

1 free article left
Want More? Get unlimited access for as low as $1.99/month

Already a subscriber?

Register or Log In

1 free articleSubscribe
Discover Magazine Logo
Want more?

Keep reading for as low as $1.99!

Subscribe

Already a subscriber?

Register or Log In

More From Discover
Recommendations From Our Store
Stay Curious
Join
Our List

Sign up for our weekly science updates.

 
Subscribe
To The Magazine

Save up to 40% off the cover price when you subscribe to Discover magazine.

Copyright © 2024 Kalmbach Media Co.