According to physicians interviewed by the International Food Information Council (IFIC) Foundation, biotechnology contributes to a safe, nutritious and more abundant food supply. Their insights shed light on issues important to consumers today, including food labeling, food security and sustainable agriculture.

On the topic of food labeling, Dr. Laurie Green, an obstetrician-gynecologist in San Francisco, California, points out that labels on foods containing genetically modified (GM) ingredients could be confusing to consumers. “It’s much more important to label items that might truly cause harm than [genetically modified] foods that have been used for 20 years in 29 countries and consumed by millions and millions of people,” she said.

Dr. Green also discussed the benefits of biotechnology for sustainable agriculture. “Biotechnology has led to foods that require less pesticides, fewer herbicides, and even combat viruses that damage crops, so overall these methodologies have so improved the quality of our environment and the quality of our food supply,” she said.

Dr. Ronald Kleinman, Physician in Chief at Massachusetts General Hospital for Children and Professor of Pediatrics at Harvard Medical School, emphasized the role of biotechnology in contributing to food security.

“It’s very important in agriculture to use this [biotechnology] because we’re facing a very large growth in the population of the world over the next 25 to 50 years and we’re going to have to feed that population, and biotechnology offers us the best hope to be able to do that.” Watch videos of the interviews here and here.