Published 2004
During the 1980s and 1990s, biotechnology became a boom industry, moving from the laboratory onto farms. At the end of the 1980s, the first GM food made it through the U.S. regulatory process to become a commercial reality. The first product approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) was chymosin, an enzyme used in the production of firm cheeses. Estimates suggest that 70 percent or more of cheese made in the United States is now produced using genetically engineered chymosin. Recombinant bovine somatotropin (rBST), a growth hormone given to cows to increase milk production, followed chymosin in 1993. Farmer use of rBST in dairy production has been, and continues to be, modest. In 1994, Calgene introduced the “Flavr Savr” tomato with the benefits of genetic modification marketed directly to consumers. Initially bearing a voluntary label, the Flavr Savr tomato eventually failed commercially for lack of sales and production difficulty. Although there was some initial fanfare, and little public concern, it never sold well and was off the market by 1997.
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