Sunday, September 16, 2012

Google Scholar Annotated Bib.



Harlander, S. (2002). The Evolution of Modern Agriculture and Its Future with

     Biotechnology. Journal of American College of Nutrition, 21. Retrieved from

     http://www.jacn.org/content/21/suppl_3/161S.full?sid=4e37172c-2f76-45b9-8e1a-1c4ce7b69330

Summary: This article demonstrates a few different view points; from the view of American consumers in contrast to European consumers (or what the author believes the opinion to be) and from the agricultural stand point of creating functional foods. This article displays graphs explaining the growth of biotechnology in the commercial food market and skims over the legality behind the regulations of GE foods. According to this article there is no law binding any food to be labeled in the U.S. which is quite contrast to our European counterparts who require such labels on all food. The author also touches on specific modifications to food such as irradiation treatment which creates mutations inside the DNA allowing for a certain levels of improved seed variety. However, Harlander discusses that there are no food or environmental safety checks in place for these foods as of yet. Additionally, Harlander continues on the say that the acceptance of GMO production and the benefits to them are widely accepted among the scientific community with no apparent health complications tied to the GE foods in question.


Assess: Upon further research of this author; Susan Harlander turned out to be an experience scientist who specialized in biotechnology in food. She currently works for a company called BIOrational Consultants, but has worked for other companies such as General Mills and Pillsbury. From this I was a bit concerned that she would be very bias to her scientific community, but through out this article she remained very black and white in her discussion. Harlander has written an article that remains without opinion giving basic facts in the debate of GE foods. I found this article to be particularly informative in that she gives multiple view points to help educate rather than sway her audience. I still take this information with a grain of salt, but more because the article is a bit older, rather the authors input.


Reflect: I believe I may not use this article because of that time gap, but it has certainly lead me into a direction to review current laws and policies of safety and environmental checks in the GE industry. This article will be a good reference to reflect on how things have changed in the last decade.






Istvan, S., Emese, K., Beata, K., Andrea, L. (2008). Functional food. Product development,

     marketing and consumer acceptance—A review. Appetite, 51 (3), 456-467.


Summary: This article is a review of the market with respect to functional foods, or foods enhanced with some kind of technology for a certain health benefit. The most common example of a functional food is fortified beverages with vitamins and minerals added. This particular market has been a growing part of the conventional food market and has reached several of the foods groups consumed on a daily basis. The authors review that the market is in favor of such foods as it helps with sustainability purposes and overall good health promotion. However, they also conclude that the production of these functional foods are risky in that a large amount of research must go into their production to fully understand the physiological effects the foods will have on the consumers. lastly, this article explains the pattern of consumer acceptance based on the way in which the particular enhancements are marketed. The example used was the increased awareness of vitamins, minerals, fiber and how their wide acceptance as fortification in food is connected to the market amplifying their need in a diet to promote healthy living.


Assess: Off the top I believe this article has kept the opinions of the authors from permeating the results of their review. It seems as if the article has taken many different perspectives and placed them in a logical order allowing for the reader to follow and understand the progression of events that is now the functional food market. I also like that there is a healthy amount of good and bad placed on the purpose and development of functional foods. This give the reader a sense that the authors are not out for one sire or another, but more to educate and let the reader make their own choice. The currency of this article is a bit older than I would prefer, but 2008 is a good representation of the growth being observed in our conventional food market.


Reflect: I understand that this article in not primarily about GE food labeling, but I do believe that functional foods are a very close and encompassing topic that should be understood along side GE foods. The market of functional foods sways the public opinion a great deal as it gives way to the acceptance of other technology put into our food supply. This article is a good lead into my topic and I would like to apply some of this information to my web text

1 comment:

  1. Hi Josh,

    Yikes, what happened to your text!? On the plus side, you have one source that seems workable for your project. Citations-wise, make sure to check your author name citation in the first entry. Remember that you should have Last name, first initial for each author. Also, no need to put in that she has a PhD.

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