Not so far. Detecting subtle or long-term health or environmental effects caused by foods is difficult. But if any effects do exist, they must be quite small. For example, the rates of health problems in countries that have allowed genetically engineered foods for 30 years are not notably different from those in countries that prohibit them.

Another argument that has been leveled against genetically engineered crops is that they harm some farmers economically, such as small farmers in developing countries. But so far genetically engineered crops have mostly had favorable economic outcomes for producers. Still, farmers need support, including access to credit, affordable inputs such as fertilizer and farm equipment, and access to profitable local and global markets, to benefit from this technology.

Another consideration is that some crops are genetically engineered to be used with other technologies, like herbicides. This allows the crops to grow while the weeds are destroyed. But the systematic overuse of herbicides can select for chemical resistant weeds, creating a problem for farmers to deal with down the road.

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National and international bodies that have reviewed the health effects of commercially marketed genetically engineered foods have concluded that they don’t pose risks because of how they were made. One such body is the Committee on Genetically Engineered Crops: Past Experience and Future Prospects created by the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine.

The 20 members of the committee had a wide range of backgrounds and brought different kinds of expertise to the committee’s work. They reviewed more than 900 research and other publications, listened to 80 diverse speakers at three public meetings and 15 webinars, and read more than 700 comments from members of the public.

All of the committee members agreed on the findings and conclusions of the committee’s report, a draft of which was reviewed by 26 independent reviewers before a final revision and publication. While acknowledging that policies regarding genetically engineered crops have legal, social, economic, and cultural dimensions and are not dictated by science alone, the committee found no substantiated evidence that foods made from commercially grown, genetically engineered crops are less safe than other foods.

All techniques for improving plant genetics—whether genetic engineering, gene editing, or conventional plant breeding—have the potential to change foods in ways that could possibly raise safety concerns. Therefore, the committee recommended that the product and not the development process be regulated.

In the United States, the Coordinated Framework for Regulation of Biotechnology (established in 1986) describes the regulatory policy for biotechnology products, including genetically engineered crops. This framework has been regularly updated since then, in part to promote public engagement and confidence in agency decisions, but also to adjust to the ever-changing technologies and products of biotechnology. This framework assigns specific roles to U.S. government agencies to ensure environmental and food safety. The U.S. Food and Drug Administration, U.S. Department of Agriculture, and U.S. Environmental Protection Agency all have important roles in the oversight of this technology.

As genetic engineering techniques become more powerful, biologists will use them to create plants with an ever broader array of traits. Crops could have more nutritious components, improved tolerance to flooding and heat, increased efficiency at turning sunlight and nutrients in the soil into food, and enhanced resistance to pests and diseases. If biologists succeed, these crops are likely to be widely used in agriculture and should result in increased yields and reduced losses.

New techniques in biotechnology are also expected to produce detailed “fingerprints” of any food’s components. This increased ability to assess even small biochemical differences between a newly engineered food and the diverse varieties that are already on the market should further ensure safety.