Cheating the system: Modern biotechnology, labeling and fraud

Biotechnology has been taking an increasingly central role in agriculture. Genetic modification techniques have allowed faster changes than before as well as making previous unachievable innovations possible. However not all people see this development as positive. Health, environmental, ethical, and other issues have been a cause of concern to many. As a solution to these concerns some have advocated a labeling system that would allow consumers to personally assess the risks involved with genetically modified products and vote with their dollars. However, even if such a system was in place the absence of prohibitive penalties combined with the high costs of monitoring are likely to make cheating pervasive. Further this cheating is likely to benefit the firms that develop innovations using genetic modification techniques and also benefit consumers that have no concerns connected to biotechnology. However, fraud may have a negative impact on consumers that perceive traditional non-genetically modified food as superior.