I've heard sort of conflicting things about this. On the one hand, Penn and Teller and other folks like them (who are skeptical of environmental movements) say that genetically modified plants are thoroughly tested prior to release. On the other hand, the typical claim I've heard from lefty groups is that since the pesticides (and the like) produced internally by genetically modified plants are not "additives" they are not subjected to meaningful safety testing. What's the truth?
I've never really made any effort to avoid eating genetically modified foods and I think things like "golden rice" or other crops modified to increase nutritional value are potentially really valuable, though I'm also nervous about the economic effects of increasing farmers' dependency on buying expensive seeds from the likes of Monsanto.
But are things like that missing the point? Am I slowly poisoning myself by exposing myself to untested, potentially dangerous chemicals that can't even be washed off the plants that contain them?