Were you among the thousands who saw last week’s Atlantic piece on “The Very Real Danger of Genetically Modified Foods”? Food writer Ari LeVaux sought to use recent research findings on the biology of digesting plant materials to argue for an overhaul of regulations for genetically modified (GM) food in the United States. The scientific missteps in his article and nonexistent link between the study he cites and any specific danger from GM foods led a number of science writers to crack knuckles and get to rebutting.

Unfortunately, by the time these correctives had circulated, the Atlantic’s readers had shared the original piece 11,000 times on Facebook alone. A danger that was not “very real” at all had morphed into an alleged GM time bomb, one that LeVaux asserted would “blast a major hole” in arguments for maintaining the regulatory status quo. A more careful look at the science in question instead provides an argument for having the three federal agencies with GM food oversight—the Food and Drug Administration, Environmental Protection Agency, and Department of Agriculture—retain the flexible, evidence-based framework already in place.