Veria - Claim Fact Check

Claim: Bill Gates is betting on making profit by genetically modifying food without telling consumers

The exact claim you shared was directly addressed by Snopes, which traced it to a viral misinformation campaign about the biotech startup Terrana Biosciences¹. The claim quotes a specific social media post that falsely stated the technology "will not be labelled as modified" and that Gates is secretly modifying food for profit¹.
A related claim that Bill Gates donated $50 million to Terrana Biosciences was fact-checked and found to be 0% valid; the funding came from the venture capital firm Flagship Pioneering, and a spokesperson confirmed Gates has "no financial, advisory or operational involvement with Terrana"².
Snopes also confirmed that Terrana Biosciences does not currently have regulatory approvals to make its technology commercially available, contrary to social media claims that the EPA had already approved it¹.
Bill Gates has publicly and openly supported GMO technology for years, including in a 2018 Reddit "Ask Me Anything" where he stated "GMO foods are perfectly healthy"³. His support is framed around agricultural productivity and addressing food insecurity, particularly in developing countries, not secret profit schemes³⁴.
While the Gates Foundation did invest approximately $23 million in Monsanto (a GMO seed company) in 2010, it sold those shares the following year, and these investments were publicly reported, not hidden from consumers⁵.
The Gates Foundation's agricultural initiatives focus on helping farmers in developing countries adapt to climate change and improve crop yields, with Gates explicitly stating that GMO seeds can help "avoid the starvation"⁴.

Overall validity: 5%