GMO’s The 4 Letter Word of the Food Industry
In an effort to increase revenue, food companies have been resorting to genetically modifying produce and animals. These genetically modified organisms (GMOs) are the result of a laboratory process that takes genes from one species and inserts them into another to obtain a desired trait or characteristic.
While farmers have been grafting trees and breeding animals for years, there are natural limits to what they can do. For instance, it is possible to breed different types of pigs to get a new variety, but you can’t mate a pig with a potato or a fish.
However, with the technology of genetic engineering, they can breach those barriers to create animals and plants that couldn’t possibly exist in nature…like splicing fish genes into tomatoes (seriously, they did it). In an effort to give tomatoes and strawberries better tolerance to frost, they added genetic information from arctic fish.
When they mix genes from different species, it has the potential to drastically alter the chemical reactions in the cells and lead to new toxins, allergens, and changes in nutritional value. Various studies have showed that feeding animals GMOs can result in pre-cancerous cell growth, damaged immune systems, organ anomalies, and higher death rates! The American Academy of Environmental Medicine (AAEM) states that “GM food poses a serious health risk” and call for a ban on GMOs.
The foods that are most commonly genetically modified include soy, cotton, canola, corn, and Hawaiian papaya. This includes derivatives such as soy protein, corn syrup, and high fructose corn syrup, as well as meat, eggs, and dairy from animals that have eaten GMOs. You should make every effort to avoid GMOs!
Eat Organic – certified organic products can’t intentionally use GMO ingredients!
Look for “Non-GMO Project” seals – visit NonGMOProject.org to learn more.
Avoid at-risk ingredients – including the list above, and avoid “sugar” as an ingredient because it probably contains GM sugar beets.
Download the Non-GMO Shopping Guide to see which brands don’t use GMOs.
