GMO's = Health Risk!

Posted on June 6, 2011 - by Jenny Holm

Want to Steer Clear of GMOs? Here’s How.

FRESH Tips

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Image: http://blog.seedalliance.org

Are you eating genetically modified (GM) foods? Chances are, the answer is yes. Even if you shop mostly on the perimeter of the grocery store, most likely your cooking oil has GM corn or canola in it and your sugar came from GM beets. In fact, GM ingredients show up in 75% of processed foods in US groceries, but they’re not labeled, so consumers cannot discern GM products from natural ones.

FRESH is asking the FDA to mandate GM labeling now, but until they do, here’s how you can avoid GM foods in your diet:

1. Choose organic!

To earn the “certified organic” label, a product cannot contain any GM ingredients, so buying organic foods is the easiest way to ensure your food is GMO-free. This applies even to products labeled “made with organic ingredients,” which must be 100% GMO-free, even if not all their ingredients meet other organic standards.

2. Look for “non-GMO” labels

Though you’re unlikely to see a product labeled as containing GM ingredients (at least in the US), many companies want consumers to know that a product is GMO-free. Some limit their claim to only high-risk ingredients, like corn, soy and the others listed below.

3. Check the PLU code on produce

In many groceries, fruits and vegetables are marked with a produce look-up (PLU) code. You can identify different types of produce with the following rules:

-Conventional: Standard four digit PLU numbers (XXXX)
-Genetically Modified: four digit PLUs prefixed with an 8 (8XXXX)
-Organic: four digit PLUs prefixed with a 9 (9XXXX)

Correction: A commentator has informed us that the PLU codes can not be used to determine whether produce is genetically modified.

4. Steer clear of products containing high-risk ingredients

If you can’t find an organic or clearly labeled non-GMO alternative, you can protect yourself by simply not buying products that contain ingredients most likely to be genetically modified. These include:

Corn: corn flour, corn meal, corn starch, corn oil, corn gluten, and corn syrup; sweeteners like fructose, dextrose, and sucrose

Soy: soy lecithin, soy protein, soy flour, isoflavone; vegetable oil and vegetable protein; tofu, tamari, tempeh, and some alternative meat and dairy products not specifically labeled as free of GM-soy

Canola: canola oil (also known as rapeseed oil)

Cotton: cottonseed oil

Margarine: almost always contains GM oil (either soy, corn, cottonseed, or canola)

Sugar: GM sugar beets were recently approved for planting. To avoid GM sugar, purchase organic bulk sugar and products sweetened with 100% cane sugar, evaporated cane juice, agave, or organic/non-GMO sugar.

Artificial Sweeteners: aspartame (NutraSweet^TM and Equal^TM)

Meat, eggs, and dairy products: Avoid products from animals who have eaten GM-feed and dairy products containing the GM hormone rBGH/rBST

Papayas: About half of the Hawaiian papaya crop is now GM.

Vegetables: A small number of zucchini, sweet corn, and yellow crookneck squash are GM.

5. Carry a non-GMO shopping guide

Several handy tools and tip sheets are available to help you make informed choices at the grocery store. Here are a few to choose from:

• True Food Shoppers’ Guide from the Center for Food Safety, available in print and as a free mobile app for iPhone and Android
• The Non-GMO Project Online Product Directory, also available as a free app for the iPhone and iPod Touch.
• The Non-GMO Shopping Guide from the Institute for Responsible Technology and the Non-GMO Project, available online, as a PDF download, or in a handy pocket version.
• We recently learned that the GMO Truth Alliance has compiled links to several guides and apps on their Facebook page. Thanks for alerting us to it in the comments!

For more information on the dangers posed by GMOs and why we can’t continue to ignore these risks, see our blog post What You Don’t Know About GMOs CAN Hurt You. To join us in our fight to get mandatory GMO labeling, sign our petition to the FDA now!