RSSHidden GE foods-another reason to eat organic.
Posted by shari | Under Eating organic, GE / GMO Foods Wednesday Apr 2, 2008Genetic engineering is the largest food experiment in the history of the world. We are all the guinea pigs.
There are about 40 varieties of genetically engineered crop approved for marketing in the U.S. As a result, 60-70% of the foods on your grocery shelves contain genetically engineered (GE) components.
Genetically engineered foods contain substances that have never been a part of the human food supply. They are not subjected to rigorous pre-market safety testing. And THEY ARE NOT LABELED.
By now, most of us know that we should try to avoid genetically engineered (GE) foods. What comes to mind? Corn? Soy? Although it may seem easy to avoid corn or soy, the extent to which GE foods are found in everyday food is astonishing. And even more shocking is the fact that GE foods are NOT labeled! Unsure of exactly what genetically engineered food really means and how to steer clear of it? Read on.
Genetic engineering is the process in which DNA, an organism’s blueprint, is modified. In the food industry, companies use this technique to insert DNA from one organism into that of another. This trend started about ten years ago with the tomato. Tomatoes do not survive the frost. Genetic engineers have solved this problem by inserting the DNA of an arctic fish (which can survive the frost) into the tomato, lengthening its shelf life. Sounds great, right? Actually, there are many detrimental consequences of genetically modified foods. Most importantly, no long-term side effects have been studied, leading us to wonder how our bodies will be affected by these completely foreign, unnatural foods in the future. We are the first generation, and therefore guinea pigs, consuming foods that humans have never been exposed to.
Genetically engineered food is also associated with food allergies. Fish genes, for example are often used in genetic engineering. Guess what? Fish is also one of the top eight food allergens.
This would not be so problematic if you knew which foods had been genetically modified. There is almost no way, just by looking at a product, to determine whether or not it contains GE ingredients. Organic foods are the only foods with guidelines that expressly prohibit genetically engineering.Luckily, there are a few resources to find out if the other food that you are eating has been genetically modified. One of them is True Food Now!, a comprehensive website that lists common brands that employ genetic engineering and those that do not.