What is GMO?

 

There has been a lot of talk lately about Genetically Modified Organisms (GMO). GMOs has been all over the TV, online news, food/health blogs and Facebook. Contrary to the popular belief GMO ingredients are not the same as hybrid ingredients (this is what my dear husband read the other day in comments of an article on yahoo.com and we will address this shortly) So first things first, let's define what GMO is. According to Institute for Responsible Technology (IRT), “GMO (genetically modified organism) is the result of a laboratory process of taking genes from one species and inserting them into another in an attempt to obtain a desired trait or characteristic, hence they are also known as transgenic organisms. This process may be called either Genetic Engineering (GE) or Genetic Modification (GM); they are one and the same.” (source)

 

According to IRT, plant genes can now be genetically combined with genes from bacteria, viruses, insects, animals and humans. For example, genes from arctic fish has been combined with tomatoes and strawberries so the fruits can tolerate frost. Even human genes has been combined with corn to produce spermicide. Today, the US crops of soy, cotton, canola, sugar beets, corn, Hawaiian papaya, and zucchini and yellow squash has been modified to withstand the popular herbicide glyphosate (weed killer in plain English), Roundup. (source) These GMO crops make up most of the US production in the following percentages:

 

• Alfalfa (first planting 2011)

• Canola (approx. 90% of U.S. Crop)

• Corn (approx. 88% of U.S. crop in 2011) NOTE: corn has been engineered to produce its own insecticide as it grows, the Environmental Protection Agency now regulates corn as an insecticide.

• Cotton (approx. 90% of U.S. crop in 2011)

• Papaya (most of Hawaiian crop; approximately 988 acres)

• Soy (approx. 94% of U.S. crop in 2011)

• Sugar Beets (approx. 95% of U.S. crop in 2010)

• Zucchini and Yellow Summer Squash (approx. 25,000 acres) (source)

 

Also, FDA has recently conditionally approved Farmed Salmon containing growth hormones h and Kentucky Bluegrass as an animal feed.

 

Dangers of GMO ingredients

 

One can ask why should I avoid the GMO ingredients in my food? Well, I hope that the simple reason of gene crossing between plants with viruses, bacterias, insects, animals and humans is somewhat disturbing, should be enough. For those who still need a little convincing here are a few other reasons why we should re-thing what we feed our families and ourselves (source) (source).

 

• Based on the human studies, GMOs can leave materials inside our bodies. In addition, the animal studies confirmed organ damage, immune system and stomach issues. Since introduction of GMOs in 1996 the percentage of people in the U.S. with 3 or more chronic illness increased from 7% to 13% in just 9 years. Other issues such as, food allergies, autism, fertility issues, digestive problems, and many more are on the rise also. The American Public Health Association and American Nurses Association condemned the use of GM bovine growth hormone in cows due to the possibility of cancer.

• GMOs are made with antibiotic resistant genes. Since the low success rate of genetically engineered foods , the “marker genes” are used in the new GMO foods to determine which cells have taken up the new DNA. Many scientists believe that eating foods with GMO ingredients will support gut bacteria to develop resistance against antibiotics.

• GMO seeds cross pollinate and they can forever contaminate our non-GMO crops.

• GMO increase the use of herbicides. Most GMO crops are “designed” to tolerate weed killer, Roundup. The U.S. Farmers has sprayed an estimated extra 383 million pound of herbicides on GMOs between 1996 and 2008, which in turn resulted in creation of super weeds resistant to herbicides.

• Government, by promoting biotechnology, is ignoring the prospect of health risks and is in “business” with GMO producers. The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) doesn't require any safety studies, GMO labeling, and allow companies to use the GMO ingredients in their products without notifying the agency. By the way, the FDA is run by Michael Taylor, Monsano's own attorney and later vice president. The memos reveled due to a lawsuit, show FDA's own scientists agreed that the GMOs pose unpredicted and hard-to-detect side effects. (source)

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Even though as of right now you cannot buy GMO produce directly from at the grocery store, that doesn't mean they are not part of our food. Many of these GMO crops are hidden and most of us don't even realize we are consuming them. For example, sugar is pretty much in everything nowadays. Unless the ingredient lists states it's cane sugar, we can be sure the sugar used in the product was made from the GMO sugar beets. Another great example is vegetable oil, which is made of canola, corn, cotton and soybeans. The top 5 GMO ingredients wildly used in food production: sugar beets, soy, canola, corn and cotton.

 

In addition to the above list, there are also other hidden sources of GMO ingredients. Unless the product is 100% organic, GMO can be found in infant formulas, protein powders, soda/pop, juice drinks, breads, cereals, cookies, crackers, flour, salad dressings, soy and tamari sauce, meats feed with GMO grains and many, many more. Reading labels/ingredient lists is very important in order to avoid as many GMOs as possible. Here you can download the PDF version of the GMO Ingredient list- at-risk ingredients.

 

WHAT COMANIES ARE RESPONSIBLE FOR GMOs?

 

The World's Top 10 Seed Companies (Source: ETC Group)

Monsanto (US)

DuPont (US)

Syngenta (Switzerland)

Groupe Limagrain (France)

Land O' Lakes (US)

KWS AG (Germany)

Bayer Crop Science (Germany)

Sakata (Japan)

DLF-Trifolium (Denmark)

Takii (Japan)

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In addition, several of these companies and many more opposed the GMO Labeling Ballot Initiative (I-522) but were supported by many private brands. This mandate required clear labeling of genetically engineered (GE) ingredients on food packages. In 2013, the mandate did not pass with 51 – NO, 49 – YES but hopefully in 2016 with more consumer awareness this will be changed. The issue of labels will be addressed in another article. (source) (source)