"Genetically Modified Foods & Organisms"


GM Products: (DNA) Benefits & Controversies....


"Benefits"


Crops

  • Enhanced taste & quality.

  • Reduced maturation time.

  • Increased nutrients, yields & stress tolerance.

  • Improved resistance to disease, pests & herbicides.

  • New products & growing techniques.


Animals

  • Increased resistance, productivity, hardiness & feed efficiency.

  • Better yields of meat, eggs & milk.

  • Improved animal health & diagnostic methods.


Environment

  • Friendly bioherbicides & bioinsecticides.

  • Conservation of soil, water & energy.

  • Bioprocessing for forestry products.

  • Better natural waste management.

  • More efficient processing.


Society

  • Increased food security for growing populations.



"Controversies"


Safety

  • Potential human health impact: allergens, transfer of antibiotic resistance markers & unknown effects.

  • Potential environmental impact: unintended transfer of transgenes through cross-pollination, unknown effects on other organisms
    (soil microbes, etc) & loss of flora & fauna biodiversity.


Access & Intellectual Property
  • Domination of world food production by a few companies.

  • Increasing dependence on Industralized nations by developing countries.

  • Biopiracy—foreign exploitation of natural resources.


Ethics

  • Violation of natural organisms, intrinsic values.

  • Tampering with nature by mixing genes among species.

  • Objections to consuming animal genes in plants & vice versa.

  • Stress for animal.


Labeling

  • Not mandatory in some countries (United States & Canada).

  • Mixing GM crops with non-GM confounds labeling attempts.


Society

  • New advances may be skewed to interests of rich countries.



"Can we say that we've not been using GM products, without knowing it 100%?"



Unlike since in many nations around the world, in the United States & Canada GM foods are not labeled. Avoiding them, therefore will be both a science & an art. Here are some techniques:


Vegetable Oil

  • Most generic vegetable oils & margarine's used in restaurants & in processed foods in North America are made from soy, corn, canola, or cottonseed—the four major GM crops. Unless these oils specifically say "Non-GMO" or "Organic," it is probably genetically modified. Non-GM substitute oils include olive, sunflower, safflower, butter (see dairy below), almond, and just about any other oil available.


Soy & Corn Derivatives

  • Most packaged foods contain soy &, or corn in some form: as soy flour, soy protein, soy lecithin, textured vegetable protein, corn meal, corn syrup, dextrose, maltodextrin, fructose, citric acid, lactic acid & soy or corn oil. To avoid them you’ll have to check the list of ingredients. For each type of food, there is usually a brand that is non-GM. These are often found in health food stores, but there are also plenty in supermarkets—depending on the food. Mayonnaise, for example, which is traditionally made with soy oil, comes in both non-GM soy and safflower varieties.

  • According to Cornell University’s website Genetically Engineered Organisms, Public Issues Project (GEO-PIE), only 3 to 5 percent of the sweet corn in the U.S. is GM & it is very unlikely that popcorn or canned sweet corn are engineered.

  • Foods that may contain GM soy or corn derivatives or GM vegetable oil include: infant formula, salad dressing, bread, cereal, hamburgers & hot-dogs, margarine, mayonnaise, crackers, cookies, chocolate, candy, fried food, chips, veggie burgers, meat substitutes, ice cream, frozen yogurt, tofu, tamari, soy sauce, soy cheese, tomato sauce, protein powder, baking powder, alcohol, vanilla, powdered sugar, peanut butter, enriched flour & pasta. Non-food items include cosmetics, soaps, detergents, shampoo & bubble bath.


Fruit & Vegetables

  • More than 50 percent of papaya from Hawaii is genetically modified to resist a virus. Most U.S. papayas come from Brazil, Mexico, or the Caribbean, however, where there are no GM varieties. According to GEO-PIE, your chances of encountering a GM papaya "are highest in Hawaii or the continental west coast." Some zucchini & yellow crookneck squash are also GM but they are not popular with farmers.


Honey

  • Honey can be produced from GM crops. For example, some Canadian honey comes from bees collecting nectar from canola. This has shut down exports of Canadian honey to Europe.

  • Dairy Products About 22 percent of cows in the U.S. are injected with recombinant (genetically modified) bovine growth hormone (rbGH). Dairies generally collect their milk from many sources. In the U.S., if a dairy product is not labeled organic, non-GMO, or made without hormones, it is likely that a portion of the product came from cows that were injected with rbGH. You can always call or email the dairy to find out. Also, non-organic dairy farms typically use GM feed. No studies have been done on whether that affects the milk.


Meat & Eggs

  • Organic meat and eggs come from animals that have been raised without hormones and with feed that is non-GMO. So-called "natural" meat is usually free of hormones and antibiotics, but the animal may have been raised on GM feed. If you want to avoid this, you’ll need to ask the producer.


GM Additives, Cooking Aids, Vitamins & Enzymes

  • Genetic engineering is used in the production of many food additives, flavorings, vitamins, and processing aids, such as enzymes. According to the Non-GMO Source, "Such ingredients are used to improve the color, flavor, texture, and aroma of foods & to preserve, stabilize, and add nutrients to processed foods."

  • Among vitamins, vitamin C (ascorbic acid) is often made from corn, vitamin E is usually made from soy. Vitamins A, B2, B6, and B12 may be derived from GMOs as well. In addition, vitamin D and vitamin K may have "carriers" derived from GM corn sources, such as starch, glucose, and maltodextrin. In addition to finding these vitamins in supplements, they are sometimes used to fortify foods. Organic foods, even if fortified with vitamins, are not allowed to use ingredients derived from GMOs.

  • Flavorings can also come from corn or other GM sources. For example, "hydrolyzed vegetable protein (HVP), a commonly used flavor enhancer derived from corn and soy could be GMO," says the Non-GMO Source. Vanillin can also be GM.

  • "Genetically engineered bacteria and fungi are routinely used as sources of enzymes for the manufacture of a wide variety of processed foods," says GEO-PIE. The live organisms are not added to the foods themselves. Rather, they are grown in vats and produce large quantities of enzymes. The enzymes are removed, purified & used in food production. Oftentimes, the enzymes get destroyed during the cooking process and are not present in the final product. As such, they are rarely listed on the label.

  • One common enzyme is called chymosin, which is used in the production of hard cheeses. In the past, it was taken from the stomach linings of calves (called rennet). Since the GM variety was introduced in 1990, more than 70 percent of U.S. cheeses now use this variety. It is not allowed in organic cheese. Xanthan gum is another product that may be derived from a GM process.

  • Avoiding GM additives is difficult, since the label will rarely list them.