GM-Uh-O

There has been a lot of talk over the last few years about GMO's.  I first heard about GMO's way before I had any inkling of what it meant or that some day I would even care about it.  Well, fast forward a couple of years and I have now morphed into a crazy food safety-awareness-advocate.  Crazy is good sometimes, right?  First things first, GMO stands for Genetically Modified Organism, also called Genetically Engineered (GE).  So, what does that really mean?  Well, it means plants, seeds and grains that are altered with various strains of DNA from bacteria, viruses and other plants and animals - think weird animal DNA being pumped into your tomato so that it doesn't go bad and keeps it's red glow. Some of those bacteria and viruses even include ecoli. Bottom line, none of it happens in nature and is very different from natural cross-breeding.  Why do we want to put mixed up DNA in our body?  Just imagine what that can do to us over time?

Since GMO's are a fairly recent practice, mostly starting in the 1990's, it's been hard to accurately assess it's affects on humans.  However, it has been shown that GMO products can have serious negative health implications in lab testing on animals.  Including smaller overall growth of the liver, heart and brain, compromised immune systems and white blood cells that were structurally altered making them more susceptible to diseases.  There have been many other accounts from farmers that reflect worse - including, infertility and even death.

GMO's can impact us, humans, in a couple of ways...

1. We eat animals.  Animals eat food.  What food do they eat?  Well, these days, most animals eat GM corn and other kinds of GM feed.  Though, most should eat grass.  Simple, old fashioned, grass.  That's a story for another day, but can we all agree that animals shouldn't eat lab experiments? 
2. Our food can be filled in with GMO related products.  Perfect example, Cheerios.  Which, clap, clap to them, they just removed GMO products from Cheerios.  Just plain Cheerios though, not any other version, i.e. Honey Nut Cheerios (my favorite).  I'll focus on the positives for now though.  Thanks, General Mills... you have about 1,000 products to go.  For more on the Cheerios story, click here.

Watch out for the next target on the GMO agenda - Chobani.  The claim is that their cows consume GMO feed. Whole Foods is now pulling Chobani from their shelves because of this. To read more about this, click here.

Now, how do you incorporate this knowledge into your regular life?  Well, it's said that 80% of processed food on the market contains GMO products.  If you think about how many products have some form of soy or corn, you'll see how that's possible.  There is amazing information on the website The Non-GMO Project and this is what they say to look for on labels:

Common Ingredients Derived from GMO Risk Crops
Amino Acids, Aspartame, Ascorbic Acid, Sodium Ascorbate, Vitamin C, Citric Acid, Sodium Citrate, Ethanol, Flavorings (“natural” and “artificial”), High-Fructose Corn Syrup, Hydrolyzed Vegetable Protein, Lactic Acid, Maltodextrins, Molasses, Monosodium Glutamate, Sucrose, Textured Vegetable Protein (TVP), Xanthan Gum, Vitamins, Yeast Products.

How many times have you seen those ingredients on labels?  I'm going to go out on a limb and say all the time.  Yikes, right?  All we can do as consumers is to be aware and pay attention to labels.  For those who agree with me and also think this topic is important, we need to push for GMO labeling on foods.  That's not a requirement now, so in the meantime here is a great visual I found during my GMO research - thought it was helpful!

Source:  www.naturalcuresnotmedicine.com

Whenever I start talking about this a lot of people ask how it's legal?  What about the FDA? The fact is, the FDA does not have any mandatory safety testing for GM related products.  They have a "volunteer" testing program for pre-market review only.  The FDA only sends a letter to such company reminding them that they are obligated to provide safe products and if a consumer becomes ill then they are liable.  

This is such a huge topic, I could really go on and on.  However, I just wanted to provide some initial insight into what GMO's are all about.  Again, my intent here is to help you make the best food, nutrition and health related choices for you and your family.  We all deserve to be educated consumers!

Be smart, be thoughtful and eat good food!

Love, Lizzie