justBe: What the heck is GMO and why do I need to worry about it?

GMO = Genetically Modified Organisms

There has been a lot of buzz about GMOs recently in the news. To be honest, I didn't pay much attention to it until General Mills announced that they were going to stop using GMO sourced ingredient in Cheerios, I stopped to take notice. I did some research on GMOs and I'm sharing what I learned with you in this post.

GMO is what?
A GMO is a plant or animal created with the biotechnology of splicing genes; also known as genetic engineering. NonGMOproject.org describes is as an "experimental technology that merges DNA from different species, creating unstable combinations of plant, animal, bacterial and viral genes that cannot occur in nature or in traditional crossbreeding."

Yuck.

Why is this important to me?
These genetically modified organisms happen to be used in a lot of packaged food, but currently, we can't see that just by looking at the labels. Companies are legally able to use GMOs in many food products without notifying the consumer.

Which foods might be genetically modified?
Here is a list of "risk crops" from which GMOs are created.

source

Please read the following list of ingredients closely. Chances are your favorite foods include some if not all of these:
Amino Acids
Aspartame
Ascorbic Acid
Sodium Ascorbate
Vitamin C
Citric Acid
Sodium Citrate
Ethanol
Flavorings ("natural" and "arti cial'')
High-Fructose Corn Syrup
Hydrolyzed Vegetable Protein
Lactic Acid
Maltodextrins
Molasses
Monosodium Glutamate
Sucrose
Textured Vegetable Protein (TVP)
Xanthan Gum
Vitamins
Yeast Products

All of these ingredients are typically derived from the "risk crops" in the image above. The following animal derivatives are also considered high-risk because of potential GMO contamination in feed and other inputs:

source

Say it ain't so! Are GMOs truly harmful?
This type of genetic engineering is fairly new to the commercial food system and we do not know the long term effects of GMO consumption on the human body. However, there is a growing body of evidence that connects GMOs with health problems, environmental damage and violation of farmer's and consumers' rights. Honestly, I don't want to be anyone's science experiment!

GMOs in the USA
In the US, as much as 80% of processed foods contain GMOs! That is crazy! Most developed nations do not consider GMOs to be safe. In more than 60 countries around the world, including Australia, Japan, and all of the countries in the European Union, there are significant restrictions or outright bans on the production and sale of GMOs.

Now what ?
The next time you go shopping, seek out food packing that has this label. Also visit, NonGMOProject.org and you can search their database for foods that do not contain GMOs. It's pretty cool - you can search by food (e.g. spinach) or brand (e.g. Guiltless Gourmet).