Are GMO foods a concern for you?

Are GMO foods a concern for you?  In the minds of U.S. consumers, when it comes to food, there is no difference between genetic modification and genetic engineering. GMOs and GE-foods are one and the same.

GMO food should concern you.. as a consumer. Did you know Yolait for example, their yogurt is not yogurt. it’s made with corn, fillers like canola, soy and flavors. There is “no good bacteria” in their yogurt, even if the the label says there is. I went to eat some yesterday.. I was shocked there wasn’t any good bacteria only GMO ingredients or Bio-engineered ingredients.

Yet, as novel gene-edited foods (such as the Arctic® apple that prevents browning) seem to be gaining a great deal of traction, consumers will have little to no idea that these are gene-edited. For example, Arctic® apple’s FAQ page makes no mention of gene editing or genetic engineering.

Furthermore, a growing number of media outlets and companies that sell these gene-edited foods are now positioning them as Non-GMO, giving off the false impression to consumers that they are not genetically engineered, something that is absolutely and categorically not the case.

But it gets worse.

Completely beholden to the ag-biotech industry, countries around the world, most notably Canada as of late, are complicit in this deception. They are recognizing gene editing as Non-GMO as well, only adding to the confusion.

(Last month, Wired wrote about the gene-edited mustard greens from Monsanto-backed Pairwise.)

Traditional GMOs, such as genetically-engineered corn, soy or canola, take DNA from bacteria and insert it into a different organism. It is transgenic, from one organism to another.

 

In the minds of U.S. consumers, when it comes to food, there is no difference between genetic modification and genetic engineering. GMOs and GE-foods are one and the same. Really!!

Yet, as novel gene-edited foods (such as the Arctic® apple that prevents browning) seem to be gaining a great deal of traction, consumers will have little to no idea that these are gene-edited. For example, Arctic® apple’s FAQ page makes no mention of gene editing or genetic engineering.

Furthermore, a growing number of media outlets and companies that sell these gene-edited foods are now positioning them as Non-GMO, giving off the false impression to consumers that they are not genetically engineered, something that is absolutely and categorically not the case.

But it gets worse.

Completely beholden to the ag-biotech industry, countries around the world, most notably Canada as of late, are complicit in this deception. They are recognizing gene editing as Non-GMO as well, only adding to the confusion.

(Last month, Wired wrote about the gene-edited mustard greens from Monsanto-backed Pairwise.)

Traditional GMOs, such as genetically-engineered corn, soy or canola, take DNA from bacteria and insert it into a different organism. It is transgenic, from one organism to another.

On the other hand, gene editing does not necessarily take foreign DNA and insert it into a different organism. Instead, it uses modern biotechnology tools, often CRISPR or TALEN, to rearrange or delete a seed’s existing genetic code to achieve a particular outcome.

And because gene-edited foods are not transgenic, companies have taken the liberty to assert that it is not GMO. Minnesota-based Calyxt, which produces a gene-edited soybean oil, defends its Non-GMO status by claiming that what it is doing could theoretically be achieved with traditional crossbreeding. Are GMO foods a concern for you?

Consumer watchdog groups have a serious issue with this assertion.

“The argument that a gene-edited crop is not a GMO is factually incorrect. Statements such as these are misleading and misinforming consumers,” said Michael Hansen, PhD, Senior Scientist, Advocacy at Consumer Reports.

“Gene editing is a form of biotechnology, and when biotechnology is applied to living organisms, the result is a GMO,” put forth Megan Westgate, executive director of The Non-GMO Project. “Companies that make gene-edited foods have tried to apply for Non-GMO Project verification in the past and were denied.”

“The assertion that gene-edited crops are Non-GMO is nothing short of hijacking the term for commercial purposes,” echoed Jeffrey Smith, founder and executive director of the Institute for Responsible Technology, whose organization has been warning consumers of the serious risks of gene-edited foods for many years.

Unfortunately, the false description of gene-edited foods as “Non-GMO” is just one of many concerns. You should be really concerned.

No Labeling:

Under the National Bioengineered Food Disclosure Standard, gene-edited foods are not required to be labeled.  Why not?

So, consumers may very well have no idea if they are eating gene-edited foods or not. We need more governance on these issues. What you are eating may kill you!

Lack of Regulation:

Due to the fact that almost all gene-edited foods do not fit the USDA’s narrow definition of a “plant pest” risk — unlike traditional GMOs, such as GE-corn and GE-soy — they are able to completely bypass USDA regulation.

The FDA has a superficial safety review process for gene-edited foods, but this is a voluntary process, something that is industry-friendly but creates tremendous risk for consumers.

 

If you want to read more about this article, subscribe . It’s a newsletter by my good friend Max Goldberg. I met Max many years ago. Do you still believe all food is are the same? Are GMO foods a concern for you?

If you liked articles like this, read this one  keep farms local

 

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