{"id":34116,"date":"2014-11-12T07:15:14","date_gmt":"2014-11-12T12:15:14","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/dailyburn.com\/life\/?p=34116"},"modified":"2021-05-15T02:24:59","modified_gmt":"2021-05-15T06:24:59","slug":"non-gmo-foods","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/dailyburn.com\/life\/health\/non-gmo-foods\/","title":{"rendered":"Should You Go Non-GMO? What You Need to Know"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"Non-GMO
Photo: Pond5<\/a><\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Hit up your local supermarket<\/a>, and in addition to gluten-free, soy-free, dairy-free and dairy-free, you\u2019ll inevitably see labels also declaring certain foods \u201cnon-GMO.\u201d If your head is spinning with all these nutrition \u201cdon\u2019ts,\u201d well, we don\u2019t blame you. But how much do you really know about what non-GMO means \u2014 and whether buying these goods is actually better for you?<\/p>\n

“90 percent of canola, 94 percent of soy, and 95 percent of sugar beets grown in the U.S. is genetically modified.”<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Seventy percent of Americans don\u2019t want GMOs, or genetically modified organisms, in their food, according to a recent study from Consumer Reports<\/a>. Furthermore, 92 percent of people say they\u2019d like to see GMO labeling on foods \u2014 and manufacturers are slowly starting to listen to that demand.<\/p>\n

Whole Foods Market, which plans to require GMO or non-GMO labeling on all foods by 2018, has seen a spike in sales of non-GMO foods throughout the past year, and particularly during October \u2014 Non-GMO Month. \u201cThe numbers are impressive\u2026there\u2019s a high demand there, and we keep adding more and more of those products,\u201d says Whole Foods spokesperson Kate Lowery.<\/p>\n

The trouble is, GMOs are practically everywhere<\/i><\/a> <\/i>in our food supply. Today, 88 percent of corn, 90 percent of canola and cotton, 94 percent of soy<\/a>, 95 percent of sugar beets and almost all papaya grown in the U.S. is genetically modified, according to The Non-GMO Project<\/a>, a non-profit.<\/p>\n

But should we really be worried? The science on GMOs seems to consistently indicate that GMO foods are safe for human consumption \u2014 though a few studies<\/a> have argued otherwise. \u201cThere was a lot of media attention given to one or two small, very sensational studies that showed draconian effects of feeding GMOs to livestock,\u201d Alison Van Eenennaam, Ph.D, an animal geneticist and biotechnology expert from the University of California, Davis, says. \u201cBut, there are literally hundreds of other studies that showed the exact opposite, in fact, they showed no difference at all.\u201d  <\/p>\n

With all the conflicting intel out there surrounding GMOs, it can be difficult to decide where you<\/i> stand on the subject. Read on to find out whether you should consider going non-GMO \u2014 and if it will make a difference in your health.  <\/p>\n

\"Non-GMO
Photo: Whole Foods Market<\/a><\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

GMOs: Harmless\u2026or Health Threat? <\/b><\/h3>\n

GMOs have been in the American food supply since the 1990s, when they were introduced to make foods more resistant to disease or pests, enhance crop growth, or improve the nutritional quality of foods, according to the U.S. Food and Drug Administration<\/a>. Despite the fact that the FDA, U.S. Department of Agriculture, and Environmental Protection Agency say they\u2019re all working together to ensure the safety of genetically modified crops, consumers remain suspicious.<\/p>\n

RELATED:<\/b> Is There a Dangerous Ingredient Lurking in Your Soy Milk?<\/a><\/p>\n

Opponents of GMOs have been vocal about calling out their potential risk factors. Organizations like Earth Open Source<\/a> have published GMO papers claiming that genetically engineered foods can be toxic, allergenic<\/a> or less nutritious<\/a>, increase pesticide use, and create herbicide-tolerant \u201csuperweeds\u201d that plague crops and harm soil.<\/p>\n

Yet, some of the scientific research arguing that GMOs are dangerous has been questionable, at best. A 2012 study gained national attention after claiming that GMO-fed rats developed horrific, cancerous tumors. Yet, the study was later recalled<\/a> by the journal that published it, due to its small sample size, which rendered the study\u2019s results inconclusive. Furthermore, the breed of rats used in the study is notoriously susceptible to tumors, making the study\u2019s claims weak \u2014 and adding to the public\u2019s confusion over GMOs.<\/p>\n

Yet, many scientists remain convinced that GMOs are harmless, says Van Eenennaam. \u201cThe scientific data on the safety of GMOs is nearly unanimous,\u201d says Van Eenennaam. \u201cEvery single major scientific society in the world has said there\u2019s no unique safety concerns \u2014 the American Medical Association<\/a>, the National Academy of Sciences<\/a>, The American Association for the Advancement of Science<\/a>. It\u2019s literally everybody \u2014 there are one or two scientists who disagree, yes, but they are super outliers,\u201d she says.<\/p>\n

This fall, Van Eenennaam conducted a review in the Journal of Animal Science<\/a>, examining 29 years of data on livestock health, to provide a comprehensive assessment as to whether GMO-fed animals experienced ill health effects. <\/p>\n

Her results: There were no differences between GMO-fed animals and non-GMO fed animals, either in terms of their health, or the composition of the milk, eggs or protein they produced. \u201cThere are literally billions of animals every year eating GMO feed almost exclusively, and we\u2019re not seeing these health concerns \u2014 logically we\u2019d see it if it was,\u201d Van Eenennaam says.<\/p>\n

What\u2019s more, Van Eenennaam argues that GE crops have benefits that are often overlooked. \u201cWhat would be used if we weren\u2019t using GE seeds? What we were doing before was using more toxic herbicides and weeds were developing resistance to those, too.\u201d <\/p>\n

\"Non-GMO<\/a>
Photo: Whole Foods Market<\/a><\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

How to Tell If GMOs Are in Your Food<\/b><\/h3>\n

These days, the battle over GMOs seems to revolve more around consumer\u2019s desire for transparency<\/a> rather than specific health concerns.<\/p>\n

Whole Foods Market has been one of the most vocal supporters of non-GMO labeling, and they say it stems from their commitment to promoting organic foods, and keeping customers in-the-know about what they\u2019re eating. \u201cThe history of Whole Foods is that we\u2019ve been an advocate for organic since our inception,\u201d says Lowery. \u201cBeing the first grocery chain to set a deadline for full GMO transparency, we figured this was a way to give shoppers what they need to make informed choices.”<\/p>\n

RELATED:<\/b> What\u2019s Really in Tofurky and Other Vegetarian Turkey?<\/a><\/p>\n

Other brands are not far behind, with Cheerios<\/a> cereal, I Can\u2019t Believe It\u2019s Not Butter!<\/a>, Balance Bars<\/a> and Ben & Jerry\u2019s<\/a> making recent efforts to reduce or eliminate GMOs in their goods, too.<\/p>\n

So how can you tell if your groceries are non-GMO? Follow these easy guidelines:<\/p>\n

1. Look for Organic Labels.
\n<\/b>Guess what: Any food with a USDA certified organic label<\/a> is also non-GMO. Groups like the Non-GMO Project offer additional testing<\/a> of high-risk ingredients, like corn, at critical points throughout the manufacturing process. \u201cIf you have a tortilla chip and the ingredients are salt, corn and corn oil \u2014 and it\u2019s labeled 100 percent organic \u2014 then it comes from crops that were not genetically modified,\u201d Lowery says.<\/p>\n

RELATED:<\/b> The Dirty Dozen: What to Buy Organic<\/a><\/p>\n

2. Know Where Your State Stands
\n<\/b>Shoppers in Connecticut, Maine and Vermont will be spotting GMO labels on all foods sold in state soon \u2014 they recently passed laws<\/a> requiring it. Other states including Massachusetts, New Hampshire, New Jersey and Pennsylvania have active legislation pending on the subject. Yet, voters in Oregon and Colorado rejected labeling<\/a> when it hit ballots this November. Similar measures have also been rejected in California and Washington state. One possible reason: Food corporations spent more than $100 million to run ads in the weeks before the vote explaining why GMO labeling might not be necessary, according to the non-profit Center for Food Safety<\/a>.<\/p>\n

3. Spot the Non-GMO Project Verified Seal
\n<\/b>More than 21,000 products have been awarded a Non-GMO Project Verified Seal<\/a> from the Non-GMO Project, whose goal is to educate consumers about GMOs, preserve and build non-GMO food options, and provide people with verified non-GMO food choices. The label indicates that a food is produced according to the \u201cbest practices<\/a>\u201d for avoiding GMO contamination laid out by the Non-GMO Project.<\/p>\n

4. Don\u2019t Get Duped  
\n<\/b>Found a food claiming to be GMO-free? There\u2019s no such thing, according to the Non-GMO project, which asserts that due to cross-contamination, it is legally impossible to claim that a product is ever<\/i> truly GMO free. For now, the gold standard will be the Non-GMO Project Verified Seal printed on food labels.  <\/p>\n

RELATED:<\/b> How to Buy Gluten-Free Without Getting Duped<\/a><\/p>\n

5. Shop Smart
\n<\/b>Yes, GMOs are avoidable in some produce, like corn or soy. But the vast majority of foods aren\u2019t genetically modified at all. \u201cThere are no GMO apples<\/a> in the U.S.,\u201d Lowery says. \u201cWhen I think about the crops that could be in the produce department, really the only things you could have that contain GMOs are Hawaiian papaya, yellow summer crooked neck squash, zucchini, sweet summer corn and fresh edamame, and that\u2019s it.\u201d<\/p>\n

For other grocery store staples, simply buy organic for any products containing cottonseed oil, soy, soybean oil, soy lethicin, canola oil, sugar beets or corn. Sugar beets, which are different from the beets you might find in your salad, are grown for sugar production and most contain GMOs. Make sure your bag of the sweet stuff is made with cane sugar if you want to avoid GMOs.  And, as always, it\u2019s advisable to eat clean<\/a> when you can. \u201cWhere it\u2019s difficult is with multi-ingredient products, with more than say 10 ingredients. That\u2019s where you have to look carefully for GMOs,\u201d Lowery says.  <\/p>\n

Will you be avoiding GMOs? Tell us how you feel in the comments section. <\/i><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Should you be worried about genetically modified organisms in your food supply? Find out whether GMOs are really a threat \u2014 and how to avoid them. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":53,"featured_media":34122,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_seopress_robots_primary_cat":"","_seopress_titles_title":"","_seopress_titles_desc":"","_seopress_robots_index":"","site-sidebar-layout":"default","site-content-layout":"","ast-site-content-layout":"","site-content-style":"default","site-sidebar-style":"default","ast-global-header-display":"","ast-banner-title-visibility":"","ast-main-header-display":"","ast-hfb-above-header-display":"","ast-hfb-below-header-display":"","ast-hfb-mobile-header-display":"","site-post-title":"","ast-breadcrumbs-content":"","ast-featured-img":"","footer-sml-layout":"","theme-transparent-header-meta":"","adv-header-id-meta":"","stick-header-meta":"","header-above-stick-meta":"","header-main-stick-meta":"","header-below-stick-meta":"","astra-migrate-meta-layouts":"default","ast-page-background-enabled":"default","ast-page-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-4)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"tablet":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"mobile":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""}},"ast-content-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"tablet":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"mobile":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""}},"footnotes":""},"categories":[23,7],"tags":[51,71,347,405,167],"class_list":["post-34116","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-diet-nutrition","category-health","tag-food-choices","tag-nutrition","tag-tax1family","tag-tax2learning-disabilities","tag-technology"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/dailyburn.com\/life\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/34116","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/dailyburn.com\/life\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/dailyburn.com\/life\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyburn.com\/life\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/53"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyburn.com\/life\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=34116"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/dailyburn.com\/life\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/34116\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyburn.com\/life\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/34122"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/dailyburn.com\/life\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=34116"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyburn.com\/life\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=34116"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyburn.com\/life\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=34116"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}