Many of us are waking up to the reality that while our food may look the same it’s certainly not, and it’s done so without us knowing. The introduction of GMOs, or genetically engineered organisms, patented in the 1980’s has quietly found their way into many of our foods.
So what’s the big deal and why should these products be labeled? Perhaps these five key points can shed a little light:
Key Point #1
These ingredients are so unprecedented that the Environmental Protection Agency now regulates genetically engineered corn as a pesticide. Before GMOs, insecticide was sprayed on corn and could be washed off. With the introduction of GMOs, corn is engineered to produce its own insecticide. Why label? If you had a choice between the two kinds of corn, one that is regulated as a food and the other regulated as a pesticide, which would you choose?
Key Point #2
The (FDA) Food and Drug Administration say these foods look, taste, and smell the same, that they are “substantially equivalent,” but the United States Patent and Trademark Office says they are substantially different, with GMOs being so unique that the office has granted patents to the chemical companies that invented them. Not unlike computers saying Intel Inside, we now have foods with GMO’s Inside.
Key Point #3
Chemical companies engineered food crops like sugar beets, soy and corn to withstand increasing doses of their chemicals. It’s an ingenious business move if you’re selling chemicals. But, while shareholder boast about the remarkable impact it had on the bottom line of weed killer and other chemical products, the NCI (National Cancer Institute) is telling us, especially those of us with kids, to reduce our exposure to these very same chemicals. Wouldn’t you like to know which crops have been saturated?
Key Point #4
Sixty-four countries around the world label these ingredients. A partial list includes every country in the European Union, Japan, Australia, and even Russia, India, and China.
Key Point #5
More than 20 countries around the world flat out banned GMOs and didn’t introduce them at all. The reasons vary, from no long-term human health studies to no prenatal studies and concerns over everything from cancer to allergies.
Bottom Line
I believe is it should be a company’s obligation and duty to keep us informed, not dismiss labeling efforts. Labels would bring liability, traceability, and accountability. You see, labels give us a better perspective of the products we’re purchasing and this truly matters, especially in light of the escalating rates of allergies, autism, diabetes, and pediatric cancers.
