HARMFUL FOODS Menubar
GMO Foods - Detrimental to immune and reproductive systems
How to Avoid Genetically Modified (GM) Foods
How to Avoid GM Foods?
As a consumer, you
have more power than you might think. When as little as 5% of the U.S. population refuses to buy GM food products, it
won't be long before food manufacturers will start to respond by switching their
ingredients. They can't afford not to! Europe managed to reach their tipping point in April of 1999, within a
single week of negative media which swayed the shopping habits of consumers
enough for food companies to commit to stop using GM ingredients.
Here are some basic guidelines on how to avoid GM foods.
For more detail,
and information on foods not listed here, such as baby food, grains, beans,
pasta, cereals, baked goods, frozen foods, soups sauces, canned foods, dressings
see:
NON-GMO SHOPPING GUIDE
Basic Guidelines
A good resource for non-GMO shopping advice and finding non-GMO foods:
Non-GMO Shopping
Guide .
Look for the Non-GMO Project butterfly on products:
Buying organic produce
ensures GM-free. By definition, food certified "organic" must be free from all GM organisms,
produced without artificial pesticides and fertilizers and from an animal reared
without the routine use of antibiotics, growth promoters or other drugs.
However, organic farmers surveyed by the Organic Farming Research Foundation
said they are concerned that the seeds they buy are contaminated with GMO's.
Consequently, federal rules now allow organically labeled products to contain up
to 2% of GM ingredients unintentionally mixed in with organic crops, since
genetic tests cost > $300 (even with this added cost, ~11% of organic farmers in
the U.S. still test for GMO's, driving up the price of organic foods). In
Europe, consumers won't accept any percentage of GM ingredients in organic food.
Reduce or Eliminate
Processed Foods. About 75% of
processed foods contain some GM ingredients (as well as containing trans fats
and being nutritionally poor). Such foods include:
Processed foods containing GMOs
Cooking oils
Boxed cereals
Grain products
Frozen dinners
Read Produce and Food Labels. Unless it is labeled organic, GM components are
in almost every processed product
with a corn or soy ingredient, as well as some containing canola,
cottonseed oil and beet sugar.
Corn. Corn flour, cornmeal, corn oil,
cornstarch, gluten, sweeteners (E.g. High fructose corn syrup, fructose,
Soy. Soy flour, soy sauce, soy lecithin, soy protein, soy isolate and isoflavone,
Soybean oil, soy milk ; Canola. Canola oil
Cotton. Cottonseed oil;
Beet sugar - Anything not listed as 100% cane sugar.
To
AVOID GM beet sugar , look for organic and non-GMO sweeteners, candy and
chocolate products made with 100% cane sugar, evaporated cane juice or organic
sugar.
Look for the word "Organic" and a 5-digit
PLU starting with a 9
PLU Codes on
Fruit/Vegetable Stickers
Conventionally grown produce
NNNN
Organically grown produce 9 NNNNs
Note: there is no PLU code to indicate GM produce
Very FEW fresh fruits in U.S. are GM.
Even novel products such as seedless
watermelons are NOT GM; exceptions include:
Hawaiian Papaya - about half of Hawaii's papayas are GM.
A few zucchini varieties,
yellow crookneck squash, sweet corn -
may be GM.
Commonly, non-organic meat, fish, eggs are
produced from animals raised on GM foods. Mostly grains. As yet, there is no approval for GM fish, fowl, or livestock. Choose wild, rather
than farmed fish, and 100% grass-fed animals to ensure their diet was non-GM.
Non-GMO meat and fish include:
Organic prairie
Tropical Traditions
Vital Choice
Born Free Organic
Innovations Organic
Egglands Best Organic
Horizon Organic
Land O Lakes Organic
Nest Fresh Organic
Organic Valley
Pete and Jerry's Organic Eggs
Wilcox Farms Organic
Dairy products
US dairies were invited to answer a questionare about their organic dairy
products to determine authenticity of their organic label. Unfortunately, some
of the higher rated brands are not available nationwide:
https://www.cornucopia.org/dairysurvey/index.html
Non-organic dairy
products are likely from animals fed GM grains
Buy rBGH-free Dairy. Recombinant bovine
growth hormone (rBGH) is a genetically engineered hormone designed to increase a
cow's milk production.
Milk from
cows treated with rBGH contains significantly higher levels of the
hormone insulin-like growth factor-1
(IGF-1):
Higher than normal biological levels
is linked to cancer in humans -
particularly of the breast and prostrate, but also others. others.
Similar to insulin, IGF-1 stimulates
cell division - plays an important
role in childhood growth.Inhibits orderly programmed
cell death IGF-1 in milk from rBGH treated cows
may have up to 6 times the normal levels of IGF-1 -
Monsanto's own studies found that the amount of IGF-1 in milk more
than doubled when cows were injected with rBGH. Studies by
independent researchers show gains as much as six-fold.
Evidence that the IGF-1
found in milk as a result of rBGH use is a more truncated form which
may be up to 40 times more potent than naturally occurring IGF-1,
and it can wreak havoc on our cellular signaling systems. The heat of pasteurization can free
IGF-1 from its inactive form bound to carrier proteins -
raising levels of IGF-1 even higher. Infants and children may be even more
susceptible to the harmful effects of high levels of IGF-1 -
intake
of higher levels of IGF-1 in milk results in a higher concentration
given their smaller blood plasma volume. Independent Lab Studies(not
companies promoting rBGH)indicate IGF-1 as one of factors in initiating/promoting
cancer -E.g. In
1992, the New England Journal of Medicineacknowledged that the class of hormones to which IGF-1
belongs is one of these factors responsible for normal breast tissue
developing into cancerous tissue.
There is evidence that certain cancer
cells can attract and bind IGF-1 -high
levels of IGF-1 have been shown to stimulate the growth of these
cancer cells.
http://www.naturalnews.com/cancer_cells.html
Many population studies corroborate
that higher than normal blood levels of IGF-1 are related to an
increased risk of breast, prostrate, and colon cancers -
Pre-menopausal women with even moderately elevated blood levels of
IGF-1 are up to seven times more likely to develop breast cancer.
Non-GMO, organic Dairy Product brands
include:
Alta Dena Organics
Butterworks Farm
Chase Organic Dairy
Harmony Hills Dairy
Horizon Organic
Morningland Dairy
Nancy's Organic Dairy
Natural by Nature
Organic Valley
Radiance Dairy
Safeway Organic Brand
Seven Stars Farm *
Straus Family Creamery *
Stoneyfield Farm
Wisconsin Organics
Woodstock Farms *
Dairy Product brands produced Without rbGH,
include:
Alta Dena
BelGioiso Cheese Inc.
Ben & Jerry's Ice Cream
Brown Cow Farm
Crowley Cheese of Vermont
Dannon
Franklin County Cheese
Grafton Village Cheese
Great Hill Dairy
Lifetime Dairy
Nancy's Natural Dairy
Roth Kase USA
Walmart store brand
Yoplait
Dairy Product brands
may contain GMO Ingredients :
Colombo (General Mills)
Kemps (except "Select"brand)
Land O'Lakes
Parmalat
Sorrento
The Country's Best Yoghurt
- Ice cream made with rBGH milk :
Haagen Dazs
Breyers (Sigh . . .this was my favorite brand until I found this out)
Baskin-Robbin - and they even call their ice-cream "All Natural !"
Non-GMO, ALTERNATIVE Dairy Product
brands include:
(Many alternative, non-organic dairy products are made from GM soy)
Belsoy
EdenSoy*
Imagine Foods/Soy Dream
Lisanatti
Nancy's Cultured Soy*
Nancy's Organic Cultured Soy*
Organic Valley Soy*
Pacific Natural Foods*
Silk
So Delicious
Sun Soy
Stonyfield Farm O'Soy
Tofutti
VitaSoy/Nasoya
WestSoy
WholeSoy*
Wildwood
Yves The Good Slice
Zen Don
