How can I avoid products that use genetically modified ingredients?
January 15, 2010 5:52 PM Subscribe
How can I avoid products that use genetically modified ingredients?
Since it is not required for products to be labeled when they contain GMOs, I am looking for a way (other than only buying food that is 100% organic) that I can tell which foods I'm buying contain genetically modified ingredients. I know some companies label their products GMO free but I have not been able to find many that do. I am not looking for reasons why GMOs are beneficial or any other related arguments just information pertaining to deciphering the origin of the ingredients in the food I am buying. I am also a vegan if that makes a difference.
Since it is not required for products to be labeled when they contain GMOs, I am looking for a way (other than only buying food that is 100% organic) that I can tell which foods I'm buying contain genetically modified ingredients. I know some companies label their products GMO free but I have not been able to find many that do. I am not looking for reasons why GMOs are beneficial or any other related arguments just information pertaining to deciphering the origin of the ingredients in the food I am buying. I am also a vegan if that makes a difference.
Didn't get the Seeds of Deception link in there on the first try.
posted by nanojath at 6:16 PM on January 15, 2010
posted by nanojath at 6:16 PM on January 15, 2010
I don't think there's any way to be sure just from packaging. Some crops (soy, canola and corn) are so heavily GMO now that I would assume anything containing them used GMO crops unless I had specific information otherwise.
posted by nanojath at 6:18 PM on January 15, 2010 [2 favorites]
posted by nanojath at 6:18 PM on January 15, 2010 [2 favorites]
I think the labeling depends on what country you live in. One of the best ways would be to grow your own food or buy it at farmer's markets where you can talk to the growers directly.
posted by Locobot at 7:28 PM on January 15, 2010
posted by Locobot at 7:28 PM on January 15, 2010
Almost everything you eat has been genetically modified, mostly through 1000's of years of selective breeding. Many plants and animals bare little resemblance to their wild 'naturally evolved' ancestors. What is termed GMO today is just the result of the latest technique in a long history of techniques, all of which are 'man made'.
As nanojath said, in the USA many of our base foodstuffs are all GMO or are mixed with GMO products. I think it's all but impossible to avoid them, save growing your own with seed you're guaranteed isn't GMO, in isolation from other crops that might be GMO. That said, I think there is a huge amount of gross misinformation and irrationality surrounding the topic and I don't lose any sleep consuming modern food.
posted by Long Way To Go at 8:05 PM on January 15, 2010 [10 favorites]
As nanojath said, in the USA many of our base foodstuffs are all GMO or are mixed with GMO products. I think it's all but impossible to avoid them, save growing your own with seed you're guaranteed isn't GMO, in isolation from other crops that might be GMO. That said, I think there is a huge amount of gross misinformation and irrationality surrounding the topic and I don't lose any sleep consuming modern food.
posted by Long Way To Go at 8:05 PM on January 15, 2010 [10 favorites]
Almost everything you eat has been genetically modified, mostly through 1000's of years of selective breeding
This is true; it's largely a semantic issue. For example, you can take some seeds and irradiate them or soak them in a chemical mutagen, then screen through the mutant offspring for plants that possess the desired trait, as has been done with crops for a long time. This is not "genetically modified" according to the current popular definition of the term.
Alternatively, you can (randomly) insert a gene of interest and then characterize the insertion locus and expression pattern of that gene. This plant is "genetically modified."
posted by rxrfrx at 9:28 PM on January 15, 2010
This is true; it's largely a semantic issue. For example, you can take some seeds and irradiate them or soak them in a chemical mutagen, then screen through the mutant offspring for plants that possess the desired trait, as has been done with crops for a long time. This is not "genetically modified" according to the current popular definition of the term.
Alternatively, you can (randomly) insert a gene of interest and then characterize the insertion locus and expression pattern of that gene. This plant is "genetically modified."
posted by rxrfrx at 9:28 PM on January 15, 2010
mostly through 1000's of years of selective breeding
True, and mostly not through insertion of fish genes into plants, or mammal genes into fungi.
posted by Rumple at 10:34 PM on January 15, 2010 [3 favorites]
True, and mostly not through insertion of fish genes into plants, or mammal genes into fungi.
posted by Rumple at 10:34 PM on January 15, 2010 [3 favorites]
The problem is not that the plants have non-plant genes in them. The problem is that the huge corporations that manufacture the genetically-modified seed stock are perfectly happy to sue anyone who even looks at the plants in the wrong way. They also apply for (and are granted) patents that basically make it illegal for anyone else to genetically modify plants.
Owning a patent on a natural process is what should outrage you.
The secondary issue is; it's nice to have a crop that doesn't die when you dump copious amounts of weedkiller on it... but should we really be dumping poison into the ground and letting it run off into our rivers, just to make corn a few cents less expensive? I am willing to pay the extra few cents to not do this, which is why I don't buy GMO crops. But, to be clear, it's not the genetic modification that bothers me. I think that is cool.
posted by jrockway at 11:10 PM on January 15, 2010 [1 favorite]
Owning a patent on a natural process is what should outrage you.
The secondary issue is; it's nice to have a crop that doesn't die when you dump copious amounts of weedkiller on it... but should we really be dumping poison into the ground and letting it run off into our rivers, just to make corn a few cents less expensive? I am willing to pay the extra few cents to not do this, which is why I don't buy GMO crops. But, to be clear, it's not the genetic modification that bothers me. I think that is cool.
posted by jrockway at 11:10 PM on January 15, 2010 [1 favorite]
I am willing to pay the extra few cents to not do this, which is why I don't buy GMO crops.
Well, I generally am willing to pay a whole lot more money for heirloom, organic crops too, but that's because I like eating food that tastes good. Unfortunately, those extra few cents might mean the difference between having enough food to feed your family and starving to death for many people in the world.
posted by signalnine at 12:03 AM on January 16, 2010
Well, I generally am willing to pay a whole lot more money for heirloom, organic crops too, but that's because I like eating food that tastes good. Unfortunately, those extra few cents might mean the difference between having enough food to feed your family and starving to death for many people in the world.
posted by signalnine at 12:03 AM on January 16, 2010
Tomatoes with fish genes are not commercially available. Their prevalence is a myth.
posted by Bleusman at 2:13 PM on January 16, 2010
posted by Bleusman at 2:13 PM on January 16, 2010
I always doubt labels that state 'GMO free' since they could be pollinated with anything, assuming they aren't grown in a greenhouse or other closed environment. See the 'gene flow' section here.
posted by R a c h e l at 4:24 PM on January 17, 2010
posted by R a c h e l at 4:24 PM on January 17, 2010
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Center for Food Safety
Seeds of Deception info on most common GMO crops - might help choosing when to buy organic (your best guarantee if you want to be sure) on products you can't find a non-organic alternative.
Non-GMO Shopping Guide
The Non-GMO Project
posted by nanojath at 6:14 PM on January 15, 2010