September/October 2008 Living Now
What's in Your Food?

by - Vicky Thompson

More than half of Americans say they won't buy food that has been genetically modified, according to a recent CBS News/New York Times poll. But these genetically engineered (GE) foods are not that easy to avoid. While most packaged and processed foods do contain GE ingredients, the labels don't have to say so.

Genetic engineering creates new life forms in the laboratory that never would be created in nature, according to the Center for Food Safety. GE technology synthesizes new organisms by inserting the genetic material or DNA of bacteria, viruses and other organisms from one species into the living cells of another often completely unrelated species. The end result is the expression of a new trait, most often herbicide tolerance.

Today, more than 90 percent of the U.S. soybean crop is genetically modified, its DNA altered to increase production and withstand chemical weed killers like Roundup. Nearly three-quarters of all corn planted in the U.S. is genetically modified.

Experts say that means if it comes in a can or a box and the label lists soybean oil or corn syrup as ingredients, odds are that it contains genetically modified organisms (GMOs), reports the Associated Press. Overall, 65 percent of all products in your local grocery store have DNA-altered ingredients.

According to the Organic Consumers Assn., an online advocacy group for food safety, sugar beets are the next GE crop to enter the food chain. Like GE corn and GE soy, these GE sugar-containing products will hit stores in 2008 without labels identifying them.

The GE sugar beet is designed to withstand strong doses of Monsanto's controversial Roundup herbicide. Studies indicate farmers planting "Roundup Ready" corn and soy spray large amounts of the herbicide, contaminating both soil and water. Farmers planting GE sugar beets are told they may be able to apply the herbicide up to five times per year.

Sugar beets are grown on 1.4 million acres by 12,000 farmers in the U.S., including Oregon, Washington and Idaho. More than 70 percent of all sugar beet seeds are grown in Oregon's Willamette Valley.

According to the Center for Food Safety, GE crops have lead to many concerns, including:

GE crops are not proven safe for consumption. Market approval of GE crops is based upon research conducted by the biotech industry alone. No long-term health studies on the effects of eating GE foods have ever been conducted by any government agency.

GE crops increase herbicide use. Contrary to claims by the biotech industry that GE crops reduce herbicide use, U.S. Dept. of Agriculture data shows the emergence of a trend toward more toxic and more frequent herbicide applications.

GE plants contaminate conventional and organic seeds and crops. Sugar beets are wind pollinated and their pollen can travellong distances. GE sugar beets have the potential tocross pollinate with related species such as chard and tablebeets, placing both conventional and organic farmers at risk ofcontamination.

A new CBS News poll found that 87 percent of consumers would like GMO ingredients to be labeled, just as they are in Europe, Japan and Australia. Until then, the only way to avoid eating GE beet sugar is to buy non-engineered organic foods, and foods containing 100 percent cane sugar or evaporated cane juice, says the Center for Food Safety.

Sources: CBS News/New York Times poll at www.pollingreport.com, Center for Food Safety at www.centerforfoodsafety.org and Organic Consumers Assn. at www.organicconsumers.org.