No GMO? How Do You Know?

First, I will try to explain the difference between genetically modified and genetically engineered.

Farmers have been genetically modifying foods for centuries to enhance/eliminate certain features. Without genetic modification, we wouldn't have nectarines, apricots, grapefruit, seedless grapes, the incredible varieties of apples, corn, oranges...this list is very long.

As simple as possible, the way genetic modification works, most of the time, is to take a branch of one fruit and stick it in the tree of another. Why they did it? To fight certain disease or fungus, to improve/eliminate certain traits. Now take out a big magnifying lens and look at this process inside the seed/cell. A scientist sitting in a lab goes through the DNA of a seed and snips it part way through to introduce part of something else's DNA. It may be a plant or an animal or any old organism that carries the desired trait. That would be genetically engineered.

In this country, there is no FDA requirement to include genetic information on food labels. However, now it is becoming a "fashion" to include the term "no GMO" on the package somewhere. Instead of GMO, the package may also say no GMI, GMF, GEI, GEF, or GEO. It is a selling point for those who are more aware of these terms. Of course, they can sell their products at a higher price by adding this information.


What is so bad about genetically engineered ingredients anyways? In reality, nothing, because there is no research to show that it is good or bad for certain. It is this uncertainty that is worrying people. Genetically engineered foods have been blamed for allergies, cancers, and disorders to name a few. Maybe, it is true, maybe not. I don't know. Genetic engineering has also been responsible for the success of certain fruits and vegetable in unfamiliar climates, which provided food to countries that otherwise would have suffered drastically from lack of food. Is this a good thing or a bad thing? That would be one big debate for another blog.

OK, back to the point for this blog, how could a company know to say for sure that their products contain no genetically modified or genetically engineered ingredients? I can almost guarantee that there is no way for them to tell if their ingredients are genetically modified. How about genetically engineered? The problem is that cross pollination takes its course, this is nature, and there is hardly any way to control it.

So, companies out there that are so proud of their non-genetically engineered/modified ingredients, how do you know?

I have sent emails to several companies asking them how they knew, and no one ever answered me. I also asked a local farmer, and he too had nothing to say.

Links:
Wikipedia's defenition of Genetically Modified Food
The Future of Food DVD