Soy, corn, canola, zucchini, and cotton all have something in common. In the Unites States, most of them are GMOs, or genetically modified organisms. A GMO is a plant or animal that has been modified genetically in order to make a stronger or better outcome. Products that have not been modified in this way, non GMO products, are, unfortunately, becoming more difficult to find.
Several years ago someone got the idea that if you took the DNA from a plant or animal that had a short coming and spliced it with the DNA of one that was resistant to that short coming you could solve the problem. For instance, say there is a type of plant that gets destroyed by a particular kind of bug. You could take the genes from a plant that is repellent to that type of bug and mix them together. Now the bug no longer destroys that crop. It sounded like a brilliant idea, so companies began to use genetic modification.
Farmers have been using this same principle for years. They breed the best of certain species together to make a better crop. This worked for years, so it would make sense that GMOs would work the same way, just in a more modern way.
The problem is that this is not the case. Cross breeding and natural selection are very different than genetic modification. With cross breeding, the breeding is intentional, but it could happen naturally. It is simply two natural species or crops that are mated in order to achieve a specific effect. Genetic modification actually changes the genetic make up, creating a species that never would have occurred naturally. These products have now made their way into our food supply.
The FDA has decided that there is not a significant enough difference between GMO foods and non-altered foods to cause a problem. Thus, these foods are not required to carry a label. The issue here is that since GMOs are a rather recent discovery there is not adequate information on any long term effects. For this reason, many people are choosing not to consume products that have been modified genetically.
This is surprisingly difficult since the FDA does not require labeling for these products, but it can be done. Certain stores and manufacturers believe that all GMO foods should be labeled. Many health food stores require that there is labeling on all GMO foods, and most manufacturers of non GMO foods label it clearly on the packaging.
It is still difficult to find foods that don't contain genetically modified organisms because those products are in virtually everything. Citric acid, ascorbic acid, maltodextrin, yeast products, and high fructose corn syrup are just a couple of the many additives that are high risk of containing GMOs. This means that finding foods that don't contain GMOs is very difficult at regular grocery stores.
This causes people who are adamant about only consuming non GMO foods to only be able to shop at health food stores. For some people this is not a problem, but because of the high expense of such selective foods, these stores are usually more expensive. This can be a serious issue for people who are on a tight food budget, which means that these foods are not readily available to everyone.
Several years ago someone got the idea that if you took the DNA from a plant or animal that had a short coming and spliced it with the DNA of one that was resistant to that short coming you could solve the problem. For instance, say there is a type of plant that gets destroyed by a particular kind of bug. You could take the genes from a plant that is repellent to that type of bug and mix them together. Now the bug no longer destroys that crop. It sounded like a brilliant idea, so companies began to use genetic modification.
Farmers have been using this same principle for years. They breed the best of certain species together to make a better crop. This worked for years, so it would make sense that GMOs would work the same way, just in a more modern way.
The problem is that this is not the case. Cross breeding and natural selection are very different than genetic modification. With cross breeding, the breeding is intentional, but it could happen naturally. It is simply two natural species or crops that are mated in order to achieve a specific effect. Genetic modification actually changes the genetic make up, creating a species that never would have occurred naturally. These products have now made their way into our food supply.
The FDA has decided that there is not a significant enough difference between GMO foods and non-altered foods to cause a problem. Thus, these foods are not required to carry a label. The issue here is that since GMOs are a rather recent discovery there is not adequate information on any long term effects. For this reason, many people are choosing not to consume products that have been modified genetically.
This is surprisingly difficult since the FDA does not require labeling for these products, but it can be done. Certain stores and manufacturers believe that all GMO foods should be labeled. Many health food stores require that there is labeling on all GMO foods, and most manufacturers of non GMO foods label it clearly on the packaging.
It is still difficult to find foods that don't contain genetically modified organisms because those products are in virtually everything. Citric acid, ascorbic acid, maltodextrin, yeast products, and high fructose corn syrup are just a couple of the many additives that are high risk of containing GMOs. This means that finding foods that don't contain GMOs is very difficult at regular grocery stores.
This causes people who are adamant about only consuming non GMO foods to only be able to shop at health food stores. For some people this is not a problem, but because of the high expense of such selective foods, these stores are usually more expensive. This can be a serious issue for people who are on a tight food budget, which means that these foods are not readily available to everyone.
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