Ingredients
Protecting the Non-GMO Integrity of Organic
Ingredients: The Time To Act Is Now
By Ken Roseboro
Today there are two major food trends
occurring on opposite ends of the food
chain in the United States. On the consumer end, more and more Americans want
organic foods produced without harmful pesticides, growth hormones and genetic modification. But, on the opposite end, at the farm,
conventional farmers are planting millions of
acres of genetically modified corn, soybeans
and cotton.
These two trends are on a collision course,
putting the integrity of organic’s non-GMO
status at risk. As conventional GMO crops
grow in number, there is an increasing
chance that organic crops will be contaminated. However, if everyone from producers to
processors takes action now, the chances of
contamination can be reduced significantly.
Several organic industry leaders have already
spearheaded efforts through a non-profit
group called The Non-GMO Project, but it is
essential to have commitment throughout the
chain to win this fight.
GMOs Dominate Conventional Crops
In the United States, GM varieties, which
are genetically altered to withstand sprays of
herbicides or kill pests, dominate conventional commodity agriculture. In 2007, GM varieties accounted for 91 percent of soybeans,
87 percent of cotton and 73 percent of corn
according to the U.S. Department of
Agriculture. The majority of canola is also
GM with most of that grown in Canada. A
small percentage of GM alfalfa is grown, but
last year a U.S. Federal judge issued an
injunction blocking sales of GM alfalfa seed
until the USDA conducts an environmental
assessment. The only GM fruits and vegeta-
bles grown commercially are papaya in
Hawaii, zucchini and yellow squash. But this
year farmers will also plant GM sugar beets.
American consumers eat many foods containing ingredients derived from GM corn,
soy, cotton and canola. In fact, more than 70
percent of processed conventional foods contain these ingredients. Most Americans, however, are unaware that they are eating GM
foods because the United States, unlike the
European Union, Japan, South Korea and
other nations, does not require such foods to
be labeled.
Opposition to GM foods is strong in
Europe. Switzerland has a national ban on
GM crop production, while Austria, Greece
and Poland have strong GMO-free policies.
Nearly 50 EU regions, which are the equivalent of American states, have declared themselves GMO-free. In October 2007, Italian
food producers, consumers and conservation
groups collected three million signatures in a
petition drive to ban GM food in the country.
In the same month, French president Nicolas
Sarkozy suspended plantings of GM crops in
France.
Health and Environmental Risks
There are health and environmental concerns surrounding GM crops. Genetic modification or “engineering” involves a random
insertion of genes from bacteria, animals or
other living organisms into the DNA of food
plants. Such genetic manipulations—which
would never occur in nature—may produce
new toxins or allergens or reduce the nutritional value of food. Research studies give
reasons to be concerned. A study conducted
in the United Kingdom in the late 1990s
