NO Good For You

Here I go talking about 'Franken foods' again. Since about a billion pounds of potato and corn chips are about to be consumed on Super Bowl day I figured it would be a good time to remind everyone that the simple fact is that about 75 percent of all processed foods in this country contain some GM ingredients. I will almost guarantee that that chip you dip during the game is at least partially GM unless it is organic. No matter how hard you try you are going to get some GM food in your diet in the U.S. It's in just about everything.

New research shows that when GM corn is fed to mice and pigs they show organ and blood abnormalities, as well as immune dysfunction. Scientists have discovered reproductive problems in pigs and cows with GM food in their diets.  There is a reason one of the main rules in Michael Pollan's new book Food Rules is 'Don't eat anything advertised on TV'. and I still try and live by the rule 'If your grandmother wouldn't recognize it as food, it probably isn't.'

Since there are no laws requiring GM labeling it's tough to know what's has GM ingredients and what doesn't?  The most prevalent GM crops are corn, soy, cottonseed and canola. You definitely want to look for organic food that contain those ingredients. By definition, an organic food or crop cannot be genetically modified or contain GM ingredients. It is not just the 'Big 4' though. Things that you might pick up in the store such as sugar, zucchini or yellow squash have a good chance of being GM as well.

Like I said, you are not going to be able to avoid 100% of the GM stuff, it's just too prevalent, but you can reduce the amount you eat by growing your own food and shopping wisely. The Institute for Responsible Technology has compiled an excellent Non-GMO Shopping Guide that you can download for free.