Image may be NSFW.
Clik here to view.
Since last year, FFTV has been showing you all kinds of additives in your food and deciphering those strange ingredients listed on packages. But it turns out there are other things in your food not on the labels – GMOs or Genetically Modified Organisms. In next week’s election, California’s Prop 37 is fighting to require labeling genetically engineered food. If it passes, GMO labels would likely go nationwide.
So, what are GMOs?
They are plants or animals created using genetic engineering. USDA data show as of last year, genetically modified seeds made up 94 percent of U.S. soy and three-quarters of corn and cotton – ingredients commonly used in processed foods.
An example you might recall – the Kashi controversy last May. The issue was that the soy in Kashi cereals comes from soybeans inserted with a gene to protect them from the herbicide Roundup, which is used to kill weeds. This type of genetic engineering is being used in ingredients in so many packaged foods, but they aren’t labeled.
Are GMOs safe?
Some studies link GMO foods to allergies, organ toxicity, and other health problems. But more research is needed.
Safe or not, don’t you want to know what’s in your food? I know I do! And that’s what Prop 37 is all about – the right to know which foods contain GMOs. Transparency on food labels. Just like the nutrition labels list fat, sodium, and sugar amounts.
I ran across this PSA featuring celebrities like Danny DeVito, Dave Matthews, and Jillian Michaels. It really brings the point home – we have a right to know what’s in our food.
Click here to view the embedded video.
