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GE Foods Tutorial
If you want to avoid eating genetically
engineered foods, all we can say is good luck. In just
a few short years, GE foods have swept into the marketplace,
affecting almost all of the foods we eat. In fact, the only
way you can be sure to avoid eating genetically mutated foods
is to buy organic, or to grow your own.
The basic facts:
The first large-scale commercial harvest
of genetically engineered crops in the United  States
was in 1996. In 1999, one-fourth
of American crops were genetically engineered,
including:
- 35 percent of all corn
- 55 percent of all soybeans
- nearly half of all cotton.
So far, at least
50 GE crops have been approved by the USDA, including
potatoes, tomatoes, melons and beets. GE rice, wheat, cucumbers,
strawberries, apples, sugarcane and walnuts are being grown
on test sites.
Consumer Reports, in its September 1999
edition, revealed that GE ingredients
are becoming increasingly common. Some experts
estimate that GE ingredients can
be found in as many as two-thirds of all items on supermarket
shelves. Even if you shop at the local health food
store, you may be eating some genetically engineered foods.
Some common foods that frequently contain
GE ingredients:
- tortilla chips
- drink mixes
- taco shells
- veggie burgers
- muffin mix
- baby formulas
 Watch
out for any foods that contain soybean or corn derivatives.
Soy finds its way into about 60 percent of processed foods;
risky ingredients include soy oil, soy flour, lecithin, and
soy protein isolates and concentrates. Corn products commonly
found in processed foods include corn oil, corn starch, corn
flour and corn syrup.
Animal products
are another high-risk category. Genetically modified
organisms can find their way into meat, poultry, seafood,
milk, cheese, yogurt and whey. Most of the corn and soybeans
grown in the United States are fed to farm animals. Also,
dairy products may come from cows that have been treated with
bovine growth hormone (BGH).
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