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BC THE ORGANIC WAY by Marya Skrypiczajko
It’s not easy to be a conscientious grocery consumer in Canada today. Without any laws governing the labeling of genetically engineered (GE) foods, Canadians are left to educate themselves about what is and what isn’t GE, and then spend time reading all the fine print on the food packaging in grocery stores. Fortunately for us, there are a few basic guidelines to follow and in addition, Greenpeace has published a guidebook to transgenic foods that is available in print or online.
I’ll get to those guidelines, but first a little reminder on what GE food is: Any food product that contains at least one ingredient derived from a genetically modified organism (GMO) is GE. GMOs are bred unnaturally by inserting genes from one organism into another, for example fish genes into strawberry plants. This forces the organism to do something it normally would not. According to experts opposed to genetic engineering, the point of this process is only to increase profits for the companies owning the GE products. It’s not about solving the world hunger crisis or about reducing the amount of chemical sprays applied to food when it is grown. In fact, since the genetically modified seeds are produced to be tolerant to the herbicides sold by the same companies that produce the GE seeds, the foods produced from these products have been sprayed by herbicides at least once.
The four big bad ones are corn, soy, cotton and canola. Four doesn’t seem like too many, but they are so broadly used in manufactured foods that it is estimated that 70 percent of processed foods in grocery stores are GE. Corn syrup, soy protein, soy lecithin, corn oil, vegetable oil, canola oil and cottonseed oil used in processing of food are generally all GE. The list of foods these ingredients are in is huge and, in no particular order, here’s a start: both sugary and healthy-looking cereals, canned beans and pasta sauces, cake and muffin mixes, pre-made pie shells, canned and dried soups, salad dressings, condiments such as mayo, margarine and peanut butter, ice creams, potato chips, soft drinks, baby formulas and pet foods.
I think the most challenging or deceiving one is soy because so many health-conscious people buy soy assuming they are buying a healthy product. Often times they are healthy because many companies who produce soy products are also committed to not using any GE products. But not all are, so it is important to read the labels on those eco-friendly packages too. Buyer beware.
Most of those red peppers, apples and other fruits and vegetables in perfectly matching rows are not GE. So far, the only exception is GE papayas, which are causing environmental and economic havoc in Hawaii and Thailand. The other fruits and vegetables are bred to look similar, to travel well and to have long shelf lives, but aren’t GE, at least not yet. The unfortunate side of this type of breeding though is that taste, nutrition and variety are sacrificed.
How to Avoid GE Food - A Greenpeace Shopper’s Guide www.greenpeace.ca/shoppersguide/index.php is a great tool to teach us what products we should avoid. The authors have divided all the products they list into three categories: green, yellow and red. Products that fall into the green column contain no GE ingredients, yellows may contain GE ingredients but the companies listed here have committed to and begun removing all GE ingredients from their products and red foods are likely to contain GE ingredients. Greenpeace’s research was done by its own employees and volunteers, as well as a third party.
Plenty of big name brands people have relied on for years are on the red list and some that even the health-conscious shopper may pick up once in a while such as Haagen-Dazs, Cheerios, Cadbury chocolate and Fruitopia drinks.
Fortunately, there is now such a huge selection of organic foods on the market that we can substitute almost every conventional food with an organic food and be guaranteed minimal genetic contamination. To be certified organic, produce must be grown from seed that is not transgenic, and no non-organic pesticides or fertilizers can be used.
The majority of Canadians do not want transgenics in their food and mandatory labeling exists in 35 countries around the world, so let’s hope the Canadian government catches on soon.
Marya Skrypiczajko is the author of BC the Organic Way - Where to Find Organic Food in British Columbia available at bookstores in Canada. For more information, visit www.bctheorganicway.com
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