10 Foods You'll Have to Give Up to Avoid Eating GMOs
Article written by Robert Cheeke at nutritionstudies.orgAbout 20 years ago, a company now owned by Monsanto (MON) introduced the Flavr Savr tomato -- the first genetically modified organism approved for consumption in the United States. Since then, farmers across the country have been using more and more GMOs every year.
It's a practice that has come under increasingly intense scrutiny. Activists who are worried about the potential for human health problems, as well as environmental damage, have started demanding that food containing GMOs be labeled as such.
Prop 37, a California ballot measure to mandate GMO labeling, failed at the polls in 2012, and a similar measure lost last month in Washington state. In both campaigns, the largest makers of GMOs -- Monsanto, DuPont (DD), and Dow Chemical (DOW) -- provided the ad funding that helped turn the tide.
But what many people don't realize is that they've been consuming products with GMO ingredients for years.
The Institute for Responsible Technology has a brochure breaking down GMO presence in many different types of foods. Here are 10 of the most popular foods that likely contain GMOs.
Canned Soups
Pre-made soups can contain a large number of ingredients containing GMOs. For instance, Campbell's (CPB) popular condensed Tomato Soup lists high fructose corn syrup as its second biggest ingredient. According to the Non-GMO Project, nearly 88 percent of all corn planted in the United States is GMO.
It doesn't stop at HFCS, though. Take the company's Cream of Mushroom soup, which lists vegetable oil as its third ingredient. It specifically says the oil does come not only from corn, but from cottonseed, canola, and/or soybeans. However, in America, says the Non-GMO Project, 90 percent of cottonseed, 90 percent of rapeseed (the source of canola), and 94 percent of soybeans are GMOs.
Cut back on questionable ingredients by making your own soup.
Frozen Foods
Frozen foods are often sweetened with HFCS, according to IRT. And even if HFCS isn't on the ingredient list, the presence of non-cane sugar likely means GMOs are included. Sugar beets provide half of all consumable sugar in America, and 95 percent of those sugar beets are grown using GM seeds, according to the Non-GMO Project.
Baby Formula
Pre-made soups can contain a large number of ingredients containing GMOs. For instance, Campbell's (CPB) popular condensed Tomato Soup lists high fructose corn syrup as its second biggest ingredient. According to the Non-GMO Project, nearly 88 percent of all corn planted in the United States is GMO.
It doesn't stop at HFCS, though. Take the company's Cream of Mushroom soup, which lists vegetable oil as its third ingredient. It specifically says the oil does come not only from corn, but from cottonseed, canola, and/or soybeans. However, in America, says the Non-GMO Project, 90 percent of cottonseed, 90 percent of rapeseed (the source of canola), and 94 percent of soybeans are GMOs.
Cut back on questionable ingredients by making your own soup.