Environment: At Your Grocer Now: Genetically Engineered Foods

Did you ever wonder why the biotech industry and the large grocery chains have spent so much money to assure that the FDA doesn’t require that genetically engineered foods are labeled? The answer is simple: they’re afraid that if your produce was labeled “grown from seeds that have been genetically modified” you might decide it’s time to start shopping at the local organic food mart, which has been the case in all countries where labeling has become a requirement.

The growth of genetically engineered foods has been astounding. Even though large-scale commercial harvesting of genetically altered crops began only four years ago, by last year twenty-five percent of all American crops were genetically modified. This includes thirty-five percent of all corn, fifty-five percent of all soybeans and nearly half of all cotton. At the present time, the USDA has approved fifty genetically engineered crops, including staples such as potatoes, tomatoes, melons and beets, with more on the way. Currently, genetically engineered versions of rice, wheat, cucumbers, strawberries, apples, sugarcane and walnuts are being grown on test sites.

Avoiding these biotech foods is nearly impossible. In September of 1999, “Consumer Reports” admitted that genetically engineered ingredients are becoming increasingly common, with some experts estimating they’re found in two-thirds of the items on supermarket shelves. They’re present in products like tortilla chips, drink mixes, taco shells, veggie burgers, muffin mix, and even baby formulas. Especially prone to contain artificially engineered genes are items containing soy and corn products, like soy and corn oil or flour, lecithin, soy protein isolates and concentrates, corn starch, corn flour and corn syrup. Even the items on the shelves of your local health food store aren’t necessarily free of these biotech products.

Unfortunately, even if you want to avoid these foods, you can’t. In a classic case of “let the buyer beware,” the USDA and the FDA have refused to require that genetically engineered foods be labeled. This, despite the fact that many other developed nations have enacted laws requiring such labels. Currently, Australia, New Zealand Japan and most European countries require that foods containing genetically engineered products be clearly labeled, with Great Britain even including restaurants under their requirement. In England, most major supermarket chains now refuse to carry genetically engineered products because of negative public reaction to them.

In fact, in all instances where consumers have been armed with knowledge, they have overwhelmingly voted with their pocketbooks against foodstuffs that have been genetically altered, a phenomenon which has caught the attention of the European financial community. Deutsche Bank, Europe’s largest, is now advising investors to sell their shares in biotechnology companies, saying in a report to investors, “We note that Monsanto has spent more than $1.5 million to persuade English consumers of the rectitude of their position, but alas, to no avail.”

In this country, the biotech industry has tried to keep a low profile, figuring that as long as the public doesn’t know what’s in their food supply they’ll happily continue consuming their products. When they do speak out, through organizations such as the Biotechnology Industry Organization, it’s to assure us both of the necessity for genetically engineered foods and of it’s safety. Critics, who run the gamut from environmental groups like Friends of the Earth to the prestigious Union of Concerned Scientists, say that the safety of genetically engineered foods is very much in question and that they’re only a economic necessity if corporate profits are the bottom line.

The position of critics begin to make sense when we look at the intended purposes for genetically altering foods. Although the biotech folks claim that their products will be good for the environment, one of the most common reasons to modify a plant is to make it more resistant to pesticides. Monsanto, for example, is marketing the Roundup Ready soybean, engineered to withstand higher doses Roundup pesticide, which they also manufacture. Recent research indicates that farmers are using the same, and in some cases higher, quantities of pesticides on genetically engineered crops as on traditional crops.

Fortunately, some American companies are already jumping off of the biotech bandwagon. In August of 1999, Archer Daniels Midland (ADM) ordered their suppliers to separate genetically modified crops from conventional crops when they realized that many of their customers were basing purchasing decisions on whether the food has been genetically altered. During the same month, Gerber announced that it would no longer use genetically engineered ingredients in it’s baby food, and to insure this they switched to organic corn. The later move took nearly everybody by surprise, since Gerber is owned by Novartis, at the time one of the biggest movers and shakers in the biotech world. One month later, Novartis announced that they were getting out of the biotech business altogether.

Unfortunately, it may already be too late to put the biotech monster back in the bag. As we will see next week, even if we were to completely quit marketing all biotech products tomorrow, there is ample evidence to suggest that some of these genetically engineered foodstuffs will be with us forever.

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