What you don’t know about genetically engineered food could harm you

Would you buy and eat food that hasn’t been proven safe? Probably not intentionally, yet that’s exactly what we are doing every day because we eat foods that have been genetically engineered.

Beth Harrison, Ph.D. author of the new book Shedding Light on Genetically Engineered Food says research by independent scientists shows that genetically engineered (GE) food, which has infiltrated the foods we eat, may pose serious risks to our health.

Biotechnology scientists can freely take the genetic material out of one organism and place it in another, creating new life forms that would not otherwise occur in nature (e.g., flounder genes in tomatoes). They are changing the most fundamental characteristics of the very food we eat without knowing what it will do to people who eat it. Furthermore, because GE food is unlabeled, we’re being kept uninformed about it by companies that are making billions of dollars in profits.

This novel technology has virtually invaded the grocery store and taken over the food on our shelves. An estimated 70-75 percent of processed foods on supermarket shelves—from soda to soup, snack food to microwave food, even baby food and infant formula—contain genetically engineered ingredients.

Genetically engineered foods have never been proven safe for human consumption. In fact, there are no regulations or laws requiring safety testing of GE food. Scientific studies have revealed that animals fed GE food developed potentially pre-cancerous cell growth; smaller brains, livers, and testicles; damaged immune systems; partial atrophy of the liver; lesions in the livers, stomachs, and kidneys; inflammation of the kidneys; and problems with their blood cells.

“We just haven’t seen outward physical effects yet,” says Harrison. “It could well be that we’ve got a ticking time bomb in our systems.”

The biotech industry has spent millions of dollars to fight proposed labeling laws and laws to ban genetically engineered food in America. GE food is simply a profitable product to be bought and sold on the global market. According to its largest trade organization, the biotech industry is a multi-billion dollar industry with the goal simply “to build revenue and a profit-generating business.” So in reality, GE food is about corporations altering, patenting, and owning the food supply. Biotech corporations benefit while society and individuals bear the health risks.

Harrison says, “Only when people learn about GE foods can they make conscious choices about what they eat. Fortunately, eating GE-free is easier than you might think.”

Currently, the most commercialized GE foods in the United States include non-organic soy, corn, canola, cotton, and dairy products. All of these foods exist in the American food supply, most often in their various derivative forms in processed foods such as soy lecithin, high fructose corn syrup, corn starch, cottonseed oil, canola oil, etc. As a starting point, either eliminate them from your diet or buy organic equivalents.

Considering that the majority of conventional processed foods on the market have some GE ingredients in them, eating organic food is your best bet to avoid them.

When you buy organic, no animals are permitted to have been given antibiotics, growth hormones, or feed made from animal byproducts. No GE ingredients, irradiated ingredients, synthetic ingredients (pesticides, herbicides, etc.), or fertilizers made with sewage sludge are legally allowed in organic food. All of these are permitted in most conventional food production.

“It’s important to realize that unlabeled genetically altered food is an attack on your health freedom every time you eat. It is personal,” she says. “Become informed and look for the truth. Only then will you be empowered to make the right decisions for you and your family.”

Shedding Light on Genetically Engineered Food explains what the biotechnology industry and the U.S. government haven’t told you – and why you’ve been intentionally kept in the dark – about the genetically modified foods you are eating.