Bioengineered Foods – What’s the Big Deal?

I don’t understand why this bioengineered subject has exploded all over the Internet like it’s something new. For several decades now, if you are buying food which is not labeled organic or non-GMO, then you are consuming bio-engineered ingredients, and lots of them. The only thing new is, that the National Bioengineered Food Disclosure Law went into effect. Companies used to have no requirement to disclose this information. Now they do.

I want to make it clear that I’m not “for” bioengineered foods. I try to avoid them as much as my budget will allow. What I’m objecting to is the misinformation, panic, and downright silliness concerning the subject.

The legal definition of Bioengineered foods: those that contain detectable genetic material that has been modified through in vitro recombinant deoxyribonucleic acid (rDNA) techniques and for which the modification could not otherwise be obtained through conventional breeding or found in nature.

Bioengineered food are also called Genetically Modified Organisms: GMOs for short.

One of the ridiculous arguments I see is: Humans have been bioengineering plants and animals for thousands of years, so this is nothing to be concerned about. That is wrong on several levels.

Genetically Modified foods are created in the laboratory by inserting a gene from one species into another. This can be the insertion of one plant species into another plant species, or an animal gene into a plant. Man has never done this outside of a laboratory.

In nature, animals and plants have the natural ability to adapt to new circumstances. What we used to call Junk Genes turns out to be chromosomes that activate and inactivate as needed.

Mutations occur constantly in wild animals and plants. Most of these have a neutral effect, or may be harmful, and the trait is not passed on. But a tiny number of mutations help the organism survive better, and it will pass this trait on to it’s offspring.

When humans began domesticating animals and plants, they deliberately preserved desirable mutations. Humans never “bioengineered” anything until recent decades. They just took advantage of the DNA that was already there.

Some of the panic surrounding this subject is absurd. For example, I saw on Facebook where someone posted the label of a food product from Walmart’s Great Value store brand showing the declaration that it contained a bioengineered ingredient. That person swore they would never buy groceries from Walmart again. That makes zero sense.

All grocery stores get their foods from the same manufacturers. Even store brands come from the same private label manufacturers. A case in point: if you buy store brands of certain breakfast and packaged foods, whether it’s Great Value, Target’s Market Pantry, Kroger brand, or whatever else, chances are that it came from This Company. Same product inside the package, different label on the outside.

The following foods and ingredients are Bioengineered, except when they are marked otherwise:

• Soy, Corn, Cottonseed and Canola Oils, and some Sunflower Oil
• Anything else made from dent corn or soy, like cornmeal, tortillas and tortilla chips, corn chips, miso, soy sauce, tofu and many more (most sweet corn is not modified).
• Beet Sugar (Most Cane Sugar is not modified)
• Hydrolyzed vegetable protein (HVP)
• Textured vegetable protein (TVP)
• Lecithin
• Monodiglyceride
• Monosodium glutamate (MSG)
• Vitamin E
• Natural flavoring
• Some unspecified vegetable broths
• Vegetable gum
• Vegetable starch
• Dextrins
• Maltodextrins
• Dextrose
• Fructose or crystalline fructose
• Hydrol
• Ethanol
• Free fatty acids
• Maize
• Zein
• Sorbitol

Most fruits and vegetables are NOT modified (so far)
If you want to avoid bioengineered foods, buy the ones marked organic or non-GMO – yes, I know many of us can’t afford that.
Grow your own fruits and veggies, especially from seeds or plants marked heirloom or organic. Although most varieties available to consumers, even non-organic, are not modified.
Harvest wild fruits if that’s an option.
Keep in mind that pet food and livestock feed also has GMO ingredients if not marked organic or non-GMO, It’s unfortunate that most of us can’t afford those high prices!.