Current research surrounding GMO foods is not pretty. Back in 2012, research was released from France by professor Gilles-Eric Seralini, showing some pretty ugly results. Using rats fed with genetically modified food, they demonstrated a link between the GMO food and tumor growth. The research had been discredited by the food industry for ‘inadequate design’ but recently in 2015, became validated again when the researchers won a defamation case.

My concern right now is about finding non GMO food alternatives. The food industry exploits our lack of information through false ads or lack of labeling. So how do we navigate all this? There are no easy fixes, but there are some things we can do.

Most sources agree about these major items right now that are known to be genetically modified on the food market. Avoid them by any means necessary. These include:

Corn; the biggest culprit. This encompasses corn oil, corn syrup, corn cereal and all corn derived products. Most sources recommend coconut oil for cooking.

Soy beans; This includes all soy products like tofu or soy milk.

Canola; including canola oil,

Sugar beets; An ingredient in table sugar. Simply avoid all sugar or at the minimum, opt for pure cane sugar.

Hawaiian Papaya; whatever it’s it worth

Cotton seed;  cotton oil

alfalfa 

Yellow squash

Zucchini

Rule of thumb: If its junk food, prepackaged or processed, its likely to be GMO. Non processed whole foods are unlikely to be GMO. This means you would have to buy a lot of raw ingredients yourself.  Even the more reason to eat local. Check in with the farmers market once in a while. If you absolutely must buy any of the above items,  then buy organic from whatever sources you trust.

 

 

Sources

Seralini et el. Long term toxicity of a Roundup herbicide and a Roundup-tolerant genetically modified maize. Food Chem toxical 2012. Nov (50) 11. 421. Pubmed.