permaculture

[Ben Martin Horst <ben.martinhorst@gmail.com>]

That the prefix "8" on US produce PLUs once signified a genetically
modified organism may well be true, but there's no requirement for anyone
to use the "8". Being a GM is not a selling point, so nobody's putting it
on their labels, or their PLUs, although "9" indicating organic
certification is certainly accurate. In the produce section, the items to
watch out for are papayas and corn, and, to a much lesser extent, brassicas
(due to the possibility of cross-contamination with GM sugarbeets) and
potatoes. Tomatoes were the first GM food back in the '90s, but they were
pretty unsuccessful and were pulled from the market pretty quickly.

Processed foods are significantly more problematic, as it's pretty hard to
find anything that doesn't have some canola/rapeseed, corn, sugarbeet,
cotton, or soy, all of which are *highly* likely to contain GMOs. And
chances are that unless it's exclusively pasture-fed, most of the meat out
there comes from animals who ate GM corn and soy.

Bottom line is, organic certification provides reasonable assurance that
the item in question doesn't contain GMOs (although there's still some risk
of cross-pollination or contamination in transport). There is also a
relatively new certification being offered by the Non-GMO Project that is
significantly more stringent even than the organic standards for GMO
contamination, so looking for the "Non-GMO Project Verified" label is also
a good step -- there are a few of the major natural foods companies that
have taken this step, and quite a few smaller ones.

Of course, if you avoid processed foods and know where your seed comes
from, or where your farmer's seed comes from, that's even better.

On Sun, Jan 15, 2012 at 5:56 PM, Lawrence London <lfljvenaura@gmail.com>wrote:

> How To I.D. Genetically Modified Food at the Supermarket « Kipnews |
> Kipnews.org | Knowledge is power
>
> http://www.kipnews.org/2011/07/14/how-to-i-d-genetically-modified-food-at-the-supermarket/
>
> How To I.D. Genetically Modified Food at the Supermarket
> Posted: 14th July 2011 by MaxWild in Health & Nutrition
> Tags: Genetically Modified Food, GMO, Health and nutrition, monsanto
>
> Not many consumers realize that the FDA does not require genetically
> modifiedfood to be labeled.
>
> That’s because the FDA has decided that you, dear consumer, don’t care
> if the tomato you’re eating has been cross bred with frog genes to
> render the tomato more resistant to cold weather.
>
> Some consumers may not be concerned with eating Frankenfood, but for
> those who are, here’s how to determine if the fruits and vegetables
> you’re buying are (GM) genetically modified.
>
> Hat tip to Marion Owen for her valuable information. Here’s how it works:
>
> For conventionally grown fruit, (grown with chemicals inputs), the PLU
> codeon the sticker consists of four numbers. Organically grown fruit
> has a five-numeral PLU prefaced by the number 9.
>
> Genetically engineered (GM) fruit has a five-numeral PLU prefaced by
> the number 8.
>
> For example:
>
> A conventionally grown banana would be: 4011
>
> An organic banana would be: 94011
>
> A genetically engineered (GE or GMO) banana would be: 84011
>
> These tips are specially important now that over 80% of all processed
> foods in the US are genetically modified.
>
> Many countries in the European Union have beenbanning GM products and
> produce (including Austria, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary and
> Luxembourg).
>
> We say “Eat healthy, buy or grow organic”.
>
> source; http://truthisscary.com/?p=20396
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