GMO Food Labelling does not Mean Halting Research

Of more importance than the post on consumer nutrition responsibility, today I want to cover GMO food labelling.

GMOs are a hot topic for debate these days.  On one hand they allow farmers to grow more food, with less effort, and generally with the use of herbicide sprays that would kill the non-GMO versions of the plants.  Other GMOs have nutrients added in to the food to help prevent some malnutrition in children in poorer countries.  Golden Rice is the best example of that.

But that is exactly the issue, do we want to eat this food that has been heavily sprayed with roundup?  Do we want to eat food that has been modified at the genetic level with fish genes and a virus?

I won’t go into my beliefs on whether GMO foods are good or bad.  In short I think the research is good but I don’t want to consume them.  But there’s the problem, how do I know what foods have GMO ingredients in them and what foods do not?

GMO Foods are everywhere

Genetically modified organisms are everywhere in our food chain.  For years our corn, cotton, sugar beets, soy, canola, and even papaya have been GMO.  But how do you know?  How can you tell which foods contain these controversial ingredients?

That’s a good question and the real topic of this post.  Our food labels do not require the label to say if the ingredients are GMO or GMO free.  In fact, I am investigating whether it is even legal for a food manufacturer to put GMO free on their label.

For now, it is safe to assume that any packaged foods or anything containing corn, soy, or canola contain GMOs.

We should be free to choose

We citizens should be the ones to choose whether or not we consume these GMO foods.

I fully support the mandatory labelling of GMO containing foods, as well as allowing food manufacturers to make the claim of GMO free.  Though there is also a lot of shady practices, misrepresentation, and all-out misdirection everywhere in the big agricultural and food industries, we do have the option to purchase sugar-free, fat-free, organic, and other labels.  Though most of the time these labels are misdirecting and the ingredients used to make the food ‘fat-free’ are more harmful than the real thing.

The real issue is that we should be free to choose whether or not to consume these GM foods. Currently law doesn’t allow labelling.  These big companies spend too much money in Ottawa lobbying the corporatist government of ours for this to change anytime soon.  If we don’t change this soon, we will never have the choice because ALL of our foods will end up being genetically engineered.

Below is a great video to get you thinking.  The real debate is about labelling requirements, not whether or not the research should continue.  Though Mr. O’Leary had an obvious agenda to change the argument.

Video of a 14 year old activist debating Mr. Wonderful Kevin O’Leary

What are your thoughts?  Are you ok with GMOs if properly labelled?  Do you support GMP food labelling requirements? Or do you want to ban the research?