Just Label It

I attended the Natural Food Expo West show in Anaheim in March for the fifth consecutive year. Ever since Phil started showing his product, Evol Foods, at the second largest industry food expo, I have been there. Part of the reason is that it gives me a chance to see Phil for a few hours, and the other reason is that I love attending the show. I love to see the new products and trends in food. This year I couldn't help but notice the sign "No GMO" on many products. I knew that this meant no genetically modified organisms, but I hadn't focused on this as a problem before attending this trade show.

Genetically modified organisms are found in many foods we eat, and there is no legal requirement to list GMO's on the label. Our country has come a long way in the past 15 years in food labeling. We now have information about trans fats, salt, cholesterol, sugar and food allergans that we didn't have just a few years ago. This helps us make informed decisions about what we put into our bodies. If you look at a map of the countries that DO NOT allow GMO's in their food, you'd be amazed. Europe, Australia, much of South America and large parts of Asia are all among those that have banned GMO's. We are one of the few industrialized nations in the world that has not banned GMO's or at the very least, required manufacturers to list them. We have a right to know what is in our food. I would like to know if the tomato in my canned tomatoes has been genetically altered. There are modifications that they can do to foods to make them more resistant to insecticides. This sounds to me like the chemical used to do this might very well be toxic.

Large companies like Con Agra and Monsanto (which controls the soy market) use a lot of genetically modified organisms in their product. They have a strong voice and a huge interest in keeping GMO's off product labels. Organic farmers and manufacturers and ordinary people who want to know the facts are trying to change this. At least give the public the information, then let them make up their own mind.

At the trade show in Anaheim there were many speakers and panel discussions on this topic. It is clearly something people want to change in package labeling. In years past the hot topic has been fair trade farms. I guess that issue has been dealt with, and getting the U.S. to label GMO's is the topic de jour. Expo West was interesting as always. Next time I will talk about all the food trends I noticed at the show. For now, check out www.organicitsworthit.org or truefoodnow.org and learn more about GMO's. You may not be shocked, but you will find out how we have been lied to and decieved by the giant food companies. They have called foods "natural" that are far from natural. We need to keep putting pressure on government agencies to label food properly. We need the facts before we decide what to put into our bodies. Let's get this information on the food label.