Bioengineered Foods Are The New GMOs

Remember when everyone was so freaked out about GMOs? Everyone would ask if our seeds were Non-GMO (they are) and Are there GMOs in the food?

Effective January 1, 2022, the new buzz words are "Bioengineered Foods". Look for these words on all of the food in your pantry. I bet you will find them on plenty of items. I didn't think I would but I did.

Bioengineered food also known as GMO or genetically modified organisms is now the latest term found on packages of food in the USA. What we used to call "GMO" on food packaging has been changed by the FDA. That means you will need to look for new wording at the grocery store to avoid foods that have been modified genetically. Many people don't even care but when I see the words on the packaging that say GMOs are in something, I avoid it like the plague.

This past week while in the grocery store, we found GMOs on boxes of cereals, some spreads for toast, and some canned soups. They say it is in about 80% of the foods we consume in the United States.

The USDA defines bioengineered foods as "foods that contain detectable genetic material that has been modified through lab techniques and cannot be created through conventional breeding or found in nature."

I have been going through my food pantry and, to my surprise, I have found quite a few foods that contain one or more bioengineered foods. I am just sick about it. Ritz, FiberOne, Hungry Jack, Nutella, most cereals, and even the Cousin T Pancake Mix that I just got in the mail on Friday all have bioengineered foods. Coffeemate, Campbell's Soup, and Knorr's Soup Mix all have bioengineered food.

I did check some sauces and pastas and did not find any. From this exercise, I know what I will no longer be buying. Looks like I will have to start making more food from scratch. Surprisingly, Del Monte corn in the can does not have GMOs.

There is now an organization called the Non-GMO Project. From their own website, they are     "a mission-driven nonprofit organization dedicated to building and protecting a non-GMO food supply."

The Non-GMO Project has created its own label known as “the Butterfly” that ensures a food does not contain GMOs or bioengineered ingredients.  You can look for the Butterfly label on foods if you want to be sure the food is GMO-free. I have not found any of these foods with a butterfly in my pantry and I do not recall seeing any at the store. I will start looking.

I did not find any packages with the butterfly on it today at Walmart but I did find a whole lot of food items with the term bioengineered food on them.

The USDA has created an official List of Bioengineered Foods. Here is the list:

• Alfalfa
• Arctic™ Apple
• Canola
• Corn
• Cotton
• Some Eggplant
• Ringspot Virus-Resistant Papaya
• Pink Pineapple
• Potato
• AquAdvantage® Salmon
• Soybean
• Summer Squash
• Sugarbeet (used to make some of our sugar; most of our sugar comes from sugarcane.)

These bioengineered ingredients are used to make many food products found on store shelves — including those that contain cornstarch, corn syrup, canola oil, high fructose corn syrup, granulated sugar and soybean oil.

You’ll find the new bioengineered food or BE labels on processed foods and other products, such as:

• Sodas/soft drinks
• Baked goods
• Frozen meals
• Non-organic milk made from cows fed genetically modified (GMO) soy products
• Tofu (GMO soy beans)
• Dressings that contain vegetable oils (canola, soybean, corn, sunflower, safflower)
• Cereals
• Sweetened juices
• Canned soups
• Ice cream
• Coffee creamer
• Crackers

Additionally, bioengineered foods are used to make animal feed. This means even if you aren't buying and eating GMOs, your farm animals could be and when you eat their eggs, drink their milk, consume their dairy products, or their meat, you will be eating GMOs without even realizing it. It seems that bioengineered foods are everywhere these days.

As mentioned previously, on January 1, 2022, new food labeling laws took effect in the United States that replace the term “GMO foods” with “bioengineered food” instead.

Right now, GMO or bioengineered food ingredients can be found in more than 75% of processed foods made in the U.S. The US government considers these modern food production methods as necessary to how we feed the world in 2022 and beyond — in order to keep up with growing demand as the population climbs.

Every day millions of American infants, children and adults are eating genetically engineered foods without their knowledge. Most people see what they want at the store and don't look at the labels. They just throw it in the cart and pay a high price for consuming foods that are not even healthy.

Most of the sugar beets, soy, corn, and canola grown in the United States are GMOs. As such, they have been engineered to be able to take multiple applications of glyphosate, which is the primary ingredient in Roundup and other herbicides, the very chemicals that we the American gardeners are trying to avoid. The WHO or World Health Organization believes that glyphosate is a probable known cancer causing agent.

HOW TO AVOID BIOENGINEERED FOODS

We have talked a lot about GMOs aka bioengineered foods this week. When you go to the grocery store, read each label. Yes, really read the labels. Look for circular green images that say “bioengineered” or “derived from bioengineering.” These new logos became effective on January 1, 2022. 

You will see these logos on many products made with corn, soy, canola oil and sugar, such as cereals, frozen foods, dressings, etc. If you see these words on the label, don't buy them.

Buy organic foods and unprocessed whole foods.

Look for a butterfly logo on food that verifies the food is GMO free and does not contain bioengineered foods.

Buy foods straight from farms like fruits and vegetables, eggs, milk, meats, and cheese.

Grow food from your own garden. Buy the seeds from reputable seed companies like David's Garden Seeds®. We have taken the Safe Seed Pledge and we don't have any desire to use, sell, grow, or consume anything with GMOs or bioengineered foods.