Tagged with 'genetically-modified-organisms'

What’s one way you can “Bite into a Healthy Lifestyle?” National Nutrition Month’s theme this year is multifaceted, but my top suggestion is to analyze ingredients in foods you purchase. The nutrition facts label doesn’t begin to describe what’s actually in the food. You MUST read the ingredients!!

It’s common knowledge sugar is bad for your health, so I always talk to my clients about reducing sugar across the board. To take it a step further, I recommend eliminating a specific sugar—HIGH FRUCTOSE CORN SYRUP. If I see it in the ingredients, I choose a similar product without it, and if that isn’t available, I don’t buy it.

What Foods Contain High Fructose Corn Syrup?

High fructose corn syrup (HFCS) is a cheap, popular sweetener, and it's really hard to pinpoint where it's found because it's in so many different foods! It's found in everything from soda, candy, and fruit juice to canned fruit, applesauce, and cereal bars. It’s also commonly found in salad dressing, ketchup, BBQ sauce, pasta sauce, bread, yogurt and cold cereal.

There are a few things I don’t like about high fructose corn syrup.

Genetically Modified (GMO) Corn

The big corporation, Monsanto, created genetically modified corn to withstand being sprayed with the herbicide, Roundup. This allows farmers to yield higher crop productions for use in our food supply system. One, of many, problems with this is the genetically-modified corn is it eventually needs to be sprayed with other, more powerful herbicides because pests have become resistant to Roundup, making it less effective. You can decide whether you want to eat heavily sprayed, genetically modified corn syrup.

Fructose and Appetite

Fructose doesn’t stimulate insulin secretion or require insulin in order to be transported into cells, as do other carbohydrates. It would seem this is a good thing; however, insulin also controls the hormone leptin, which is crucial for appetite. Leptin tells your body to stop eating when it’s full by signaling the brain to stop sending hunger signals. Since fructose doesn’t stimulate insulin release, there’s no increase in leptin levels or feeling of satiety. What does this mean? People are more likely to remain feeling hungry after a meal with a lot of fructose. This is obviously detrimental to the ability to lose weight and also maintaining a healthy weight.

The Fate of Fructose in the Body

Fructose requires a different metabolic pathway than other carbohydrates because it basically skips glycolysis (normal carbohydrate metabolism). Because of this, fructose is an unregulated source of “acetyl CoA,” or the starting material for fatty acid synthesis. This, paired with unstimulated leptin levels, is like opening the flood gates of fat deposition.

What To Do?

In a lifestyle that has many of us eating too much and moving too little, we’re putting our health at risk if we don’t choose our foods carefully. Avoid HFCS by reading the ingredients on food labels and avoiding fast food. Shop the perimeter of the grocery store and avoid the center aisles which are mostly stocked with highly processed foods. Also, look for sneaky label disguises for HFCS, such as fructose and corn syrup.

In Health and Happiness,

Kelly Harrington, MS, RDN

Registered Dietitian Nutritionist for Healthy Goods

If you live in the United States, you eat genetically-modified food (GMOs) and don’t know it. 

The United States and Canada do not require labeling of genetically engineered foods.  On the other hand, 50 other countries have significant restrictions or outright bans on GMOs.  In regard to food labeling, 61 countries already label genetically engineered foods, including the entire European Union (EU).  Even China labels genetically engineered foods!  What do these countries know that we don’t?

The United States and the EU have very different policies that regulate biotechnology.  From the 1960s through the mid-1980s, the regulation of health, safety and environmental risks were generally stricter in the United States than in Europe.  Since the mid-1980s, the opposite has often been the case and since the inception of GMOs, it seems Europeans were more concerned about them than Americans were.  A wide variety of European consumer and environmental regulations, including those overseeing GMOs, are now more restrictive than in the United States.

A survey conducted on consumers in 1995 reported only 21% of American consumers regarded genetic engineering as a "serious health hazard."  By contrast, the comparable figure was 85% in Sweden, 60% in Austria, 57% in Germany, 48% in the Netherlands, 39% in the United Kingdom, and 38% in France.  Fast forward to the late 1990’s, another survey showed only 14% of Americans regarded genetic modification as a serious risk in food products.  Americans only became less concerned!  On the other hand, Europe went down the opposite path regarding GMOs due to strong consumer advocacy and some high level politicians who were skeptical of biotechnology.  Thus, the first GM labeling requirements for food products in the EU were introduced in 1997!

What are Europe's GMO labeling requirements?

In the EU, if a food contains or consists of genetically-modified organisms, or contains ingredients produced from GMOs, specific information must be indicated on the label.

For pre-packaged products consisting of, or containing GMOs, these words must appear on the label: “This product contains genetically modified organisms” or “This product contains genetically modified [name of organism(s)]”.   

Here are a couple examples:

For non-pre-packaged products offered to the consumer these words need to appear on, or in connection with, the display of the product:  “This product contains genetically modified organisms” or “This product contains genetically modified [name of organism(s)]”.

More about EU labeling laws for GMOs:

• On April 18, 2004, new rules for GM labeling came into force in all EU Member States.

• The GM Food and Feed Regulation lays down rules to cover all GM food and animal feed, regardless of the presence of any GM material in the final product.  This means products such as flour, oils and glucose syrups have to be labeled as GM if they are from a GM source.

• Products produced with GM technology (cheese produced with GM enzymes, for example) do not have to be labeled 

• Products such as meat, milk and eggs from animals fed on GM animal feed also do not need to be labeled.  Details on the labeling rules can be found in this table. 

Although America's voice against GMOs is getting louder, our regulatory policies are still strikingly different from the EU’s.  If you want to know whether or not genetically-modified ingredients are in the food you eat, please make yourself heard.  The United States’ mandatory labeling effort is called “Right to Know,” and it has gained significant momentum over the past several years, but has a long way to go!  For more information about this effort, visit:  http://www.nongmoproject.org/take-action/mandatory-labeling/

In Health and Happiness,

Kelly Harrington, MS, RDN

Registered Dietitian Nutritionist for Live Superfoods

References:

Tomas Hoban, "Consumer Acceptance of Biotechnology: An International Perspective," Nature Biotechnology March, 1997: 233.

T. Ayers, "A Tomato by Any Other Name? U.S. and EC Grapple with Labeling," Science, July 30, 1998: 714.

Food Standards Agency.  GM labelling. 

GMO…Genetically Modified Organisms.  It’s a hot topic right now and there are some VERY passionate people out there when it comes to discussing GMO crops and pesticide use.  GMO crops were introduced about 17 years ago, and it seems rather than farmers using less herbicide and pesticide (as planned), they may now be using more! 

How did we get here? 

Monsanto Corporation, the maker of the weed-killer Roundup, introduced the first genetically modified crop in 1996…soybeans.  These soybeans could tolerate high amounts of glyphosate, the chief ingredient in Roundup.  I’m sure these crops were a hit with farmers who could easily kill weed populations without damaging their crops.  The concern is, in recent years more than two dozen weed species have become resistant to glyphosate, causing farmers to use increasing amounts of both glyphosate and other weed killing chemicals to try to control the so-called "superweeds."  In essence, the effects seem to have backfired because now these “superweeds” require more chemicals to keep them at bay.

Other “Roundup-ready” crops by Monsanto include genetically modified soybeans, corn, cotton, canola, and sugar beets—they all possess artificial genes that make them resistant to glyphosate.

The research findings on pesticide use are alarming!

Glyphosate use on genetically engineered corn, cotton, and soybeans increased from 15 million pounds in 1996 to 159 million pounds in 2012!

A new study released in July 2013 by Food & Water Watch finds the goal of reduced chemical use has not panned out as planned.  Food & Water Watch examined U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) and U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) data to document the increased use of herbicides that has accompanied the adoption of herbicide-tolerant, genetically engineered crops (1).

One of Food & Water Watch’s many findings include, “The total volume of glyphosate applied to the three biggest genetically engineered crops—corn, cotton, and soybeans—increased 10-fold from 15 million pounds in 1996 to 159 million pounds in 2012."

The study also looked at the growing problem of glyphosate-resistant “superweeds,” which have now spread to 12 different states as of 2012 (1).

This report follows on the heels of another study published in the journal Environmental Sciences Europe has really sparked some controversy.  The researcher, Dr. Charles Benbrook, looked at the rate of pesticide use over the years since introducing genetically engineered seeds, or GMO’s (2). 

Similar to the Food & Water Watch’s study, Benbrook describes how pesticide use on conventional crops has risen by 404 million pounds and herbicide use has increased by more than 527 million pounds since 1996 when GMOs were first introduced (2).

As the effectiveness of glyphosate (aka: Round-up) weakens, what’s next?

Let me tell you what's next:  2,4-D and Dicamba and Glufosinate and Isoxaflutole, just to name a few!  Sound appetizing?!  Farmers will have to turn to these more potent weed-killing chemicals because the genetically engineered seeds they're using are becoming resistant to Round-up spray.

How do these chemicals effect our health?

Not good.  In fact, some pesticides have been proven to be especially hazardous to humans.  These four are next in line for use on our food:

2,4-D:  Associated with endocrine disruption (3).

Dicamba:  A carcinogenic herbicide (4).

Isoxaflutole:  Exposure causes developmental toxicity and is a probable human carcinogen, leading to liver tumors and carcinomas in male and female rats (5).

Atrazine:  The EPA warns consumers that acute exposure can cause organ failure, low blood pressure and damage to adrenal glands, while long-term exposure can damage the cardiovascular system and cause cancer (6).

What can you do?

As you can probably tell, increasing pesticide use does not bode well for humans, animals, or our living earth. 

Join us in supporting the Non-GMO movement.  To learn more about GMO’s, visit the Non-GMO Project at www.nongmoproject.org! 

In Health and Happiness,

Kelly Harrington, MS, RDN

Registered Dietitian Nutritionist for Live Superfoods

References:

1.  Go here to view a PDF document containing Benbrook's complete study.

2.  Go here to view a PDF document of the Food & Water Watch study.

3.  Mnif, Wissem et al.  "Efect of Endocrine Disruptor Pesticides:  A Review."  International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health, vol. 8. June 17, 2011 at 2268, 2290 to 2291.

4.  Cox, Caroline. “Dicamba Factsheet.” Journal of Pesticide Reform, vol. 14, no. 1. 1994 at 30 to 35.

5.  Wisconsin Department of Agriculture, Trade and Consumer Protection (2002) at 17 to 20; EPA. "Pesticide Fact Sheet, Name of Chemical:  Isoxaflutole."  September 15, 1998 at 2, 5 to 6. 

6.  EPA.  "Consumer Factsheet on:  Atrazine."