GMO Foods - Danger to Your Family's Health?

What are GMO's? GMO stands for "Genetically Modified Organisms." GMO foods are those foods that have been genetically engineered by forcing the DNA of foreign species into the natural genetic structure of plants. GMO's have been widely used since 1996 in the U.S., and from 60-70% of our food supply contains them.

What kinds of foreign DNA? You can expect that GM foods contain the DNA of species such as bacteria, viruses, insects, fish, and others.

Which foods contain GMO's? The "big four" primary foods that are engineered are corn, soy, canola, and cotton. Others include tomatoes, peas, potatoes, sugar beets and many more. This includes oils, protein powders, sugars, and other items that come from these plants and vegetables.

Also included are meat, eggs and dairy that is produced from animals that have eaten GM feed, milk that contains growth hormone, food additives, ie; "natural flavor," enzymes, processing agents, rennet (used to make hard cheese) and artificial sweetener like Aspartame.

Why are they engineered? To start, two words: herbicide and pesticide. Most commonly, commercial crops are modified by inserting the DNA of bacteria to survive otherwise fatal doses of the weed killers and pesticides that are used during cultivation. Other foods are modified to resist plant viruses.

Seeds, Herbicides and Pesticides - When a farmer buys seeds from a large biotech company like Monsanto, for instance, s/he signs an agreement that s/he will use that company's herbicides and pesticides. Therefore, genetic engineering on food is being used to increase profits, regardless of the health risks.

What kinds of health risks are created? Allergies, organ damage, sterility, reproductive problems, infant mortality, nutritional problems, toxic responses from new toxins that previously did not exist, antibiotic resistant diseases, cancer, new diseases, and probable changes to our own DNA. Some autism research and behavioral problems also points to GM food.

Who is most at risk? Children, pregnant women, elderly people and the sick.

What you can do - Download this Non-GMO Shopping Guide, courtesy of Institute for Responsible Technology.

Buy "Certified Organic" foods and products that are labeled "Non-GMO" whenever possible.

Become educated - Start by reading this pamphlet on the dangers of GMO food. Read the Health Risks study.

Get involved - Join The Campaign for Healthier Eating In America, which seeks to eliminate the use of thousands of GMO's in foods.

Wake up - Stop feeding your kids GMO foods. Say good-bye to finger foods and special kid's meals that are known GM foods. Click here for GMO foods at a glance.

Sign the petition to the President for GMO labeling.

Push your schools to ban the use of GMO's, including vending machine items. Watch this video on The Dangers in Kids' Foods.

Countries and regions from all over the world are banning the import and cultivation of GM foods, but the U.S. still allows them to be sold without any labeling stating the inclusion of these dangerous substances. Currently, there is a forceful movement within the US to require correct labeling by the end of 2009. (It has been determined that most people will not buy GM foods if the label states that food contains it.)

For more information on this critical issue, go to seedsofdeception.com. Sign up for their monthly newsletter reporting on GMO foods; access their archives, including "Doctors Warn: Avoid Genetically Modified Food " and the recent article, "Lyme/Autism Group Blasts Genetically Modified Foods as Dangerous."

Pass this article to anyone in your network who is pregnant or has small children, the elderly, those with chronic, idiopathic illness, those with allergies, those experiencing Lyme or other diseases, those with children experiencing autism...virtually anyone who should be informed about the tampering of our food supply.