What is a gene?

Every plant and animal is made of cells, each of which has a center called a nucleus. Inside each nucleus are strands of DNA, half of which is normally inherited from the mother and half from the father. Short sequences of DNA are called genes. A gene carries particular orders for the body through the production of different proteins.

What's a genetically-engineered organism?

A genetically-engineered organism is the result of a laboratory process of taking genes from one species and forcing them into the DNA of another in an attempt to obtain a desired trait or characteristic. To do this, scientists often use bacteria and/or viruses to “infect” the DNA of one organism with the genes of another organism. The result is an organism that would be impossible to obtain through natural processes like crossbreeding or grafting. This process may be called either Genetic Engineering (GE), or Genetic Modification (GM), or Bioengineering (BE); they are one and the same. A Genetically Modified Organism (GMO) is the outcome of genetic engineering, or genetic modification, or bioengineering.

How is genetic engineering done?

Because living organisms have natural barriers to protect themselves against the introduction of DNA from a different species, genetic engineers must force the DNA from one organism into another. Their methods include:

• Using viruses or bacteria to "infect" animal or plant cells with the new DNA.
• Coating DNA which contains the genes onto tiny metal pellets and firing it with a special gun into the cells, hoping that the newly introduced genes land in the right place on the cells’ DNA.
• Injecting the new DNA into fertilized eggs with a very fine needle.

What are the problems created through genetic engineering of food and crops?

Genetic engineers continually encounter unintended side effects—GE plants create toxins, react to weather differently, contain too much or too little nutrients, become diseased or malfunction and die. When foreign genes are inserted, dormant genes may be activated or the functioning of genes altered, creating new or unknown proteins, or increasing or decreasing the output of existing proteins inside the plant. The effects of consuming these new combinations of proteins are unknown.

Doesn’t anyone test the safety of genetically-engineered foods?

Because the FDA’s official policy on GE foods states that the agency is not aware of any differences between GE foods and non-GE foods, it does not require safety testing. However, feeding studies done on animals have found reproductive problems, immune problems, gastrointestinal problems, organ damage, accelerated aging, and dysfunction of regulation of cholesterol and insulin. To be more specific, animals have gotten organ lesions, inflamed organs, smaller or larger organs, potentially pre-cancerous cell growth, five-fold increase in infant mortality, sterile babies, smaller babies, damage to the reproductive organs, and changes in the hormonal system. The only human feeding study ever done showed that genes from GE soybeans transferred to the DNA in human gut bacteria and continued to function.

Where are they?

In your food! First introduced into the food supply in the mid-1990s, GMOs are now present in the vast majority of processed foods in the US. While they are banned as food ingredients in Europe and elsewhere, the United States has only just implemented a weak national disclosure standard (read on for more information about this).

Which foods are genetically modified?

Currently commercialized GM crops in the U.S. include soy (94%), cotton (94%), canola (95%), corn (92%), Hawaiian papaya (over 50%), sugar beets (99.9%), and zucchini and yellow squash (over 24,000 acres).¹ Other foods that have a GM version on the market, but in relatively minor production, are pink-flesh pineapple, Arctic™ apples, White Russet™ potatoes, AquAdvantage^® salmon, and tobacco (Quest^® brand).

What are other sources of GMOs?

Products derived from the above (including oils from soy, cotton, canola and corn), soy protein, soy lecithin, cornstarch, corn syrup and high fructose corn syrup. One of the more insidious ways GMOs make it into our food is through food additives which are ubiquitous in processed foods: citric acid, xanthan gum, modified food starch, maltodextrin, dextrose, fructose, malt syrup, whey, textured vegetable protein (TVP), and the list goes on…

(Click here to see a full list)

Also:

• Meat, eggs and dairy products from animals that have eaten GM feed
  (The majority of the GM corn and soy is used for feed)
• Dairy products from cows injected with the GM hormone rBGH
• Enzymes, flavorings, and the artificial sweetener aspartame (NutraSweet^®)
• Rennet used to make hard cheeses
• Honey and bee pollen that may have GM sources of pollen

How does genetic engineering differ from traditional forms of genetic manipulation?

Genetic engineering breaks natural barriers to insert genes from one species into an entirely unrelated species. The resulting combinations could never occur naturally. Genetic engineering differs drastically from conventional breeding techniques that have been used by humans for thousands of years. Early farmers would select the best looking or tasting plants and save seeds from those plants to use the next year (these plants are known as cultivars). Later, with a better understanding of plant genetics, breeders would breed two closely related plants to select for desired characteristics such as faster growth, sweeter fruit, bigger seeds, or better yield. This process is known as hybridization or crossbreeding.² This is how humans domesticated nearly all of the produce (and even many of the animals) we eat today and why domesticated plant varieties are often vastly different from their wild cousins. Conventional breeding relies on natural processes to select for specific characteristics that already exist within a species. While conventional breeding does technically modify the genes of a plant, it does so in a way that could happen in nature, unlike genetic engineering. A few examples of commonly consumed foods that are a result of conventional breeding include Meyer lemons (a cross between a true lemon and a mandarin orange), pluots (a cross between a plum and an apricot), common bananas, seedless watermelons, most of the apples found in the supermarket, and modern dwarf wheat.³ Some plant varieties, like corn, have been modified by conventional breeding techniques and also by genetic engineering. While it is easy to see how these two types of genetic manipulation could mistakenly be thought to be the same, they are very different processes. Foods that have been genetically engineered in the manner described in this document are not the same as those that have been bred using conventional breeding techniques humans have been practicing for thousands of years.

Don’t products that contain GM ingredients have to be labeled as such?

Yes. And no. While it is true that the National Bioengineered Food Disclosure Standard requires manufacturers to label products containing GM ingredients by January 1, 2022, it is not as straightforward as many consumers would have liked. The Standard uses the term “bioengineered” or “BE” instead of the more widely accepted term genetically modified or GM. The Standard also defines bioengineered ingredients as those that contain detectable genetic material from GMOs, meaning that highly processed products of GM origin that don’t have detectable GM material left don’t have to be labeled. This excludes a large portion of GM ingredients, especially in processed foods, from being labeled as such. Finally, the new Standard allows each ingredient up to 5% BE (GM) contamination due to inadvertent or unavoidable contamination, a wide margin when you consider that the European Union and the Non-GMO Project both use a 0.9% maximum GM contamination level.

How can I avoid GM foods?

• Buy organic – GMOs are not allowed in organic production.
• Look for products labeled “GM-free,” “Non-GMO,” “Not bioengineered,” “Not genetically engineered,” “GMO free,” “GE free,” or “No GMOs.”
• Avoid at-risk ingredients: unless it is labeled USDA organic or as GM-free, avoid processed food products with ingredients made from corn, soybeans, canola, cotton seed, and beet sugar, and their derivatives – corn flour, meal, oil, starch, gluten, and syrups; sweeteners such as fructose, dextrose, and glucose; modified food starch; soy flour, lecithin, protein isolate, and isoflavone; vegetable oil and vegetable protein; and the other additives listed above.
• Avoid any sugar not listed as 100% cane sugar since GM beet sugar has entered the food supply. To avoid it, look for organic and non-GMO sweeteners, candy and chocolate made with 100% cane sugar, evaporated cane juice or organic sugar.

What is Natural Grocers policy on genetically-engineered foods?

We strive to offer the absolute safest and highest-quality natural products available. However, the truth is that because GM ingredients are so ubiquitous in our food supply, some of the natural products on the market, including some sold at our stores, contain GMOs. Although the National Bioengineered Food Disclosure Standard that became effective January 1, 2022 has made identifying detectable GMOs easier, the standard has many loopholes making it hard to know which products are truly GMO free, unless they are labeled as USDA organic or third party non-GMO certified (such as Non-GMO Project Verified). We make it a priority to stock many organic items (which do not allow GMOs) and look for new products that state “non-GM corn,” “non-GM soy” or “no GMOs” on the label. That said, we do have a number of very popular, longtime brands on our shelves that are not USDA organic or do not make the statement “no GMOs” in which case you can assume that there is the potential for the product to contain genetically-modified ingredients. Additionally, because of the prevalence of GE crops and the issue of cross-contamination, there is also the possibility that even organic and non-GM sources have been contaminated.

Some consumer advocacy groups are pushing retailers to take on the responsibility of identifying the products they sell as GM or non-GM. This is not realistic. Unless we tested each and every one of the products sold in our stores, it is impossible to tell which have GM ingredients and which do not—logistically and financially, we cannot do this; retail stores simply do not have the means to test every one of the products sold for GM ingredients. While we will continue to prioritize non-GMO and organic products in our stores and are removing products that are labeled as bioengineered, we encourage our customers to educate themselves about what products may contain GMOs and the labeling laws and to support companies making truly non-GMO products.

Read more about Natural Grocer's Product Standards

Visit these websites for more information on genetically-modified foods and ways to get involved:

• www.responsibletechnology.org
• www.saynotogmos.org
• www.centerforfoodsafety.org
• www.organicconsumers.org
• www.justlabelit.org
• www.nongmoproject.org
• www.citizens.org

References

1. Center for Food Safety and Applied Nutrition. (n.d.). GMO crops, animal food, and beyond. U.S. Food and Drug Administration. https://www.fda.gov/food/agricultural-biotechnology/gmo-crops-animal-food-and-beyond
2. Pocket K No. 13: Conventional Plant Breeding. (2006, November). Retrieved August 6, 2019, from https://www.isaaa.org/resources/publications/pocketk/13/default.asp