TIP #1: BUY ORGANIC There are four types of organic labels: 100% ORGANIC: All ingredients are organic. ORGANIC: At least 95% of ingredients are organic. The other 5% must still be non-GMO.

“MADE WITH ORGANIC _________ (ingredient name, e.g. SOY).” At least 70% of ingredients are organic. The remaining 30% must still be non-GMO. If the term organic is ONLY in the list of ingredients and not found anywhere else on the package, then there is no required minimum percentage for organic ingredients and non-organic ingredients may be GMO.

TIP #2: LOOK FOR“NON-GMO” LABELS Companies may voluntarily label products as “non-GMO”. Some labels state “non-GMO” while others spell out “MADE WITHOUT GENETICALLY MODIFIED INGREDIENTS”. Some products limit their claim to only one particular “AT-RISK” ingredient such as soy lecithin, listing it as “non-GMO.”

TIP #3: AVOID AT-RISK INGREDIENTS Avoid products made with any of the crops that are GM. Most GM ingredients are products made from corn and soybeans, used in processed foods. There is no GM popcorn on the market, nor is there blue or white GM corn. Ascorbic acid (Vitamin C), although usually derived from corn, is probably not GM because it is not likely made in North America.

TIP #4: BUY PRODUCTS LISTED IN A NON-GMO SHOPPING GUIDE See www.ResponsibleTechnology.org.

OTHER WAYS TO AVOID GMOs

ANIMAL PRODUCTS Meats, dairy products, farmed fish, and eggs are usually from animals fed GM feed. To avoid, buy “ORGANIC”, “WILD CAUGHT”, or meat or dairy from “100% GRASS-FED” animals. Avoid dairy products from cows injected with GM bovine growth hormone (called rbGH or rbST). See www.responsibletechnology.org for brands. Honey and bee pollen may have been gathered from GM plants.

PRODUCTS FROM GM MICROORGANISMS There are many additives, enzymes, flavorings, and processing agents used in foods which are produced by GM bacteria, yeast, or fungi. To avoid them, either buy organic or use non-processed foods.

GMO SWEETENER ASPARTAME The sweetener aspartame is derived from GM micro-organisms. It is also referred to as NutraSweet® and Equal® and is found in over 6,000 products, including soft drinks, gum, candy, desserts, mixes, yogurt, tabletop sweeteners, and some pharmaceuticals such as vitamins and sugar-free cough drops.

AVOID GMOs IN RESTAURANTS Use restaurants that cook meals from scratch and do not use packaged, processed mixes and sauces which will likely have GM ingredients. At-risk ingredients include corn chips and tortillas, tofu, soy sauce, and sweet corn. Vegetable oil is usually made from GM soy, corn, cottonseed, or canola and is used by most restaurants. If your restaurant uses vegetable oil, ask if they can cook YOUR meal without oil or with a non-GMO oil, such as olive, sunflower, or safflower.

Help end the genetic engineering of our food supply

When the tipping point of consumer concern about GMOs was achieved in Europe in 1999, within a single week virtually all major food manufacturers committed to remove GM ingredients. The Campaign for Healthier Eating in America is designed to reach a similar tipping point in the US before the end of 2009.

Our growing network of manufacturers, retailers, healthcare practitioners, organizations, and the media, is informing consumers of the health risks of GMOs and helping them select healthier non-GMO alternatives.

Go to www.responsibletechnology.org to learn more and get involved.

In the 1980s, a contaminated brand of a food supplement called L-tryptophan killed about 100 Americans and caused sickness and disability in another 5,000-10,000 people. The source of contaminants was almost certainly the genetic engineering process used in its production. The disease took years to find and was almost overlooked. It was only identified because the symptoms were unique, acute, and fast-acting. If all three characteristics were not in place, the deadly GM supplement might never have been identified or removed.

If GM foods on the market are causing common diseases or if their effects appear only after long-term exposure, we may not be able to identify the source of the problem for decades, if at all. Unlike safety evaluations for drugs, there are no human clinical trials of GM foods. And there is no monitoring of GMO-related problems and no long-term animal studies. So GMOs in our diet may be contributing to any number of increasing health issues in the US.

Start buying non-GMO today.

There are only eight commercialized GM food crops. The four major ones are soy, corn, cotton, and canola and their derivatives are found in most processed foods.

SOY Chocolates use soy lecithin; Breads use soy flour; Shakes use soy protein concentrate; Baby formulas use soy milk

CORN High fructose corn syrup is found in processed foods from sodas to sauces.

COTTON and CANOLA Cooking oil in processed foods.

See list of derivatives at www.ResponsibleTechnology.org.

There is also GM Hawaiian papaya (most), GM zucchini and yellow crook neck squash (small amount), and GM sugar beets will be harvested before the end of 2008 for sugar.

GM crops look just like their non-GMO counterparts. Novel products such as seedless watermelons, pear/apple combos, and tangelos are products of natural breeding and are NOT genetically engineered.

The liver processes toxins; its state can reveal toxins in the diet. Liver cells of mice fed GM “Roundup Ready” soybeans had structural changes, which, according to molecular geneticist Michael Antoniou, PhD, “must reflect some ‘insult’ on the liver by the GM soy.” Antoniou, who does human gene therapy research, said that although the long-term consequences of the GM soy diet are not known, it “could lead to liver damage and consequently general toxemia.” In addition, rats fed GM corn had liver lesions and indications of toxicity; rabbits fed GM Roundup Ready soy showed altered production of liver enzymes; and the livers of rats fed Roundup Ready canola were 12%–16% heavier, possibly due to liver disease or inflammation.

The stomach lining of rats fed GM potatoes showed excessive cell growth, a condition that may be a precursor to cancer. Rats also had damaged organs and immune systems.

GM soy, reproductive problems, and infant mortality

A preliminary study by a senior researcher at the Russian National Academy of Sciences had devastating results. More than half the offspring (51.6%) from female rats fed GM soy died within three weeks, compared to 10% from the non-GM soy group. The average size and weight of the GM group was smaller (see photo), and they were unable to conceive. Just after this study was completed, the Russian laboratory coincidentally began feeding GM soy-based feed to all their rats. After two months on the GM soy diet, the infant mortality of rats throughout the facility reached 55.3%.

Many offspring of female rats fed GM soy were considerably smaller, and more than half died within three weeks (compared to 10% of the non-GM soy controls).

When male rats were fed Roundup Ready soy, their testicles became dark blue instead of pink. GM soy diets also altered young sperm cells in mice; and when parent mice ate GM soy, it changed the functioning of DNA in their offspring’s embryos.

Bt crops linked to sterility, disease, and death

About two dozen farmers report that pigs had reproductive problems when fed varieties of Bt corn. Pigs were sterile, had false pregnancies, or gave birth to bags of water. Some cows and bulls also became sterile. Other farmers blamed Bt corn for the deaths of cows, horses, water buffaloes, and chickens.

When Indian shepherds let their sheep graze continuously on Bt cotton plants after harvest, within 5-7 days 1 out of 4 sheep died. An estimated 10,000 sheep died in one region alone. Investigators said preliminary evidence “strongly suggests that the sheep mortality was due to a toxin. . . . most probably Bt-toxin.” The majority of corn grown in the US produces Bt-toxin.

Even pollen from Bt plants may be dangerous, as Filipinos in at least five villages fell sick when a nearby Bt corn variety was pollinating.

Functioning GM genes remain inside you

Among the problems linked to GMOs, this one is particularly disconcerting. The only published human feeding experiment verified that genetic material inserted into GM soy transfers into the DNA of intestinal bacteria and continues to function. This means that long after we stop eating GM foods, we may still have their GM proteins produced continuously inside us.

If the antibiotic gene inserted into most GM crops were to transfer, it could create super diseases, resistant to antibiotics. If the gene that creates Bt -toxin in GM corn were to transfer, it might turn our intestinal flora into living pesticide factories.

Animal studies show that DNA in food can travel into organs throughout the body, even into the fetus.

The primary reason companies genetically engineer plants is to make them tolerant to their brand of herbicide. The four major GM plants, soy, corn, canola, and cotton, are designed to survive an otherwise deadly dose of weed killer. About 68% of GM crops are herbicide tolerant.

The second GM trait is a built-in pesticide. A gene from the soil bacterium called Bt (for Bacillus thuringiensis) is inserted into corn and cotton DNA, where it secretes the insect-killing Bt-toxin in every cell. About 19% of GM crops produce their own pesticide. Another 13% produce a pesticide and are herbicide tolerant.

There is also Hawaiian papaya and a small amount of zucchini and yellow crookneck squash, which are engineered to resist a plant virus. GM sugar beets will also be harvested into sugar before the end of 2008.

GM soy and allergic reactions

Allergy specialist John Boyles, MD told me, “I used to test for soy allergies all the time, but now that soy is genetically engineered, it is so dangerous that I tell people never to eat it—unless it says organic.” There are lots of reasons suggesting that GM soy may lead to allergies.

• Soy allergies skyrocketed by 50% in the UK, soon after GM soy was introduced.
• A human subject showed a skin prick allergic-type reaction to GM soy, but not to natural soy.
• The level of one known soy allergen is as much as 7-times higher in cooked GM soy compared to non-GM soy.
• GM soy also contains an unexpected allergen-type protein not found in natural soy.
• GM soy fails the allergy screening test recommended by the World Health Organization (WHO).
• GM soy has much higher residues of the toxic weed killer called Roundup.

Bt corn and cotton linked to allergies

The biotech industry claims that the Bt-toxin pesticide produced in GM corn and cotton is harmless to humans and mammals because the natural bacteria version has been used as a spray by farmers for years. This is another myth. In reality, hundreds of people exposed to Bt spray had allergic-type symptoms. Mice fed Bt had powerful immune responses and damaged intestines. Besides, Bt in GM crops is designed to be more toxic than the natural spray, is thousands of times more concentrated, and also fails the WHO allergy screening.

Hundreds of laborers in India report allergic reactions from handling Bt cotton. Their symptoms are identical to those exposed to Bt spray.

GMOs may cause immune reactions to non-GM foods

Eating GM foods may make us or our children sensitive to other foods.

• If proteins “digest” slowly, there is more time for allergic reactions. Because GM soy reduces digestive enzymes in mice, it may slow protein digestion and promote allergies to many foods.
• Mice not only reacted to Bt -toxin, they had immune responses to formerly harmless compounds.
• Similarly, a mouse test indicated that people eating GM peas could develop allergies both to the peas and to a range of other foods.

Children are 3-4 times more likely to develop allergies than adults, and are therefore at greater risk.

Beginning in 1996, genes from bacteria and viruses have been forced into the DNA of soy, corn, cotton, and canola plants, which are used for food. Rhetoric from the US government proclaims that these genetically modified (GM) foods are not significantly different from natural plant foods. Don’t believe it. This assertion is political, not scientific. In fact, FDA scientists had privately warned that splicing foreign genes into crops might produce dangerous side effects, including allergies, toxins, new diseases, and nutritional problems. But the FDA was under orders from the White House to promote GM foods and the political appointee in charge of creating the FDA policy was the former attorney for the biotech giant Monsanto, and later their vice president. So instead of requiring long-term safety studies as the scientists advised, the FDA waived all safety requirements and allow the foods on the market if the company says it is safe.

I recently worked with more than 30 scientists to gather all the health risks of genetically modified organisms (GMOs) into a single book (Genetic Roulette). We found 65. The FDA scientists’ concerns have now been validated. GMOs are linked to toxic and allergic reactions, thousands of sick, sterile, and dead livestock, and damage to virtually every organ tested in lab animals. Children are most at risk from the potential dangers.

Radically different from natural breeding, widespread, unpredictable changes

There are lots of industry-propagated myths about GMOs. They paint a picture of the technology as just an extension of the conventional breeding techniques. But independent scientists roll their eyes at this. It just isn’t so. Genetic engineering transfers genes across natural species barriers. A pig can naturally mate with a pig; and a tomato can mate with a tomato. But pigs don’t naturally mate with tomatoes. With genetic engineering, they can put pig genes into tomatoes and vice versa.

Furthermore, it uses imprecise laboratory techniques that bear no resemblance to natural breeding. (For example, they literally shoot genes into cells using a gene gun.) The process creates massive collateral damage, causing hundreds or thousands of mutations throughout the plant’s DNA. Natural genes can be deleted, permanently turned on or off, and hundreds may be altered.