2. What Are GMOs?
Plants or animals that have been genetically
engineered with DNA from bacteria, viruses or
other plants and animals.
This is usually done to enhance production by
making disease or insect-resistant plants,
improving yield, or controlling weeds.
It is often created to improve the appearance or
enhance the nutrients in food.
3. Are GMOs Safe?
Most developed nations do not consider GMOs to be safe.
In more than 60 countries around the world (Australia,
Japan, and all of the countries in the European Union)
there are significant restrictions or outright bans on the
production and sale of GMOs.
In the U.S., the government has approved GMOs based on
studies conducted by the same corporations that created
them and profit from their sale.
Increasingly, Americans are taking matters into their own
hands and choosing to opt out of the GMO experiment.
4. How Common Are GMOs?
In the US, GMOs are in
as much as 80% of
conventional
processed foods.
However, there are
several grocery stores
and brands that
promote Non-GMO
foods.
5. Most Common GM foods?
Milk
Crackers
Cereal
Snack bars
Cookies
Canned soups
Processed lunch
meats
Vegetable & canola
oils
Meat
Soy
Sweetened juices
Frozen foods
Carbonated soft drinks
6. A Common Example of GMO
Unfortunately, many
fruits, such as apples,
are genetically
modified in order to
keep them from
turning brown quickly.
7. Are GMOs Labeled?
Polls consistently show that a significant majority
of Americans want to know if the food they’re
purchasing contains GMOs. However, the
powerful biotech lobby has succeeded in keeping
this information from the public.
In the absence of mandatory labeling, the Non-
GMO Project was created to give consumers the
informed choice they deserve.
8. Arguments For GM Foods
People have been developing food crops through selective breeding since
the beginning of agriculture.
Genetically modified seeds and products are tested for safety, and there
has never been a link between human illness resulting from GM
consumption.
Insect and weed resistant GM crops will allow farmers to use fewer
chemical insecticides.
GM crops can be created to grow more quickly than conventional crops,
increasing food yield.
Nutrition enhanced crops can address malnutrition.
9. Arguments Against GM Foods
Genetic modification is fundamentally different (and more problematic) than
selective breeding.
There haven’t been enough independent studies of GM products to confirm
their safety.
Actually, there are potential health risks if GM products approved for other
uses are mistakenly used in products for human consumption.
Inadvertent cross pollination can lead to “super weeds” which are insect
resistant crops that could be harmful to plants and wildlife.
Because corporations create and patent GM seeds, they control the market,
forcing farmers to become reliant on these corporations.
10. Human Health Risks
Causes new allergens and allergic reactions in susceptible individuals
Can cause antibiotic resistance
Three strains of corn showed signs of causing possible liver and kidney
toxicity
Immune problems
Infertility
Accelerated aging
Scientists say, “there is more than a casual association between GM
foods and adverse health effects. There is causation.”
11. The Non-GMO Project
The Non-GMO Project is a non-profit organization
with a mission of protecting the non-GMO food
supply and giving consumers an informed
choice.
They offer North America’s ONLY third party
verification for products produced according to
rigorous best practices for GMO avoidance.
Their strategy is to empower consumers to make
change through the marketplace.
If people stop buying GMOs, companies will stop
using them and farmers will stop growing
them.
12. Do Americans Want Non-GMO Foods?
Polls consistently show that a significant majority of North
Americans would like to be able to tell if the food they’re
purchasing contains GMOs.
A 2012 Mellman Group poll found that 91% of American
consumers wanted GMOs labeled.
According to a recent CBS/New York Times poll, 53% of
consumers said they would NOT buy foods that have
been genetically modified.
The Non-GMO Project’s seal for verified products will, for the
first time, give the public an opportunity to make an
informed choice when it comes to GMOs.
13. How Can You Avoid GMOs?
Choose foods and
products that are
Non-GMO Project
Verified.
This verification
seal indicates
that the product
has gone through
their verification
process.
14. References:
Non GMO Project
http://www.nongmoproject.org/
Genetically Modified Foods: Harmful or Helpful?
http://www.csa.com/discoveryguides/gmfood/overview.php
10 Foods to Avoid
http://www.dailyfinance.com/2013/11/21/foods-give-up-avoid-eating-gmo/
My Health: An Outcomes Approach
Donatelle, Rebecca J. My Health: An Outcomes Approach. Boston: Pearson, 2013.
Institutes for Responsible Technology
http://www.responsibletechnology.org/gmo-dangers/health-risks/articles-about-
risks-by-jeffrey-smith/Doctors-Warn-Avoid-Genetically-Modified-Food-May-
2009
