SOS 3: Problem: Roundup in your body? Solution: Non-GMO Certified Food

Why is it important to avoid genetically modified food?

Let’s look at the problems, one at a time and then think of the possibilities to deal with the problems.

First of all, why are many food crops genetically engineered (GE) or modified (GM)?

GE modification of corn, soy, sugar beet, cotton, canola and other seeds produces plants that live after being sprayed with Roundup (glyphosate). The weeds die but the food crops survive. So application of glyphosate saves the farmer lots of time and labor costs for dealing with weeds.

On the surface that sounds good. But what’s in your food by the time it reaches your mouth? Glyphosate residues. However, Monsanto, the chemical company that produces Roundup (glyphosate), says right on their Roundup PROMAX® Herbicide Technical Fact Sheet that glyphosate does not accumulate in human or other mammalian bodies:

“Glyphosate is widely considered by regulatory authorities, scientific bodies and independent scientists to have low acute toxicity, no potential to cause cancer, reproductive problems or birth defects and not bioaccumlate in mammals.”

So what’s the problem?

Some innovative and concerned moms involved in Moms Across America commissioned a study to determine if glyphosate would be detected in breast milk.

And sure enough, there it is, accumulating in mother’s milk in 3 of the 10 samples tested. The levels they detected were “760 to 1600 times higher than the European Drinking Water Directive allows for individual pesticides (Glyphosate is both a pesticide and herbicide)“. This study found levels of 76 ug/l to 166 ug/l in mother’s milk.

In contrast to the European Drinking Water Directives, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) allows 700 ug/l maximum contaminant level (MCL) for glyphosate in the U.S. “based on the now seemingly false premise that glyphosate was not bio-accumulative.”

For breast milk to contain glyphosate it has to be building up in the mom’s tissues contrary to the reports of Monsanto and the EPA. We will look at the toxicity issues around glyphosate in other articles.

To review other research that detected glyphosate in the urine and tissues of humans and mammals see the References links at the end of this article.

That’s the problem, what are the possibilities for dealing with it?

Buying only organically produced food solves the problem in the easiest manner since organic food, by definition and regulation, cannot contain any genetically modified food as discussed in Powerful Enough to Outsmart the GMO Companies. https://www.drjomd.com/2015/07/powerful-enough-to-outsmart-the-gmo-companies/

If you want another option then buy certified Non-GMO food. But you have to become more of a detective to find this food source. Finding food that does not contain GMO ingredients involves a backwards process. We have to determine what’s not in the food. Wouldn’t it just make more sense to label the GM food. If the biotech companies believe their GM food is so good why wouldn’t they be proud to label it? Why do they spend millions and millions of dollars to defeat labeling laws?

They know that the American public is becoming enlightened about the research showing problems with GM food in animals and people and especially in our precious children. They also remember what happened when people learned about the health problems associated with trans fats. We’re smart. We stopped buying food containing trans fats and the industry had to change its ways.

So now instead of being straight forward, we have to certify that a food does not contain GM constituents.

Fortunately the Non-GMO Project is here to help.

“The Non-GMO Project is a non-profit organization committed to preserving and building the non-GMO food supply, educating consumers, and providing verified non-GMO choices. We believe that everyone deserves an informed choice about whether or not to consume genetically modified organisms.

The Non-GMO Project is governed by a Board of Directors. We also work with a collaborative network of technical and communications advisers from all backgrounds and sectors.”

http://www.nongmoproject.org/about/who-we-are/

An impressive number of caring and talented people are involved with this project.

Take a look around their web site. You can click on “Find Non-GMO” tab and discover lots of companies and products that are verified non-GMO.

On their About page:

“The Non-GMO Project, a non-profit 501(c)3 organization, offers North America’s only third party verification and labeling for non-GMO (genetically modified organism) food and products. We currently have over 27,000 Non-GMO Project Verified products from 1,500 brands, representing well over $11 Billion in annual sales. Non-GMO Project Verified is currently one of the fastest growing labels in the natural food sector, and increasingly is an attribute sought by conventional brands as well.

MISSION

Our mission is to preserve and build sources of non-GMO products, educate consumers, and provide verified non-GMO choices.

VISION
Our shared belief is that everyone deserves an informed choice about whether or not to consume genetically modified organisms.”

Have fun with this site and next time we will discuss more options for finding verified or certified non-GMO food.

References:

http://www.momsacrossamerica.com/glyphosate_testing_results

Good summary on the bioaccumulation of glyphosate in cows, other animals and humans.
http://www.nutrition.nutricionizam.com/index.php/news/191-glyphosate-found-again-in-animals-and-humans

http://gmwatch.org/index.php/news/archive/2014/15361-glyphoste-in-animals-and-humans-new-study

http://www.jstor.org/stable/pdf/3436299.pdf?seq=1#page_scan_tab_contents

Differential Effects of Glyphosate and Roundup on Human Placental Cells and Aromatase
Sophie Richard , Safa Moslemi , Herbert Sipahutar , Nora Benachour and Gilles-Eric Seralini

Environmental Health Perspectives
Published by: The National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences (NIEHS)
Vol. 113, No. 6 (Jun., 2005), pp. 716-720
Stable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/3436299 Page Count: 5

Blessings,

Dr. Jo

For Review:

SOS 1 Our Smartness is Killing Us

SOS 2 You Are Powerful – Outsmart the GMO Companies