(music).like our children, we love to snack, and we're always looking for a little nibble that'squick to eat. but there's something you should consider before you take your next bite offood or maybe even feed your child. many of the foods we eat have been genetically modified.they contain gmos, and there's growing concern about the health and environmental effects.joining us for this discussion is megan westgate, executive director of the non gmo project.good morning. thank you. good morning.let's talk about, first, this gmo. what does it mean and the genetically modified? whatis all that? so, genetic modification, or genetic engineering,is an experimental process that happens in
a laboratory where they actually rearrangedna. so, genetic engineering makes it possible to cross the natural species barrier. so,you have something where you have genes from plants, animals, bacteria, even viruses allin one organism. and there's a lot that scientists still don't understand about the long termimpacts of rearranging dna in this way. and, megan, how much of our food is geneticallymodified? estimates are that about 80% of the food inyour average grocery store contains gmos. so, even though there's a relatively shortlist of crops that are genetically engineered, there are things that are used in a lot ofprocessed foods. things like corn, soy, canola that get turned into lots of ingredients.do you believe that consumers should be looking
more at the labeling for the products?absolutely. and, you know, consumer reports did a study last year, and they found that72% of respondents are looking for non-gmo when they shop. polls consistently show that90% plus of americans want gmos labeled. and the united states is actually one of the onlydeveloped countries that doesn't label gmos. is it safe or is it better to buy organic?organic is a really comprehensive certification. you know when you see the organic label thatthat's a product that's been made without chemical pesticides, without fertilizers.gmo avoidance is part of the organic program, but the non gmo project takes it a step further.and we actually require on-going testing of all gmo risk ingredients.so, tell me more about the non gmo project
verified, and is it the best way we can, iguess, avoid gmos? it definitely is. so, our standard requireson-going ingredient testing, on-site inspections, really thorough review of all of the ingredientspecification sheets, and we work with the world's leading certification bodies to makesure that products are renewed on an annual basis and go through a whole evaluation.so help me understand how i would know. you have products here. i know the seal is veryimportant. so, walk me through it. i'm going through the grocery store. i see this.so you can see the seal, right here, with something like potato chips. potatoes actuallyaren't a high risk for being genetically engineered although they did just get approval for avariety of gmo potatoes. so, that's something
that we're starting to monitor. but you alsohave other ingredients like vegetable oils that could be from corn, or soy, or canola.those are really common risk ingredients with potato chips. so, when you see the seal, youknow that the oils have not been genetically engineered.perfect. flavorings, and seasonings, and sweetenerscould be from sugar beets, which is another gmo risk crop.and what's this right here? this is a supplement, and again, you can seethe label right there. that's our little butterfly mark.so this is what i'm looking for right here? that's what you're looking for, and with vitaminsand supplements there's generally less transparency
about the ingredients, and so there are fewerof these products that are verified and it's a really important thing to look for.and there's also an app, which is great, if we could talk about that quickly.there is. yeah. so, you know, whether or not you have a garden, there's all kinds of waysto avoid gmos, and this is a great tool. it's our non gmo shopping guide app. so, there'sa barcode scanner, and with that you can scan the barcode of a product and you can findout if it's non gmo.
thank you so much, megan.thank you. appreciate your time, and of course, if you'dlike to learn more about this you can go to livingnongmo.org. that's livingnongmo.org,or visit our website, thebalancingact.com.
(music).
a laboratory where they actually rearrangedna. so, genetic engineering makes it possible to cross the natural species barrier. so,you have something where you have genes from plants, animals, bacteria, even viruses allin one organism. and there's a lot that scientists still don't understand about the long termimpacts of rearranging dna in this way. and, megan, how much of our food is geneticallymodified? estimates are that about 80% of the food inyour average grocery store contains gmos. so, even though there's a relatively shortlist of crops that are genetically engineered, there are things that are used in a lot ofprocessed foods. things like corn, soy, canola that get turned into lots of ingredients.do you believe that consumers should be looking
more at the labeling for the products?absolutely. and, you know, consumer reports did a study last year, and they found that72% of respondents are looking for non-gmo when they shop. polls consistently show that90% plus of americans want gmos labeled. and the united states is actually one of the onlydeveloped countries that doesn't label gmos. is it safe or is it better to buy organic?organic is a really comprehensive certification. you know when you see the organic label thatthat's a product that's been made without chemical pesticides, without fertilizers.gmo avoidance is part of the organic program, but the non gmo project takes it a step further.and we actually require on-going testing of all gmo risk ingredients.so, tell me more about the non gmo project
verified, and is it the best way we can, iguess, avoid gmos? it definitely is. so, our standard requireson-going ingredient testing, on-site inspections, really thorough review of all of the ingredientspecification sheets, and we work with the world's leading certification bodies to makesure that products are renewed on an annual basis and go through a whole evaluation.so help me understand how i would know. you have products here. i know the seal is veryimportant. so, walk me through it. i'm going through the grocery store. i see this.so you can see the seal, right here, with something like potato chips. potatoes actuallyaren't a high risk for being genetically engineered although they did just get approval for avariety of gmo potatoes. so, that's something
that we're starting to monitor. but you alsohave other ingredients like vegetable oils that could be from corn, or soy, or canola.those are really common risk ingredients with potato chips. so, when you see the seal, youknow that the oils have not been genetically engineered.perfect. flavorings, and seasonings, and sweetenerscould be from sugar beets, which is another gmo risk crop.and what's this right here? this is a supplement, and again, you can seethe label right there. that's our little butterfly mark.so this is what i'm looking for right here? that's what you're looking for, and with vitaminsand supplements there's generally less transparency
about the ingredients, and so there are fewerof these products that are verified and it's a really important thing to look for.and there's also an app, which is great, if we could talk about that quickly.there is. yeah. so, you know, whether or not you have a garden, there's all kinds of waysto avoid gmos, and this is a great tool. it's our non gmo shopping guide app. so, there'sa barcode scanner, and with that you can scan the barcode of a product and you can findout if it's non gmo.
thank you so much, megan.thank you. appreciate your time, and of course, if you'dlike to learn more about this you can go to livingnongmo.org. that's livingnongmo.org,or visit our website, thebalancingact.com.
(music).
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