Understanding GMOs: Part 2

Image via anh-usa.org

BY: SHANNA WAHLQUIST, CONTRIBUTOR

Welcome to Part 2 of our GMO series. Last week we discussed what GMOs are, how they are created, and how the creation process is different from natural selection. This week we are focusing on how GMOs are regulated and how they got into our food supply to begin with.

How are GM crops regulated for consumer safety?

Great question! GM crops aren’t subject to safety standards or government regulation standards! Say what!?! How is a food product not subject to safety regulations?? Unfortunately, science and common sense were somehow blindsided in the early 90’s when the FDA issued a “Statement of Policy” supporting Monsanto’s claims that the technology used to create GMOs was no different than hybridization, which is why they do not have to rigorously test their products for safety before putting them on the market. In Europe, the burden of proof is on the company to prove their products are safe, but in the U.S. the burden is placed on the government to ensure safety. In the case of GM food products, something interesting happened, these biotech companies were given a hall pass and currently do not have to prove anything!! Crazy, right? Here is the FDA statement that made this possible, excerpted and explained from Genetic Roulette by Jeffrey Smith:

May 29, 1992 “Statement of Policy”:

“The agency is not aware of any information showing that foods derived by these new methods differ from other foods in any meaningful or uniform way.”

Image via santacruz.com

Wait a second – didn’t we say in last week's post that there were memos from FDA experts reporting the opposite? That they ARE different and that there are different risks? The answer is YES! This argument is documented in several memos and documents; yet, this 1992 statement resulted in the final policy. It should make you wonder WHY they made a policy supporting the opposite. Below is an excerpt explaining how this simple Statement of Policy has changed our food system in a precarious way:

“This sentence in the 1992 FDA policy, which still stands today, is the reason why GM crops are on the market. On the basis of this statement, the FDA said no safety testing was necessary. If Monsanto or the other biotech food companies say their foods are safe, the FDA has no further questions…..”

Say what?!  I’ll leave it to you to dig deeper, but the information is out there on who let this happen, as well as their affiliation with GMO biotech giants. Remember, this isn’t a political post, but now you are in "the know". Go fish!

I’m dying to know – why GMO? How did GM food crops get started in the first place? How prevalent are they today in our food supply?

GMOs began in the late 80’s in an effort to create tobacco plants that were resistant to herbicides. They were later made insect resistant too. As of August 2012, the FDA had approved 144 different GMO crops that are either allowed for human consumption or for animal feed.  You can find a list here to break it down: 

http://www.fda.gov/Food/FoodScienceResearch/Biotechnology/Submissions/default.htm

GE Crop	# of FDA approvals	Food Product	Other Uses
Alfalfa	1	Seeds, sprouts, leaf meal used for fortifying baby food and other special diet foods	Animal feed
Canola (rapeseed)	17	Cooking oil, mayonnaise, salad dressing	Animal feed
Cantaloupe	1	Cantaloupe
Cotton	22	Cottonseed oil for fried foods	Cloth, animal feed
Flax	1	Oil as a supplement, meal added to grain products	Animal feed, cloth
Corn (maize)	38	Cooking oil, corn products, corn, corn syrup	Animal feed
Papaya	2	Papaya, juice
Plum	1	Plum, jelly, jam, canned plums
Potato	28	Potato, potato chips, flour	Animal feed
Radicchio	1	radicchio
Rice	2	Rice, crackers, cereal, flour	Animal feed
Soybean	17	Cooking oil, tofu, soy sauce, lecithin, soy nuts, soy milk, infant formula, cereal products, flour, soy protein, mayonnaise, salad dressing	Animal feed
Squash	2	squash
Sugar beet	3	Anything that contains beet sugar	Animal feed
Tomato	7	Tomato, tomato sauce, paste, ketchup, canned tomato

Wheat	1	Flour
Source: FDA: Completed consultations on bioengineered foods

A recent report from the USDA shows approximately 93% of our soy, 88% of our corn, and 94% of our cotton in the US was genetically engineered. In comparison, when the crops were first being introduced to the market in 1996, less than 10% of soy, 20% of corn, and 10% of cotton was genetically engineered. That’s a HUGE shift! While not all of these crops are approved for human consumption, many are, and the ones designed for animal feed still get into our food supply by way of meat, eggs, milk and mild products. We eat what our food eats (you are what you eat…you get the gist).

Image via oregonculinaryinstitute.com

A final key point I want to leave you with - Not only are GMOs present in our food supply both directly and indirectly, but GMO animal feed changes the quality of the animal's tissue. Grain fed cattle have higher concentrations of omega-6 and omega-9 fatty acids in their tissue, opposed to the higher quality, essential omega-3 oils found in grass fed cattle. Let me explain why this is important - our cell membranes are made up of omega-3 fatty acids. When we don’t have enough, alternative fats are used in the cell membrane, resulting in molecules (such as neurotransmitters) being unable to attach to their receptor sites. Can you see how that would be REALLY, really bad? Even if your blood work does not show you as being deficient in the molecule, the fact of the matter is that if the molecule can’t get into the cell, you’ll be deficient regardless (and some pathway for disease will be triggered over time). So when I say GMOs negatively impact us at the cellular level, this is exactly what I'm talking about!

Next week, we'll look at the types of GMOs out there, their relation to disease, and how they impact the health of our children. The data is out there – it’s just not mainstream yet. That's where I come in!

References for this series:

1     http://people.csail.mit.edu/seneff/glyphosate/glyphosate.html 

2   "Genetically Modified Organisms and the deterioration of health in the United States” N.L. Swanson, 4/24/2013, Seattle Examiner.com

3   A Samsel and S. Senef Glyphosate’s Suppression of Cytochrome P450 Enzymes and Amino Acid Biosynthesis by the Gut Microbiome: Pathways to Modern Diseases.  http://www.mdpi.com/1099-4300/15/4/1416

4     http://people.csail.mit.edu/seneff/

5    http://vimeo.com/65914121

6    http://www.responsibletechnology.org/resources/powerpoint-presentation-on-gmos

7   V. E. Prescott, et al, “Transgenic Expression of Bean r-Amylase Inhibitor in Peas Results in Altered Structure and Immunogenicity,” Journal of Agricultural Food Chemistry (2005): 53

Shanna Wahlquist is a Certified Holistic Health Coach specializing in empowering women to adopt a sustainable and healthy lifestyle without “dieting” or feeling deprived, and supporting them in balancing their gut-mind-body relationship, which she believes is the foundation of every chronic disease and ailment.  She is the mother of two toddlers, ages 4 and 2.5 years old; her happy place is in the ocean surf, and her guilty pleasure is red wine – especially if it involves a limo with a group of friends! Shanna found her path to holistic healing after discovering the benefits of vegetable juicing in February 2012, a journey inspired by her desperation to discover the cause of the sudden onset of recurrent chronic respiratory illnesses suffered by her children. She used that experience as a launchpad for a career change and ended up discovering her true authentic self and life’s purpose. She’s always had a passion for science, food, healing and stewardship, and has created a business where she can enjoy them all simultaneously while making a difference in the lives of her family, friends, clients and community. You can find her on facebook at “NourishingMySoul”,  her blog at www.shannawahlquist.wordpress.com or her website, www.shannawahlquist.com.

Understanding GMOs: Part 1

Image via firstwefeast.com

BY: SHANNA WAHLQUIST, CONTRIBUTOR

After dinner a few weeks ago as my husband was getting the kids ready for bed (what a guy, right?), I found myself alone at the table with my parents. My father is a smart guy with a beautifully scientific mind so I took the opportunity to pick his brain on GMOs. They were still fresh on my mind after all the recent 'March against Monsanto' Facebook posts. Our conversation made me realize two things - (1) I could spit out study data all day long, but (2) I couldn't explain the basics of GMOs - WHY they are so bad, HOW they are hurting us at a molecular and biochemical level and WHAT they are doing to us at a cellular level to cause such a backlash of disease and the subsequent political and industrial discourse and fragmentation. Quite frankly, I had kind of "glossed over" those questions and jumped on the "GMO can cause infertility, etc. bandwagon" because of all the studies showing this to be the case, but I hadn't taken the time to understand the "how". Suddenly, I had homework!

And guess what? My work is your gain. I'd like to introduce you to my 6 part series on GMOs. There's so much mind-blowing information that Lauren and I have decided to simplify it into 6 parts. Rest assured... you will walk away understanding the fundamentals of GMOs and their associated risks, as well as they're contribution to just about every disease known to Western Civilization. That’s a powerful statement, right? 

Just wait until I break it down for you!!!

Image via seppo.net

By the end of this series, you’ll be able to answer the following questions...

*What are GMOs and why should I care? Isn’t this just the latest health-food craze?

*What’s the difference between plant hybridization (natural selection) and Genetic Engineering?

*Am I eating GMOs? And if so, how can I avoid them?

*Are GMOs attributed to any particular disease?

*How are GM (genetically modified) insect resistant crops dangerous for consumption?

*How are GM herbicide (Roundup Readyä) resistant crops dangerous for our health and environment? *What is glyphosate, the active ingredient in Roundupä, and how is it damaging to our health and environment?

*How are GM crops regulated for safety?

*What are the health risks of GMOs to my children?

* How do other countries view GMOs? (I heard 52 countries and 436 cities protested Monsanto in March; where does the U.S. stand in all of this?)

Before getting started, I have a disclaimer – this is not a political post. So let’s leave that at the door and dive into what GMOs are, how they are made, and the mechanisms by which they wreak havoc on our health and our environment. 

You might want to sit down for this one...

What are GMOs?

GMO stands for “Genetically Modified Organism”. That means the genetic code of the target organism was purposefully altered using high-tech laboratory techniques designed specifically for genetic engineering. The GMO crops I’ll be speaking about in this series had their genetic code altered by infecting it with a virus, a bacteria or using a “gene gun” to insert new genes into its own DNA in the hopes of obtaining a desired trait. Desired traits would be the crop's (1) resistance to insects, viral infections and fungus, (2) tolerance of external factors like frost or herbicides, or (3) even a more ideal starch content or ripening ability.

Image via asupplementalperspective.com

It is critically important to understand that in this method of genetic engineering, you can’t control where the gene is inserted into the host, or how that gene may be read, transcribed, altered or rearranged in the host upon insertion (or over time). Sometimes the genes can truncate or rearrange their sequence, leading to a different protein being created altogether. Examples of this have been seen in Europe where different labs examining the same GM crops discovered different proteins being expressed in each – with both results being completely different from the protein being reported by the biotech company who designed them! 

Wait!... does that mean untested proteins are being introduced into our food supply? 

Why, yes. Yes it does!

The expression of the target gene within the host may not be expressed the way scientists hope. For example, in 2005 a protein in a kidney bean was inserted into peas to kill pea weevils. Mice exposed to the kidney protein had no reaction. Mice exposed to the same protein from the pea had severe allergic reactions. Further analysis showed that while the gene sequence was exact within the two plants, the structure of the protein varied slightly, and this shift was enough to make the protein deadly. The most important part about this study was the fact that this was a first of it’s kind animal study BEFORE marketing a GMO product! Up until then (and maybe even since then) most biotech giants do NOT do these types of allergy testing in animals before marketing the product. They may do 90-day feed studies, but they're not doing an advanced study like this one. Mind boggling, isn’t it? And FYI – 90 days hardly covers a life cycle of consuming GMOs… just sayin’!!

Image via zonabiokita.blogspot.com

Natural Selection vs. Genetic Engineering… Aren’t they one and the same?

So you may be thinking: What’s the difference between plant hybridization (cross pollination) and genetic modification? Isn’t it basically the same thing? In the end, aren’t we selecting for certain traits and selecting those crops that survive…. as in “survival of the fittest,” right? Whether we use techniques starting from Mendell or take advantage of cutting edge technology, aren’t we going for the same end result? Technology just gets us there differently, right?

Image via livinggreenmag.com

The answer is simple: No! They are NOT the same! Hybridization occurs when two specimens of compatible varieties of the same species are crossed. They are the product of guided natural selection. GMOs on the other hand have genes spliced from one organism into the species of a different organism! For example, say - a bacteria gene into a plant, or a fish gene into a tomato. They can even include genes from multiple species! GMOs are the product of unnatural, high-tech methods, dependent on the ineffective abilities of viruses or bacteria to get the new genes inside the target specimen, resulting in untested organisms that would never emerge in nature. There is no guarantee how the organism will come out, or that the genes being introduced will be expressed in the way they are intended to. In fact, as I mentioned above, there are studies showing this happening in testing labs all over Europe! This means untested allergens are in our food supply, with unknown immediate and long term effects on the human body. Ouch!

In fact, the answer to this question was summarized in several FDA memos. Here is an excerpt from one:

“The processes of genetic engineering and traditional breeding are different, and according to the technical experts in the agency, they lead to different risks.”  -Linda Kahl, FDA Compliance Officer

“They lead to different risks”…OK, that's enough to convince me to stay away!

So how do we regulate those risks?  Stay tuned for Part 2 next week!

References for this series:

1     http://people.csail.mit.edu/seneff/glyphosate/glyphosate.html 

2   "Genetically Modified Organisms and the deterioration of health in the United States” N.L. Swanson, 4/24/2013, Seattle Examiner.com

3   A Samsel and S. Senef Glyphosate’s Suppression of Cytochrome P450 Enzymes and Amino Acid Biosynthesis by the Gut Microbiome: Pathways to Modern Diseases.  http://www.mdpi.com/1099-4300/15/4/1416

4     http://people.csail.mit.edu/seneff/

5    http://vimeo.com/65914121

6    http://www.responsibletechnology.org/resources/powerpoint-presentation-on-gmos

7   V. E. Prescott, et al, “Transgenic Expression of Bean r-Amylase Inhibitor in Peas Results in Altered Structure and Immunogenicity,” Journal of Agricultural Food Chemistry (2005): 53

Shanna Wahlquist is a Certified Holistic Health Coach specializing in empowering women to adopt a sustainable and healthy lifestyle without “dieting” or feeling deprived, and supporting them in balancing their gut-mind-body relationship, which she believes is the foundation of every chronic disease and ailment.  She is the mother of two toddlers, ages 4 and 2.5 years old; her happy place is in the ocean surf, and her guilty pleasure is red wine – especially if it involves a limo with a group of friends! Shanna found her path to holistic healing after discovering the benefits of vegetable juicing in February 2012, a journey inspired by her desperation to discover the cause of the sudden onset of recurrent chronic respiratory illnesses suffered by her children. She used that experience as a launchpad for a career change and ended up discovering her true authentic self and life’s purpose. She’s always had a passion for science, food, healing and stewardship, and has created a business where she can enjoy them all simultaneously while making a difference in the lives of her family, friends, clients and community. You can find her on facebook at “NourishingMySoul”,  her blog at www.shannawahlquist.wordpress.com or her website, www.shannawahlquist.com.