What GE foods are on the market?

Applications for marketing a rapidly increasing number of GE foods are being submitted to governmental agencies. The numbers already on the market vary from country to country.

NOTE: All these crops and plants and all the products derived from them may, in the worst case contain some unexpected, undetected harmful substance

The most common genetically engineered foods in the world are presently:

• Soy and its derivatives including soy flour and soy oil (sometimes sold as oil for cooking without specification of its source). Soy is very common in processed foods, bakery, meat products and pet food.
  
  Look out for the ingredients: soy protein, soy lecithin, soy oil, soy sauce, soy isolates. Soy is also common in infant food. Unless this food is organic, there is a considerable risk that it comes from GE sources, as a large part of soy is genetically engineered today.
  
  Soy is also used as animal feed. If feed contains a harmful substance, it may appear in considerably higher concentrations in the meat than in the feed.
  
  
• Corn is also a common GE food. You can expect to find GE corn in for example Corn Flakes, corn oil, corn syrup, high fructose corn syrup, corn starch, corn meal and other cornbased foods. Any of these products derived from corn may, in the worst case, contain some unexpected and undected harmful substance generated by genetic engineering.
  
  Corn is also used widely as animal feed.
  
  
• Canola (rapeseed), used most commonly as oil for cooking and in margarines and "lean" butter substitutes. It is also used extensively in baking.

  In addition, the following GE vegetables, crops and plants have been approved for commercial use in the US by the end of 2005 (which was the latest update by january 10, 2007). For a full list of products in the US see "List of Completed Consultations on Bioengineered Foods" at FDA):

• Alfalfa
• Tomato
  
• Potato
  
• Rice
  
• Cantaloupe
  
• Sugar beet - (all kinds of sugar)
  
• Radicchio
  
• Flax (linseed)
  
• Papaya
  
• Squash
  
• Oilseed rape, in some cases called Canola oil
• Wheat.

In the United States, GE foods are now common on the market. Because labeling is not required in the US, it is difficult to avoid these foods in this country unless one only eats organically grown food.

GMO in Europe

No genetically modified fruit or vegetables are on the market in the EU. Any GM plants authorised in the EU are not intended for direct consumption.

However several GMOs have been approved for experimental study. Genetically modified fruits and vegetables are still quite a long way from commercial use in the EU. PSRAST is happy about this and we find it very satisfying that there is now a growing resistance among the population against approval of GMOs. This includes several campaigns, for example " Anti-GM Movement Spreads Across Europe", A seed Europe, "Scientists for a GM Free Europe"British protests and Greenpeace.

Link to a full list on approved GMOs

Brands that may contain GE foods

We have made a list of US brands owned by members of "The Grocery Manufacturers of America" (GMA). They are a member of the Alliance for Better Foods, which actively supports modern food biotechnology and spreads remarkably incorrect and misleading informing about its "benefits", claiming that the GE foods on the market are safe.

This is not an exhaustive list of food manufacturers that may use GE ingredients. But it contains some major internationally widespread brand names, see list of GMA Member Company Brands.

The list of "Mothers of Natural Law" is also a good source for finding out what food in the US may be genetically engineered.

For a good list on GE foods on the american market, see Truefoods's True Food Shopping List.

The safest way to avoid GE foods is to use GE free brands , and organic foods, see below.

GE free Brands

Another good source is the True Food Shopping List.