Genetically Modified foods don't always require labelling, so it is possible that any of us have been unassumingly eating GM food sources. GM ingredients can be found in chocolate, biscuits, mayonnaise, bread, corn chips and more. In Australia, this can be traced back to 33 GM food sources now approved for sale including soybean, canola, corn, potato, sugar beet and cotton see. These are all imported, except cotton and canola, which are now commercially grown locally.

The following GM foods are currently approved for sale in Australia:

• Soybean - GM soybean is herbicide tolerant and potential food sources include soy oil, tofu, soy flour, lecithin and/or anything made with these ingredients.
• Canola - Known as rapeseed oil, canola is also grown as a GM crop because it is herbicide tolerant. Canola oil products include margarine, baked foods and fried foods.
• Corn - GM corn is both herbicide tolerant and resilient to insects. Corn is found in a wide variety of foods including kernels, oil, corn flour, sugar and syrup. The products made with corn/corn syrup are many from confectionary, soft drinks, baked and fried goods etc.
• Potato - Potato grown via GM means is resilient to insects. Whole potatoes and products such as snack foods with processed/dehydrated potato may be GM grown.
• Sugar beet - GM sugar beet is tolerant to herbicide. Any number of processed foods may contain GM sugar beet – because the beets are processed into sugar and added to sweeten and enriches the consistency and flavour of foods.
• Cotton - Cotton seed oil is added to vegetable oil blends, snack foods, small goods casings and edible oil products.

Those who argue against GM foods being available for consumption state that no real animal or human trials have been undertaken on the long-term affects of GM food ingestion. Concerns have been raised about allergies, increased herbicide residue in foods, worsening of antibiotic resistance, reproductive and hormonal problems and other unknown toxic effects of human organs and body systems.

The best way to ensure you are buying GM free food is to buy foods certified as organic or biodynamic, read labels for GM free statements and grow your own fruit and vegetables wherever possible.

Contact Information:
Health Brands Australia
64 Fennell Street, Port Melbourne VIC 3207 Australia
Phone: +61 (3) 9673 5800 Fax: +61 (3) 9673 5899
Email: enquiries@healthbrands.com.au
Web: http://www.healthbrands.com.au

© 2009 Health Brands Australia