Does Monsanto Want You To Label Food "GMO?"

GM, GMO, GMF, GE, GEF genetically modified, genetically modified organisms, genetically modified food, genetically engineered, genetically engineered food. Whether you are against it or not, what does it mean and is it easy to label.

Which government departments are responsible for the food we eat.

The best way to determine which departments do what is to ask the following questions.

The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) is responsible for answering the question, "Is it safe to eat?"
The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) asks the question, "Is it safe for the environment"
The US Department of Agriculture (USDA) asks the question, "Is it safe to grow?"

According to AgBiosafety at the University of Nebraska, the FDA requires labeling of food only when there is modified nutritional profile or digestibility of food, changes in composition or creation of a new entity, or introduction of a natural plant toxin or non-GRAS food additive. For instance, in the case of Bt corn, a new protein was added to corn, but the corn and food derived from it did not require labeling because there was no change in nutritional profile or composition.

Processed food can be organic.

The term “processed food” means any food other than a raw agricultural commodity and includes any raw agricultural commodity that has been subject to processing, such as canning, cooking, freezing, dehydration, or milling, according to the FDA. There is plenty of canned food, milled food, dehydrated food and frozen food that is organic.

Reasons the FDA does not label food as GM free

1- Most people don't understand the term "GMO Free", nevertheless "GM" or the word spelled out.

2- A statement that an ingredient was not bioengineered could be misleading if there is another ingredient in the food that was bioengineered. The whole food item may not be GMO free and it would be difficult and improper to label that one ingredient in the food is GMO free.

3- People may assume that a GMO free product is a superior product and there is no indication anywhere that a GMO free product is any more nutritious than a GMO product.

4- At this time, test methods are not available to test for a wide range of genetic changes at very low levels in a wide variety of foods that contain a threshold.

5- The term "free" either not be used in bioengineering label statements or that it be in a context that makes clear that a zero level of bio-engineered material is not implied.

and last, but not least

6- Products or ingredients identified as organic must NOT be produced using biotechnology methods, therefore, to label GMO Free would be unnecessary. Organic is always GMO free.