Dear Living Well Daily Reader,
First, forgive us for our technical difficulties on our “Stop the DARK” Act petition. It seems the response has been high, and the server keeps crashing. As soon as we realize it’s down, we work hard to get it up and running again. So if you tried to sign the petition and encountered an error, please try again here.
Just put in your name and email and you’ll automatically be added to our petition demanding that Congress not approve HR 1599. You’ll get regular updates on the status of the bill.
One of the reasons this act is so troubling is that it would create extensive regulations for products to be labelled non-GMO. Many companies may not be able to afford to go through the regulatory process and get approval to label their product as non-GMO, even if they have testing or documentation to prove there are no genetically engineered ingredients in their product.
And that may be especially true for supplement companies. Unlike a single-ingredient food like corn or soy, supplements can have many ingredients in a single product, and that would make going through the governmental regulatory process that much more extensive.
Now, you already know the main food crops to watch out for genetic engineering, but here’s a list to recap:
Soy, corn, alfalfa, zucchini, yellow squash, papaya, canola, and sugar beet.
But what you may not know is that there are likely hidden sources of GMOs in your supplements.
Some vitamins are actually synthesized from corn, and that corn is likely GM. Other ingredients, like whey protein, may not actually be genetically modified, but the cows the protein comes from may have been fed GM corn.
Here are the top 10 potentially GM vitamins and supplements:
- Amino acids: Produced by GM microorganisms
- Vitamin C as ascorbic acid: Can be synthesized from corn
- B12 (cobalamin): Produced by GM microorganisms
- B2 (riboflavin): Produced by GM microorganisms
- Beta-carotene: May be produced by GM microorganisms
- Vitamin E: Extracted from soy
- Fish oil with vitamin E: Vitamin E is used as a natural preservative, extracted from soy
- Whey protein: May come from cows fed GM corn
- Probiotics: May have been fed GM ingredients
- Citrate minerals (i.e., magnesium citrate): The citrate can be derived from corn
And here are the top six “filler” ingredients that are high risk of being GM:
- Citric acid: This is derived from corn
- Maltodextrin: A filler ingredient that is derived from corn
- Corn starch: A common filler in supplements
- Gelatin: Used in softgel capsules
- Soybean oil: Common in softgel products
- Lecithin: Usually derived from soy
As you can see, the list is pretty long. That’s why it is so important to try to source supplements that are labelled non-GMO.
And it also why we really have to make sure HR 1599 does not get through the Senate. This act will make it so much harder for companies like us to be able to put non-GMO certification on the labels of our products.
And without being able to label our products as non-GMO, you’ll be left in the dark.
So if you haven’t yet, please sign our petition here to stop the DARK Act. (And if the server crashes again, please forgive us and try again in a few hours.) And once your sign it, please share it with your family and friends.
To living well,
Jasmine LeMaster
Health Researcher
PS: One reader wrote in asking how they can know if the seeds they are buying are genetically modified. The best way I know is to buy only seeds labeled “Organic”. Organic seeds cannot be GMOs.
