I personally do not want to eat GMO foods, for many reasons, such as the produce being genetically engineered to be Roundup weedkiller and pesticide-resistant, meaning the food will be contaminated with the carcinogen, glyphosate, not to mention the harm these chemicals do to our ecosystem.  However if you see the Non-GMO Project Verified label on the packaging of the food in your grocery store do you know if it is safe to eat? It is easy to get lulled into just grabbing the package without thinking. It would seem that 75% of foods at Whole Foods, and other health food groceries are Non-GMO Project Verified, but not Certified Organic.

Many people think it is an endorsement that it is virtually the same as “Organic.” However, the Non-GMO Project label simply means what it says, it is not made with products which are grown from seeds that are Genetically Modified Organisms (the mixing of bug DNA with plant DNA, human DNA, animal DNA, fungal DNA…).  This label does not mean the food you are buying is organic, or anywhere near organic.

The Non-GMO Project foods were all grown using all the same Monsanto poisons, Roundup, glyphosate, herbicides, pesticides, and fungicides. They are just not GMO seeds. Non-GMO Project foods are loaded with poisons…always! As many people are discovering, they can barely tolerate medications, natural or prescription, because their body’s detoxification pathways have been damaged by years of these toxins they have been ingesting and other sources of environmental toxins. Don’t even think you can get away with eating poisonous Non-GMO Project foods!

Of course we are all happy at least to know which foods are non-GMO, however my point is that it is not still to be considered safe or the same as foods labeled “Organic.” If a product is labeled Certified Organic it cannot ever have GMO products used in it, so these organic products will usually include both the Certified Organic label as well as a Non-GMO Project label.

Shopping Wisely

But what about when you are buying fruit and vegetables? How do you know it is organic?

Eating healthy used to mean simply eating your veggies. Now it is important to know the “Secret codes” on the foods so that you don’t eat things that could harm you and your family.

Organic produce has a five-digit number on the sticker on the produce beginning with a 9. Organic bananas, for example, would be given the designation of 94011.

Conventional produce has a four-digit number on the sticker beginning with a 3 or 4. Therefore, the number on conventionally grown bananas would be 4011.

Genetically engineered produce also has a five-digit number on the sticker, that begins with an 8. Again, the number on genetically altered bananas would be 84011.

Unless the label specifically states “certified organic”, it is a safe bet that any food containing corn, soy, and cottonseed oils has a GMO origin.

Products that say, “100% Organic” or “Certified Organic” means that all of the substances, ingredients, processing aids, food additives, including colors and flavors, are certified organic.

Products that only say “Organic” mean that only 95% of the ingredients must be organic, leaving the remaining 5% open to “allowable” substances from the USDA’s National List of Allowed substances.

Products that say, “Made with organic ingredients” means that only 70% of the ingredients have to be organic. The other 30% contain non-organic ingredients and synthetic substances normally allowed in conventional food and fiber production.

Products with less than 70% organic ingredients have to list only the organic ingredients on the ingredient panel rather than the primary panel.
A trick that some food producers do is to have the label say, Made with 100% organic wheat or some other ingredient. This deceptive advertising is not the same as saying the entire food is Certified Organic. It only means that the one ingredient was organic, while the rest are non-organic and possibly even GMO sourced.

Foods labeled “Natural” or “All Natural” are almost meaningless, and are a marketing ploy to mislead the consumer into thinking it is chemical-free, when almost always foods labeled in this way are highly processed and full of things you wouldn’t eat if you understood what they were doing to your body.

Have you ever noticed that a huge number of products now say, “Original”, a deliberate mind trick that is designed to make you think it is the word, “Organic” as you are hurriedly grocery shopping. This trick works even better now that most grocery stores are mixing the Organic products in with the regular products. You mind sees several organic options shelved right next to a cleverly disguised packaging that looks, “olde world” or artisan, further influencing your decision to buy it as though it was hand made by the local artisan…not!

Buyer beware! Buy smart and read every label!