The debate about the safety of GMO food is not going away any time soon. But with all the conflicting information about genetically modified food, it is only wise you avoid this food until everything regarding its safety cleared. But what are GMOs exactly?
What is GMO Food?
GMOs (genetically modified organisms) are food that has been modified in the laboratory by inserting genes from other species to obtain the desired characteristics. The main thing that scientists are looking for is fasting growing food, pest resistance foods, high yielding food, and other traits that improve food production at a lower cost.
Dangers Of GMO Food
Proponents of GMOs foods says that the food is safe for human consumption. However, critics believe that bringing GMOs in the food supply exposes human foods to serious health hazards. Studies on several animals have shown that genetically modified food can cause immune problems, faulty insulin regulation, accelerated aging, and infertility, amongst others. These are some of the reasons why you should avoid them.
7 Tips To Avoid GMO Food
Although cotton and canola are only approved GMO crops grown in Australia, there are a lot of imported products that contain GM ingredients. So, you need to shop smarter to ensure that you are buying GMO-free food. Here are tips on how to shop GM-free food.
Buy Food Labelled ‘Products of Australia”
One of the easiest ways to avoid shopping GMO foods buying foods labelled “product of Australia.” The label shows that the food has got all its ingredients sourced from Australia. Apart from cotton and canola, which are the two GM crops grown in Australia, any other ingredient is GM-free. That is one of the tips that can help you buy food from supermarket shelves faster without looking for other clarifications.
Watch Out When Buying Chips
If you love chips, you must check the type of oil that has been used to deep fry them. Some of the oils used for frying chips have GM ingredients in it. Avoid chips fried using oil sourced from cotton. Considering that cotton is one of GM crops in Australia, there are high chances that the oil has GM components in it. That is the reason why you should watch out when buying chips and other foods.
Avoid Food Products with Canola Oil
Canola oil is widely used in Australia for processing bread, chips, dips, margarine, and other bakery products. Considering that that canola is one of the GM crops grown in Australia, there are high chances of GM ingredients in it. So, avoid bakery products such as cakes unless they are not using canola oil.
Go organic
Going organic is one of the best ways to avoid GMO foods. Organic foods are foods that have been grown naturally without using chemical products such as pesticides, herbicides, or fungicides. These are properties that make them extremely healthy for human consumption. So the chances of such foods carrying GMO components are very low. Fortunately, organic food is readily available in most Australian supermarkets. You can also buy it for cheap in the farmers’ market near you. Organic food is a little bit is expensive, but it is super healthy.
Buy More Fruits and Vegetable
Almost all fresh products in Australia are non-GMO. However, these are foods that are grown in Australia only. So, you can load up zucchini, broccoli, papaya, oranges, mangoes, and other fresh products. Buying from the farmers market is highly recommended because the chances of these fresh products being genetically modified are very low. Avoid imported fresh products at all costs if you want to go GMO-free.
Look for non-GMO-Verified Seal
If you can only buy from the supermarket, then you must check for the non-GMO verified seal on the product. Brands that sell food free of genetic modification have their products labelled for buyers to identify them easily. So, you need to look for verified seals that prove that the food is 100% GM-free.
Beware Of Additives
Some of the food additives could be GMO. If you see canola or cotton as some of the additives, you need to be careful. Canola and cotton are accepted GMOs by the Australian government. So, you should avoid such additives. Avoid imported additives such as corn, soy, and sugar beets because they are likely to be GMOs.
Due to the many health hazards associated with genetically modified food, we should try to avoid them. Although cotton and canola are the only GM crops grown in Australia, we are important a lot of genetically modified food from the international market. Therefore, you need to buy smart using if you want to go GMO-free.
