I’m sure we’ve all had a similar experience - you’re walking down the aisle at the grocery store, looking for the items on your list, and spot something tasty that you didn't intend to purchase.
No questions asked, you pick it up, pay for it, and immediately eat it. It's good. As you’re eating, you look at the food label and see ‘contains a bioengineered food ingredient’. What does that even mean? We did some digging.
According to the United States Department of Agriculture, bioengineered food contains genetic material that has been modified through certain laboratory techniques and for which the modification could not be obtained through conventional breeding or found in nature.
In layman's terms, the ingredients contain food from organisms that can not occur naturally and thus are altered in a laboratory. This isn’t anything completely new, but more people are becoming aware and concerned about the foods they consume. As of January 1, 2022, companies are required to provide disclosure of any food with bioengineered ingredients. Companies that have such ingredients in their food, must explicitly indicate ‘contains bioengineered food’ using a label. These foods include genetically modified organisms.
So, how deep does this go? What types of food can be bioengineered or genetically modified? The Agriculture Marketing Service of the USDA curated a list of foods and crops that are available in bioengineered form throughout the world. This list is updated annually.
Alfafa
Apple
Canola
Corn
Cotton
Eggplant
Papaya
Pineapple
Potato
Salmon
Soybean
Highly refined foods are not required to have a bioengineered food disclosure, such as some of the following:
Sugar
Oil
Poultry
Egg products
That makes people uneasy and cautious about their food choices. However, many food manufacturers and brands are creating products naturally, hence why you’ll see messaging that will tout their allegiance to ingredients you can pronounce, real ingredients, and even a ‘NON-GMO’ badge. Be sure to check food labels to ensure the foods you purchase align with your lifestyle.