You won't know whether foods in your grocery store are genetically modified organisms, or GMO. The U.S. Food and Drug Administration does not require foods to be labeled as GMO. Corn and soybeans are major GMO crops, and the GMO varieties are blended in the American food supply with other corn and soybeans so that it is not possible to trace which foods contain GMOs. Food processors use various corn and soy derivatives in their products, from baby formula and soy milk to breakfast cereals and vegetarian meat substitutes. Plant geneticists have also engineered some fruits and vegetables to have specific traits.
Vegetable Oils
Vegetable oils containing GMO substances may be from one type of plant, such as corn oil, or from blended vegetable oils. Cotton has been altered to carry pesticide genes, so cottonseed oil also carries the genetic material. Soy oil, corn oil, and rapeseed oil, also known as canola oil, are common GMO vegetable oils used to manufacture a variety of foods, ranging from cookies and baked goods to frozen dinners. Some fried foods and snack chips are made with GMO vegetable or blended oils.
Sweeteners
Corn syrup and high fructose corn syrup are derived from corn, some of which is GMO. These sweeteners are found in all kinds of prepared, packaged foods, fruit juices, soft drinks, candy and baked goods.
Strawberries
A heavy spring frost can kill strawberry plants. If a light frost occurs after the plants have blossomed, it damages the blossoms, and berries will not develop. According to the Long Island Press, some strawberry seeds have been injected with genes from Arctic flounders, resulting in frost-tolerant varieties of strawberries.
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Extended Shelf-Life Fresh Fruits
Tomatoes, pineapples, sweet peppers, strawberries and bananas have been modified with genes to make them stay fresh-looking longer.
Golden Rice
Golden rice was developed to provide a source of Vitamin A to underdeveloped areas of the world. Genes from daffodils and a bacterium were implanted into the rice so the grains would contain beta carotene. Your body uses beta carotene to make vitamin A. Vitamin A deficiency causes vision problems, low tolerance to infectious diseases, abnormal epithelial cells and poor bone growth.
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