It looks like another food company has decided to capitalize on food fears and slap an unnecessary label onto its products. My parents are fairly picky about the type of bread we eat. Flavor is important and so is variety. Unfortunately, our options just got a little more restricted.
While grocery shopping today, I noticed this on several of the Aunt Millie’s bread products:
According to the company’s website, they have this to say about non-GMO:
GMO stands for Genetically Modified Organism. GMOs are crop plants that have been modified in a laboratory to enhance certain traits. Genetic modification can result in nutritional enhancement, decreased use of herbicides from amplified herbicide resistance, and increased crop yield. Throughout history, crops were improved through generations of careful breeding, but advances in science now allow this process to be sped up in laboratories.
Because GMOs are still a new science, there have been no long-term studies to substantiate their exact effect on our health. It is possible, however, that the modification of crops could lead to the development of new food allergies. GMOs also pose a potential threat to other plants and animals due to their unknown ecosystem interactions.
These uncertainties, in conjunction with conflicting religious and/or cultural views, leave some consumers wary of products containing GMOs. Non GMO is seen as the biggest emerging food trend. Below is information about Non GMO in grocery.
Let’s correct a few things here before we go on. First of all, this is not really a “new” science. We’ve been experimenting with plant breeding for centuries. (Do you know the history of corn?). Genetic modification is simply an adaptation of that knowledge. Quite frankly, genetically modified crops are some of the most tested and studied foods in the world! As a result, there is a substantial bit of science demonstrating that GMO crops are just as safe as their non-GMO counterparts. In fact, when you get right down to it, we have now been feeding our livestock mostly GMO feed for several generations and there has been no detrimental effect. Any concern for potential food allergies from commercially available GMOs is reviewed by the FDA and there has been none demonstrated. Finally, there is no evidence demonstrating that GMOs pose any type of threat to other animals or plants in the environment. If anything, GMOs are good for the environment – GMO crops have decreased pesticide use and encourage good tillage practices. Again, such a claim would be evaluated by the EPA during the deregulation process and it is likely the crops never would have become commercially available if there was a negative impact on the environment.
The most important and telling part of Aunt Millie’s statements is this: “Non GMO is seen as the biggest emerging food trend.”
Bingo. That’s exactly why Aunt Millie’s decided to slap a non-GMO label on a few of their breads. The company has decided to capitalize on some fear-based marketing tactics. The rest of the statement isn’t even accurate!
I checked out the ingredients list on this particular product and the only potential GMO product in the bread is soybean oil. It is labeled as non-GMO in the ingredient list. Of course, our family grows soybeans (yes, they are GMO) and it is incredibly offensive to me that Aunt Millie’s decided to capitalize on the misinformation and food fears being lodged at GMO foods by slapping this label on their products.
Sorry, but that means my family will no longer be purchasing Aunt Millie’s products.
By the way, if you’re interested in letting Aunt Millie’s you do not approve of their use of this label, feel free to contact them here on twitter or here on Facebook.
I think it is also important to know that Aunt Millie’s also makes a lot of store brand bread products. We have been loyal Aunt Millie’s buyers as well, but it looks like we may have to find an alternate brand.
Exactly the point I make with vacuum heads about GMOs. Humans have been genetically modifying foods for centuries. The only difference now is that we can be much more precise in what we are doing. Every human on Earth has been eating GMOs from the moment they were weaned.
Thanks for telling me. I was wondering if this was a good bread company. I’m thrilled that they are sensible and will not use GMOs.
You need to work on reading comprehension. I never said they are not using GMOs.