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A genetically modified rose by any other name may smell sweet, but it could still have frankenthorns that might independently detach themselves and lop off your finger while you’re smelling it. That’s not unlike a trip to the grocery store these days. There are a lot of ugly surprises in pretty, charmingly-named packages.

It seems like no matter how hard you try to avoid them, GMOs and toxic foods creep into your life.

Take for example, the earthily-packaged “natural” foods that are showcased in your grocery store aisles. They cost twice as much, have obscure brand names, and tout their health benefits and natural sources. You can almost smell the freshly tilled soil when you pick up the box.

Unfortunately, this is nothing more than corporate sleight-of-hand.

Many of the products that seem so good are actually just subsidiaries of the companies that were most complicit in blocking GMO labeling, aided and abetted by everyone’s favorite purveyor of death, Monsanto. (Monsanto, incidentally, donated $7,100,500.00 to the fight against the labeling of GMO-containing products.) Don’t forget that Monsanto is now above the law due to the Monsanto Protection Act, a traitorous rider that Senator Roy Blunt managed to attach to a bill that was subsequently signed into law by President Obama. (you know, that guy in the White House, who made the labeling of GMOs one of his 2007 campaign promises?)

I wish I could make a comprehensive list, but there are more stealthily labeled toxins on the shelves every single day. It all boils down to a these big companies that own nearly all of the foods sold in the United States. Some of the quietly owned subsidiaries may surprise you. Included is the amount that the company (and its subsidiaries) donated to defeat California Proposition 37 which would have required GMO labeling.

Not every item on this list contains genetically modified ingredients. The list is based on the duplicitous marketing of the companies. More consumers are trying to make healthy choices at the grocery stores, but it’s difficult when companies push their toxic wares and dress them up as health food. Young people in particular fall victim to these schemes. You have to give a kid credit for purchasing something called “Vitamin Water” over a soda pop, and it’s infuriating that the kid, trying to make a good choice, has been tricked into the purchase by deceitful advertising and marketing.

Some of the products listed, may in fact be exactly what they are portrayed to be, but I choose not to financially support the corporations behind them.

Protect your health and help starve the beast by avoiding products distributed by these companies and their subsidiaries:

Campbell’s - $250,000.00

Healthy Request

Wolfgang Puck Soups

Pace Foods

Pepperidge Farms

V-8

Cargill, Inc - $202,229.36

Truvia Natural Sweetener

Shady Brooks Farms

Diamond Crystal Salt

Liza

Nature Fresh

Peter’s Chocolate

Wilbur Chocolate

Honeysuckle White

Rumba Meats

Good Nature

Coca Cola - $1,164,400.00

Vitamin Water

Smart Water

Dasani

Nestea

Minute Maid

Honest Tea

Odwalla

Vitaminenergy

Con-Agra - $1,076,700.00

Orville Redenbacher’s Organic

Hunt’s Organic

Lightlife

Alexia

Healthy Choice

Hebrew National

Dean Foods - $253,950.00

Horizon

Silk

White Wave

General Mills - $908,200.00

Nature Valley

Fiber One

Cheerios

Cascadian Farm

Muir Glen

Lärabar

Gold Medal Organic

Food Should Taste Good

Heinz- $500,000.00

ABC

Bagel Bites

Complan

Daddies

Delimex

Farex

Greenseas

HP Sauce

Heinz

Lea & Perrins

Ore-Ida

Smart Ones

Tater Tots

TGI Friday’s

Wattie’s

Weight Watchers

Wylers

Hain-Celestial

UPDATED TO ADD: Heinz has divested itself of Hain-Celestial stock over the past couple of years. Two sources report that the primary investors for Hain-Celestial are companies of extremely dubious consideration for our health: Phillip Morris, Monsanto, Citigroup, Exxon-Mobil, Wal-Mart and Lockheed Martin. (Farmwars and Home for Health)

Earth’s Best

Spectrum Organics

Garden of Eatin’

Casbah

Rice Dream

Soy Dream

WestSoy

TofuTown

MaraNatha

Mountain Sun

Walnut Acres

Fruiti di Bosco

Health Valley

Bearitos

Bread Shop

Celestial Seasonings

Kellogg’s - $632,500.00

Kashi

Muslix

Nutrigrain

Bear Naked

Morningstar Farms

Gardenburger

Kraft - $551,148.25

Snapple

ReaLemon

Triscuit

SnackWell’s

South Beach

Boca

Back to Nature

Nabisco

Nestle - $1,169,400.00

Pure Life

Pelligrino

Perrier

Poland Spring

Gerber

California Pizza Kitchen

Tribe Mediterranean

Sweet Leaf Tea

PepsiCo $2,249,661.61

Miss Vickie’s

Sun Chips

Aquafina

SoBe

Harvest Crunch

Dole

Ocean Spray

Tropicana

Miranda

Tazo

Quaker

Naked Juice

Mother’s

Salada

Knorr

Ben & Jerry’s Ben & Jerry's Go GMO Free





A little bit of good news…

It isn’t all bad news. There are a few companies you can still count on – keep in mind that corporate mergers take place every day. When businesses change hands, there is no obligation to notify the public. One such cautionary tale took place with the company Dean’s, which acquired Horizon Foods. They quietly phased out the use of organic products without making any changes to the label and used non-organic milk produced under factory farm conditions. As well, they dropped the quality of their organic soy and began purchasing cheaper harvests from Asia. Meanwhile, unwitting retailers had no idea that the company had ceased producing the items organically, and continued to promote the products as they had previous to the acquisition.

Right now, these are some of the GOOD LABELS to look for:

7th Generation

Amy’s Kitchens

Apple and Eve

Applegate

Azumaya

Blue Diamond

Bob’s Red Mill

Bossa Nova

Cal Organics

Cedarlane

Cell-nique

Choice Organic Teas

Clif Bar/ Nectar Fruit

Coombs Family Farmers

Cosorzio All Natural

Country Choice

Crystal Geyser Alpine Water

Doctor Kracker

Dr. McDougall’s

Dr. Praeger

Eat Raw

Echo Farms

EcoMeal

Eddie’s Pasta

Eden Foods (The only company NOT using harmful plastic in the lining of their cans as bonding agent!)

Edward and Sons

Endangered Species Chocolate

Ener-G

EnvironKiz

Fantastic Foods.

Giving Nature

Golden Temple

Go Naturally

Greenway Farms

Harvest Bay

Hawthorne Valley

Ian’s Natural Foods

Koyo Organics

Lakewood

Lesser Evil

Let’s Do…Organics

LifeStream

Living Harvest

Lundberg Family

Madhava

Murray’s Chicken

Nasoya

Native Forest

Natural by Nature

Nature Factor

Nature’s Path

Newman’s Own Organic

Organic Prarie

Organic Valley

Pacific Naturals

Pamela’s

Peace Cereal

Petalumi

Rapunzel

Real Foods

Republic of Teas

Road’s End Organics

San J

Sensible Foods

Seven Star Farms

Sunergia

Tasty Bite Indian

Terra Nostra

Texmati

Theo chocolates

Think Organic

Turtle Island Tofurky

Vermont Mystic Pie

Vitasoy

Vita Spelt

Vivani Chocolate

Wizard’s Saucery

Woodstock Farms

XOXOXO chocolate

Yogi Tea

Zija

Zoe’s Granola

Another way to avoid unscrupulous food producers is through an App called Buycott. If you happen to have an iPhone, this App can be used to check a product that you see in the stores to see what corporate links exist. You can find it HERE. (Thank you to Miranda for this link!) If I had a cellphone, I would definitely download this tool.

What you can do

Of course, the best ways to avoid GMOs and toxic additives are to avoid packaged foods altogether.