Avoiding GMOs means knowing what labels mean

The failure of Measure 92 in Oregon's last election, which would have required genetically modified food to be labeled, has left many consumers on their own to find — and perhaps avoid — GMOs.

The variety of terms used in food packaging and labeling and the complexity of trying to decipher what they mean don't make it easy.

For instance, the word "natural" is used on a lot of food packaging, but it is really a marketing term and can mean whatever the company wants. A survey by the Consumer Reports National Research Center in 2014 found that nearly 60 percent of 1,000 people asked looked for the term "natural" when they shopped for food. About two-thirds believed it meant a processed food had no artificial ingredients or genetically modified organisms or pesticides; more than 80 percent believed that it should mean those things, according to the study.

Walk any grocery store aisle and you'll see the term stamped across boxes, cans and bottles on everything from salad dressing to yogurt to cereal.

Lilly Atkins, 25, of Salem, said avoiding GMO foods was important to her as she shopped recently at LifeSource Natural Foods and loaded up her cart with organic products. But when asked, she wasn't sure that buying organic meant the food didn't contain GMOs. And sometimes she has to make purchasing choices based on price and buy some conventionally grown foods.

"I think a lot of things like fruit are GMO," she said when she was asked if she knew what common food items were genetically engineered.

There has even been some misinformation spreading on the Internet about being able to figure out which produce is GMO by examining the PLU codes, those small bar codes and series of numbers on stickers and packaging of fruit and vegetables.

For consumers who are concerned with avoiding GMOs, arming themselves with knowledge is best.

PLU codes are useless

Cathy Means at the Produce Marketing Association said trying to use PLU codes is meaningless for consumers.

"A PLU code is not designed to inform consumers. It ensures that the consumer pays the right price. The other benefit is so that grocers can see what's selling so that they can make stocking and ordering choices," she said. PLU codes identify the product and the pricing for that particular product.

Even though PLU codes beginning with the numeral 9 are reserved for organic produce, it doesn't mean that the grocer or vendor is required to use that code if it charges the same for the non-organic equivalent — or if it has no interest in tracking organic produce versus conventional produce purchases.

"94011 is the PLU code for organic banana and 4011 is the code for non-organic," Means said. But that doesn't mean the store has to use 94011 for organic bananas if they're the same price as non-organic bananas and if the store doesn't want to track the purchases of organic bananas. In that case, the store could simply use 4011 for both organic and non-organic bananas.

The Produce Marketing Association controls and registers the PLU codes on all produce in the United States.

"I think the most important thing to know about PLUs is that they're optional," said Rebecca Spector, West Coast director of the Center for Food Safety, a nonprofit consumer and environmental advocacy group. "So they're not required by the USDA or any federal agency. So the most important thing to remember is that they're really used for retailers for their convenience to help them scan for produce for prices.

"There's a code that's allotted to GMOs, which starts with an 8, but the reality is that there's very little genetically modified produce on the market at all. There may be a little yellow squash. But nobody is labeling them as GMOs on the PLU codes."

How about the organic label?

Both Spector and Oregon Tilth executive director Chris Schreiner said looking for an organic label is a better indicator of GMOs.

"With point of purchase, it's very, very rare where there's been a misbranding using the USDA organic label," Spector said. "For something that's organic, it cannot be produced from genetically modified seed."

All products labeled organic must be certified by one of the nearly 50 third-party independent bodies such as Oregon Tilth, Schreiner said. Oregon Tilth is accredited to certify to the USDA national organic standards, and that means GMOs are prohibited at all levels of production and handling, he said.

"If we certify a farm, that means we're verifying that they're not using GMO seeds. If we're certifying a multi-ingredient processed food, all the ingredients that they're sourcing must be from a certified organic source," he said.

"And for all certified organic livestock products like meat or dairy, one of the requirements is that the animals are fed a 100 percent organic feed diet. So any corn or soy, grains, or agricultural products, even the pastures that the animals graze on, have to be certified organic, which prohibits GMOs at all stages," he said.

Organic certification process

The certification process has a few key steps.

The first step is the farmer or the handling facility that's manufacturing the product has to prepare what's called an organic system plan — a comprehensive document and contract that the certification agent or certifier examines. It describes all of the farmer's practices, Schreiner said.

"So if we're talking about a farm, we're asking for all the acreage and the crops being grown and the sources for the seeds, what they're doing for nutrient management and fertility, and what they're doing for pest management and their practices to maintain and enhance natural resources and biodiversity. We also look at field borders and adjacent land uses and efforts undertaken to create buffers to avoid drift of prohibited pesticides from being applied on adjacent land or pollen drift from neighboring GMO crops," Schreiner said.

"Then we send an inspector to visit the facility or farm, and it's the inspector's job to verify that what's described in the organic system plan is a reflection of what they see on site in the field or the facility. ... Every year, certified operators have to provide updates to their organic system plans, and every year, we send an inspector on site to verify that what is being described on paper in that plan is what indeed is reflected in what they observe in the field and in the processing facility."

The Non-GMO Project

The Non-GMO Project started as a nonprofit in 2007 and certified its first product in 2010. The organization is based in Bellingham, Washington.

The Non-GMO project is what Schreiner calls a single-attribute label; it means the food is certified as GMO-free but the product could be conventionally grown with pesticide and herbicide usage.

"Currently, there are more than 25,000 verified products that are sold throughout the United States and Canada that carry the Non-GMO Project label," said Caroline Kinsman, communications manager at Non-GMO Project.

The manufacturer or farmer pays for the verification, and the cost is determined by the ingredients. The cost of certifying a single-ingredient, low-risk item is lower than the cost for a product that is more complex and has more ingredients, she said.

As part of the certification process, some manufacturers may decide to change their ingredients.

"They could swap out high-risk ingredients such as canola oil (which is a common GMO crop) and swap it out with safflower oil," Kinsman said.

Non-GMO Project certification

The certification process incorporates three key components: traceability, segregation and testing, Kinsman said.

"The process includes site and facility inspection for the initial certification," she said.

The Non-GMO Project works with three technical advisers, who are independent contractors.

"They evaluate the ingredients and determine which are high risk and which need to be tested and which need to be site-inspected," Kinsman said.

"Any product that carries our seal has gone through our verification process and follows best industry practices for avoiding GMO ingredients," she said. "And for high-risk products, every batch would be tested."

But does a Non-GMO Project label mean that the product is absolutely GMO free?

"There is a threshold. With a reality of the amount of GMO in our country, it's really difficult. Our standard requires testing of every high-risk ingredient. But the threshold is .9 percent for GMO content. It's congruent with European Union standards," Kinsman said.

Among the top brands or products that are Non-GMO Project verified are: Post Grape Nuts, Draper Valley Farms, Mary's Chicken, Beech-Nut baby food, Silk soy milk, Dave's Killer Bread, Kashi cereals, Kettle Foods, Naked brand juices, POM Wonderful, Bob's Red Mills, Cascadian Farms and Nancy's organic yogurts.

"A lot of stores including conventional stores such as Target are starting to verify their private-label food products," Kinsman said. Target announced in 2014 that it planned to eliminate all GMOs in its Simply Balanced brand, which has nearly 250 products, by the end of 2014.

Another growing segment of food for the Non-GMO Project is meat and animal products, including meat, cheese, dairy and eggs, Kinsman said.

"We consider all inputs for products, so this means animal feed would be examined," she said.

The ubiquitous GMOs

When consumers consider the amount of GMO crops in the United States, you could compare it to Pandora's box.

"Corn and soy beans are the top, most produced GMO crops," Kinsman said. In addition, canola has a high percentage. "And those are all ingredients that show up in the packaged-goods aisle," she said. "Also sugar beets."

Just think of how many processed foods contain high-fructose corn syrup, corn meal, corn starch, sugar made from sugar beets, soy beans or soy bean oil, and you can understand how difficult it could be to avoid GMOs.

For produce, there are only a few GMO crops: zucchini and summer squash and Hawaiian papaya. But the potential of cross-contamination of sweet corn from GMO corn is high from pollen, Kinsman said.

Alfalfa and cotton seed are also common GMOs, Kinsman said. And they can show up in animal feed.

So where does that leave consumers?

"For some foods like tortilla chips, which are made with corn, I want to buy something that's certified organic and has a Non-GMO Project label because that means that the corn was produced without pesticides, all the things that make it organic, but it's also tested to make sure that it has a very low level of GMO. It's not zero, but it's very, very low risk. And with corn, it's the most heavily genetically engineered crop in this country," Spector said.

"Lots of stores are listening to their customers and joining the non-GMO conversation," Kinsman said. And that likely will lead to more brands seeking more non-GMO verification. You can also see the growing demand from consumers as more organic products become mainstream.

The grocery store shelf today isn't what it was 10 years ago, when you could only find organic products at specialty organic stores. And with growing consumer demand for non-GMO products, more Non-GMO Project labels are showing up in grocery store aisles, as well.

Victor Panichkul is food, wine and beer columnist at the Statesman Journal. Contact him at (503) 399-6704, Vpanichkul@StatesmanJournal.com, follow at Facebook.com/WillametteValleyFoodWine and on Twitter @TasteofOregon.

What they mean

Natural: The Food and Drug Administration hasn't developed a formal definition for the term. The agency says that manufacturers can use natural if nothing artificial or synthetic has been added to the food, yet those ingredients are still found in many "natural" products.

Organic: Organic food is produced by farmers who emphasize the use of renewable resources and the conservation of soil and water to enhance environmental quality for future generations. Organic meat, poultry, eggs and dairy products come from animals that are given no antibiotics or growth hormones. Organic food is produced without using most conventional pesticides; fertilizers made with synthetic ingredients or sewage sludge; bioengineering; or ionizing radiation. Before a product can be labeled "organic," a government-approved certifier inspects the farm where the food is grown to make sure the farmer is following all the rules necessary to meet USDA organic standards. Companies that handle or process organic food before it gets to your supermarket or restaurant must be certified, too.

Non-GMO Project verified: Any product that carries the seal has gone through a verification process and follows best industry practices for avoiding GMO ingredients. And for high-risk products, every batch would be tested. The label does not necessarily mean that it is absolutely GMO free. The tolerance level is 0.9 percent, the same standard set by the European Union.

Sources: USDA, Non-GMO Project, Food Safety and Sustainability Center at Consumer Reports