I-522

There’s a lot of talk about genetically modified food in Washington right now, mostly due to I-522, which will require that food sold in the grocery store be labeled if it contains genetically modified (GMO) ingredients. Farmers markets and you-pick-’ems don’t have to tell you what you’re getting, though don’t get too paranoid. Just bear in mind that a fruit or vegetable labeled as “Organic” might be an organically grown genetically modified fruit or vegetable, the lack of pesticides due to the hardiness of the plant.

Alcohol and cheese are in some way exempt from labeling. In up to 70 percent of cheeses, bioengineered chymosin, known as rennin, is used to make the cheese, though they are only required to include the word “enzyme” in the list of ingredients versus actually naming what enzyme was used. However, an enzyme simply helps curd the milk into cheese; it doesn’t appear in the end product. (Like using lemon juice to make tofu … You don’t end up with lemony tofu. You just have tofu.) Alcohol would not need to be labeled as having been made from genetically engineered grain because alcohol is not considered a food under federal guidelines. If you’re scared of enzymes in your cheese and alcohol made from GMO corn, you might look at micro-brews, check out product websites, or make your own. From my understanding, home brewing and cheesemaking is a growing trend.

The people screaming that meat won’t have to be labeled are confused. There is currently no meat on the US market that has come from genetically modified animals. If such meat was being sold, under I-522 it would be labeled as GMO. So that super crazy salmon they’ve been talking about–the so-called Frankenfish–would carry a GMO label under I-522. Just because genetically modified corn and soy are used as animal feed does not mean that the animals themselves are genetically modified. I am more concerned about the animals being fed growth hormones to produce more meat and milk than I am about them eating some lab produced corn.

The anti-labeling people make me nervous. Anyone that is so paranoid about letting me know what I’m eating probably has something to hide. The idea that it will cost billions of dollars to add a little extra ink to a label makes me a little leery of trusting that they care about my well-being. How hard is it to slap some stickers to the side of a box? What are they hiding? Big companies going out of their way to hide what they’re doing make me uncomfortable.

I’m not scared of eating genetically modified food. I just want to know that it’s genetically modified before I eat it. I like having the option to choose.