LA WEB DE READING COMPREHENSION PREFERIDA POR LOS HISPANOHABLANTES

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SUPERMARKET FOOD TOURS

True Food Website

Ten tips to remember
when you go to the supermarket
.

PART I

 

GMOs = Genetically Modified Organisms

 

1.

Genetic engineering can have unexpected consequences.

  • A lab study using GMO yeast showed levels of a toxic substance that were 30-200 times higher than found in yeast naturally.

  • A GMO soybean with a gene from a Brazil nut triggered allergic reactions, even though the scientists thought that the gene they used from the nut would be harmless to people with nut allergies. The soybean was not marketed.

2.

Snack foods

  • Look for corn and potato chips.

  • About 20% of the U.S. corn crop is GMO.

  • Most goes into processed food, like chips, or as corn syrup, oil and cornstarch. Much also goes for animal feed.

  • There is a small amount of GMO corn grown for popcorn as well.

  • Frito-Lay, the nation's largest snack food company, told their corn growers not to use GMO seed, and says they will source non-GMO potatoes also. McCain Foods, which sells some french fries to Burger King, has announced they will not use GMO potatoes.

  • Over 95% of the GMO crops grown in the US fall into one of two categories: crops engineered to withstand application of chemical weed killers (called "herbicide tolerant" plants); or "plant pesticides," crops in which the plant is considered a pesticide (also called "insect resistant" crops).

  • Most of the GMO corn and all GMO potatoes are this second type, and are called "Bt" crops. "Bt" is a natural bacteria that was found to be useful as an insecticide and farmers have used this "biological" pest control as a spray since the early 1960's.

  • Most salad dressings use soy or canola oil. Along with corn, these are the most widely grown GMO crops in North America. Half of the US soy crop and over half of canola (mostly from Canada) is GMO.

  • Most soy and canola are herbicide tolerant varieties. About 70% of the acreage of GMO crops are this kind of plant.

  • The most widely grown herbicide tolerant variety is called "Roundup Ready" (RR)there is RR soy, canola, corn, cotton and sugar beet on the market.

  • Monsanto makes the herbicide Roundup, and now they also make RR crops, which allow farmers to spray the chemical right on the crop. Roundup kills virtually any plant, but RR crops are not harmed by the chemical.

  • Biotech companies say that GMOs will reduce chemical use, but studies show that farmers who grow RR soy use 2-5 times more herbicide than conventional growers do.

4.

Baby food

  • No one knows the long-term health effects of GE foods. The Food Association (FDA) allows GMO foods on the market with no testing because they say GMO foods are the same as their natural counterparts.

  • But even scientists within the FDA said that GMO foods are different and could lead to different risks.

  • Health concerns include unexpected allergies and unexpected toxins.

  • Antibiotic resistance is also a concern. Many GMO crops use genes for antibiotic resistance. If these genes transfer in the environment to disease-causing bacteria, this could lead to diseases that cannot be controlled with common medications.

  • Thousands of doctors have called on the biotech industry to stop using antibiotic resistance genes. Yet these crops are still grown and making their way into our food. Greenpeace tested a Gerber cereal mix and found GMO soy and corn.

  • Concerned about consumer pressure, Gerber, Heinz and other manufacturers declared they will not use GE ingredients in baby food. Consumer pressure works!

5.

Cotton Products (Diapers, tampons, cotton balls, etc)

  • We think of cotton as a fiber crop, but most of the plant goes for animal feed, and some for human food (as cottonseed oil).

  • GMOs are a threat to the environment, so even non-food uses support this ecological experiment.

  • The spread of "exotic" plants and other species is the second-leading cause of extinction. Exotics are species that are released into an environment in which that species did not evolve. Ecologists warn that GMOs are "exotic" species by definition.

  • Gene flow from GMOs could create uncontrollable weeds, or otherwise alter the natural landscape.

  • Once released into the environment, GMOs cannot be recalled. The environmental damage is irreversible.

Source: True Food Website

GLOSSARY

yeast: a commercial leavening agent used to raise the dough in making bread and for fermenting beer or whiskey (levadura)
soybean
: soja bean (poroto de soja)
crop
: the yield from plants in a single growing season (cosecha)  
cornstarch: starch prepared from the grains of corn; used in cooking as a thickener (fécula de maíz)
seed: small hard fruit (semilla)
to withstand: to resist, to tolerate (para resistir o tolerar)
salad dressings: mixture of seasoned ingredients used to stuff meats and vegetables (aderezos para ensaladas)
sugar beet: special beetroot from which sugar is obtained (remolacha azucarera) 

concern (in this context: problem (preocupación)
diapers: garments consisting of a folded cloth drawn up between the legs and fastened at the waist, usually worn by infants; also called nappies (pañales)
cottonseed oil: oil obtained from seeds of cotton plants (el aceite de algodón)
threat
: danger, menace (amenaza, peligro)
did not evolve
: did not develop (no evolucionaron)
cannot be recalled: go back to an earlier step (no pueden regresar a su estado anterior)

 

Click here to read PART II of this article.
Pulsa aquí para leer la PARTE II de este artículo.

 

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