OCTOBER 1999

THE VEGAN NEWS  

UPDATED IN MARCH 2009

Genetically Modified Food
 By Pauline Lloyd

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Well you've finally got it all sorted out. You know which products are vegan and you know where you can purchase vegan products from in your area. You've become an avid reader of labels and you never buy anything until you've checked that it's completely free from animal ingredients. So what's the problem then? Well just as you were starting to think that maybe going vegan wasn't so hard after all, along came the 'genetically modified food scare'. If only it had stopped at BSE!

Suddenly genetically modified foods are everywhere, slipped into our food without our consent. And until recently most GM ingredients were not even labelled either, so it was difficult for us to know when we were eating them. Things are now starting to improve a little, with labels appearing on some products. Occasionally you will even come across a product which has been labelled fairly boldly with the words 'GM Free'. Obviously some manufacturers are starting to realise that this is what their customers want. And that maybe they can even use the GM free label to sell their products! However, on other products you may only find the words 'contains no genetically modified ingredients' somewhere in the small print on the packet and you have to hunt around very carefully in order to find this information. In addition, some companies now have a policy of labelling all GM substances on their own brand products and leave you to assume that if it isn't labelled, then it must be GM Free. But it's rather risky to assume that if a product doesn't say it contains GM ingredients, that it's safe! So all in all, things seem to be in a bit of a muddle as regards labelling at the moment. And this can make it difficult for us to avoid eating GM food, if we choose not to do so. However, it is possible to avoid eating GM food, just as it's possible to eliminate animal ingredients from your diet. You just have to be very careful about what you buy and use the power of your purse to say NO to genetically modified ingredients. Here's how to do it:

Avoiding GM Food in Four Easy Steps:

  1. Buy food that has been grown organically. Organic food production totally outlaws any form of genetic modification and foods listed as organic cannot contain any genetically modified ingredients.

  2. Buy unprocessed foods. Sixty to ninety percent of processed foods are now thought to contain a genetically modified ingredient, or else genetic modification processes have been used in their production. Ready-made vegetarian meals, for example, are quite likely to contain genetically modified soya and/or soya milk, or other genetically modified ingredients.

  3. Purchase soya-based foods or maize products from a wholefood/health shop. They are more likely to be GM Free.

  4. Shop with the companies listed below whenever possible. These companies never knowingly use genetically modified ingredients or derivatives in their products. So unless they have been accidently contaminated they are safe.

List of GM Free Suppliers:

The companies listed below sell at least some products that are suitable for vegans. A few of these companies (e.g. Plamil and Clearspring) offer a range of entirely vegan products. I have listed some of each company's products in brackets, in order to give you an idea of the sort of vegan products they sell.

Also look out for any products which bear the Vegan Society's Trademark symbol. In order to qualify for this symbol products have to meet The Vegan Society's policy on GMOs as well as being animal-free. 

Danger Zone - Tread Carefully!

Another way to reduce your risk of eating genetically modified ingredients is to be aware of which foods are most likely to contain them. The following information covers the areas which are likely to be of the most interest to vegans and vegetarians.

The only genetically modified crops which are being used in the UK at the moment are soya, maize, oilseed rape and tomatoes. However, these crops can be used in many different ways and are found in many processed foods, in one form or another. I'll start with soya first as many vegans and vegetarians include soya products in their diets.

Soya

Soya products are often eaten as meat and/or dairy product replacements in the vegan/vegetarian diet. Obvious sources of soya include: tofu, soya chunks, TVP, soy sauce, tamari sauce and Braggs Liquid Aminos. Many dairy-free desserts and ice-creams are also soya-based and so of course is soya milk, soya cheese, soya yogurt and soya cream. In addition some vegan babies are raised on a soya formula milk and soya is added to many vegetarian ready meals and other convenience-type foods, perhaps as tofu or soya milk.

But to complicate matters even further, soya can be processed to make soya flour, soya oil and lecithin. These last three ingredients are very versatile and can turn up all over the place. Soya flour, for example, is often added to bread and other baked goods. Watch out for soya oil in mayonnaise, margarine, ice-cream and granola type cereals. Soya oil can also be used to coat dried fruit e.g. raisins. Animal-free lecithin (E322) can be derived either from genetically modified soya or from corn. An important emulsifier, lecithin is added to many processed foods, such as baked goods, chocolate, margarine and baby milk, to give but a few examples. In addition many processed vegetarian foods (e.g. pates and spreads) contain more unusual soya derivatives, including soya protein and soya protein isolate and HVP is also derived from soya and is used as a flavour enhancer on crisps and in bouillon powder. As already mentioned above soya products purchased from health/wholefood stores are more likely to be GM free than those purchased elsewhere.

Maize

Maize, another genetically modified crop, is now added to many processed foods. Areas of particular interest to vegans could include: tortillas, tacos, polenta, cornflakes and non-organic popcorn. Maize-derived products include: corn oil (often used on crisps and battered foods), corn syrup (commonly used as a sweetener in confectionary and ice-cream), maltodextrin (used on crisps) and cornflour which is used as a thickener in baby foods or in custard powder. Other less well known corn products include: modified starch (used in yogurts and baby food) and xanthan gum (E415), a thickener derived from corn sugar which is often used in ice-cream and confectionary. Maize is particularly likely to be genetically modified if it has been imported from the USA. At the moment fresh corn on the cob seems to be OK.

Tomatoes

Watch out for genetically modifed tomatoes in tomato puree, paste and tomato ketchup. They are particularly likely to be present in American tomato products. The easiest way to avoid GM tomatoes is to purchase organic tomato products, either from your health shop or from the organic section of a supermarket. Look out for the following brands:

I also enquired in Tesco's as to whether their Tomato Puree (Double Concentrate) is made using GM tomatoes. I was told that their policy is to label anything which contains GM substances. This product is not labelled, so therefore is probably OK. However, Sainsbury's tomato puree does contain GM tomatoes. Genetically modified tomatoes can of course be used in vegetarian ready meals and also in other processed foods, such as the tomato sauce in baked beans.

Other Areas For Concern:

Some Good Genetic Engineering Websites:

Further Reading:


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