Dr. Oz and the GMO Debate Part 3

In the first part of The Dr. Oz Show Segment on GMO foods, the discussion began about non-GMO food labels and a short education of what GMO actually means. In the second part, Dr. Oz began a discussion with three expert panelists discussing the viewpoint of both proponents and opponents to the GMO debate. Here, we will take a lok at the third and final part of the segment.

Dr. Oz Takes the Conversation International and Then, Back to Labels
Genetically Modified Foods, Pt. 3 (The Dr. Oz Show video clip is 4 minutes and 11 seconds long)

Dr. Oz continued to probe the one proponent of GMOs on his panel, Dr. Pamela Ronald, by taking a look at the international community. He raised a pretty good question.

Why are GMO crops banned in a number of  European nations?

image from The Dr. Oz Show originally aired on 12/7/2010

This is the point where I always start to take sides. Perhaps I am being naive in some way, but why would an entire country ban a farming practice if it was safe? Dr. Oz asked this question - I just wished some scientist from one of these countries could have been there to answer. All we can do is speculate.

And then Dr. Michael Hansen, piggy-backing off of Dr. Ronald's statements about using the best science for determining GMO safety in part 2, piped in and said what someone needed to say during this entire debate:

"One thing that should be pointed out is that we do need more science... in this country... the FDA does not require any extra safety testing at all."

This, of course, had me thinking, again, about that pesky Food Safety Bill and whether or not it truly was up to snuff. I am going to have to go back into that one and see if there are any things I would like to speak out about before it makes it to the House of Representatives. 

To finish the segment, the conversation turned back to labeling and what the benefits are and what the drawbacks might be. They each can be summarized quite simply. The labeling of GMOs benefits us with informing us, we then have the opportunity to use our "capitalist vote" to decide what types of food we wish to support and, ultimately, consume. The drawbacks of any labeling system are two-fold; (1) who does the labeling, and (2) the limitations of the labeling process. Even the Non-GMO Project we looked at in Part 1 of this series, clearly states on their website that they can not guarantee that the products labeled non-GMO are 100% GMO free.So we are left, once again, making a leap of faith, only this time, when armed with a label the leap should be over a puddle, not the Atlantic Ocean!

My Final Thoughts About The Dr. Oz Show's Panel on GMOs

First of all, I am extremely happy that Dr. Oz devoted a segment of his show to this topic. I wish it were the entire episode, but there was a lot of info in this half of the show, regardless. When I first found out about this show, I was excited at the prospect of hearing Dr. Pamela Ronald's viewpoints, but, due to lack of time I feel my curiosity is not yet satiated. I think, due to this fact, Tomorrow's Table is going to be on my reading list. I am also curious about Dr. Michael Hansen's work and will be on the lookout for more word from him, as he seems to be a rational man opposed to GMOs, rather than an extremist opposed to GMOs (I believe there is a significant difference).

For now, personally, I am still going to try to maintain a GMO-free diet when possible on my search for sustenance. I have two chronic conditions, one of which is idiopathic (unknown origin) in nature and I don't believe I have the body or the time to waste waiting for science to decide which way to go. So, unless some GMO seed is going to cure Intracranial Hypertension or eradicate Crohn's disease from my family tree, I'll take my genes unmodified, thank you.

Resources, Links & Further Info:

•  Even MORE resources from The Dr. Oz Show about Genetically Modified Foods
• A must read: Dr. Pamela Ronald's Response to her time on The Dr. Oz Show 
• Search results of Dr. Michael Hansen's writings for ConsumersUnion.org
• Opportunity to win a copy of Jeffrey Smith's Seeds of Deception
  
• Books written by people on the show:

Dr. Oz and the GMO Debate Part 1

On the December 7, 2010 episode of The Dr. Oz Show, the topic of genetically modified foods was addressed and some excellent questions were raised. If you missed the show, don't fret, the show has put the video segments on their website for all to see and share in three parts. I decided to also approach my blog discussion in these three parts, as dealing with it all in one post would be an incredible amount of information to digest in one sitting.

 Genetically Modified Foods, Pt. 1 (video clip is 4 minutes 34 seconds long)
Dr. Oz's intro to GMOs and the Non-GMO Project


Dr. Oz began his show about genetically modified foods by saying the fact that we hadn't noticed the "Non GMO product" label on the bread he displayed bothered him. Well, Dr. Oz, it bothered me too. I am a label looker! I am constantly searching for evidence of a food-stuff's value and I had never seen the label he showed before the airing of his show! I immediately took note of the website on the label and got to investigating.


The Non-GMO Project

The label to look for.

I am still trying to figure out how I missed this one. Here's a blurb from the Non-GMO Project website explaining who they are:

The Non-GMO Project is a non-profit organization, created by leaders representing all sectors of the organic and natural products industry in the U.S. and Canada, to offer consumers a consistent non-GMO choice for organic and natural products that are produced without genetic engineering or recombinant DNA technologies.

It sounds like a great idea, in fact, it sounds like exactly what I've been looking for, so, I asked, "Where the heck is it?" The website is very useful to this end as well as it provides links to find participating products sorted by brand, category and/or name. They also provide a link to find participating retailers by location and/or name.

While this is a step in the right direction, it is important to know how the non-profit organization determines which products get the label. In the Understanding Our Seal portion of the website, a brief explanation is given. I will summarize even further:

• every ingredient is tested, but not necessarily every product.
• testing happens at various stages in product development.
• the test must indicate that the ingredient is below 0.9% GMO, which is evidently in line with the European Union laws.

Finally, if you are impressed, perhaps you feel that you will not buy GMO products now that they are labeled and you are informed. When asked the same question, 80% of the studio audience at The Dr. Oz Show said they wouldn't. The non-GMO Project wants to hear that commitment from you - they provided the Non-GMO Consumer Pledge on their website.



Before We Get Into the Panel & Part 2

While you are making that commitment, you may also want to do your part to stop new genetically modified foods from making it to the market. I have written about various opportunities to contact your representatives about genetically modified fish and organizations to follow for the latest information in the "food fight",  let today be the day you take one of those actions!


Next up: From The Dr. Oz Show - Genetically Modified Foods Part 2: A Panel of Experts on Both Sides