Current US regulations regarding the definition of certified-organic foods prohibits the use of genetically engineered plants in organic agriculture. This implies that organic foods should be "GMO-free," and many organic or "natural" brands now carry labels explicitly stating this. However, a recent study commissioned by the Wall Street Journal revealed that 16 out of 20 products labeled "non-GMO" or "GMO-free" actually did in fact contain genetically engineered ingredients (1). How could this be possible?

The problem is that the organic label is based upon a "certification" system, and not upon conducting actual tests. Organic produce is not routinely tested for the presence of pesticide residues, for example, but instead growers certify that they did not apply them. This may seem like a subtle difference, but in the case of the "GMO-free" label, it may be a critical one. As it turns out, organic growers are discovering that there are a variety of ways that organic food can become contaminated with genetically engineered varieties without the grower's knowledge (2):

• Pollen may blow onto an organic, non-GE field from a nearby field of GE plants, resulting in some seeds in the harvest which are "half-genetically engineered." This is mainly a concern with wind-pollinated crops like corn.
• Because organic farms are often relatively small, organic growers often must share planting and harvesting equipment and trucks with other nearby growers-- who may or may not be other organic growers. Meticulous cleaning of shared equipment to remove all traces of contamination can be costly, time-consuming, and often impossible.
• Reliable sources of GE-free seed for planting may be difficult to find. Although seed distributors may certify seed as being non-GE, the distributors are subject to the same problems with contamination as the growers.

Although there are some companies that provide test-based "GMO-free" certification, there is also financial incentive for organic growers not to conduct actual tests for GE contamination-- not only are the tests often expensive and impractical, but if GE contamination is detected, the farm could lose its organic certification. If actual test-based verification of the "GMO free" labels were ever made mandatory, organic growers might be forced to accept some threshold level of "allowable contamination" to keep their organic status, and drop some "GMO-free" claims.

Buyer Beware

Attempting to corner the market on GE-free foods, some producers have advertised or labeled their products as "GMO free" despite that none of the ingredients in the product could be genetically engineered. If you are paying a premium for that product, you could be wasting your money-- in all likelihood, the comparable unlabeled brand is also "GMO free." In addition, many fliers and websites of anti-GE groups stress the unavoidability of genetically engineered foods, and yet are vague about exactly which foods are genetically engineered, often including images of foods that are not genetically engineered. The fliers then refer the reader to a list of "organic" and "natural" food suppliers that are "GMO free"-- although many of the foods listed could not be genetically engineered in the first place. Read our section on GE Foods in the Marketplace to learn more about which foods and ingredients are actually genetically engineered.

(1) Eleven containing traces, and five with more substantial amounts (up to 40%). They included Yves Canadian Veggie Bacon, Health Valley Soy O's Honey Nut Cereal, Clif Bars, Whole Food Market's 365 Meat Free Gourmet Burger, and White Wave's Silk soymilk, among others. Spokespersons for the companies either denied the findings or promised to correct the problem. In most cases, the products already on shelves were not recalled-- after all, as the spokesperson for Yves said, "there are no safety or health issues associated with genetically modified soybeans." (Patricia Callahan and Scott Killman, Wall Street Journal, April 5, 2001).

(2) These points are based upon comments of Mary-Howell Martins, organic farmer and certifier from Pen Yan, NY, in her seminar to the Plant Breeding Department, Cornell University, March 13, 2001.
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