Children and Non GM Foods

If you have a child that suffer from food allergies, then then please read on…
Over the past 20 or so years there has been a change to our food supply – the introduction of Genetically Modified Organisms in food, a.k.a GMO. There has also been a huge increase in food allergies over the same period of time. Are the two linked?
Most GMO crops are made by inserting DNA from bacteria, viruses, plants or animals into a plant to get the plant to produce one or more proteins that it would not normally produce. The process is therefore very different from conventional plant breeding.
A child with food allergies may recognize these foreign proteins as “invaders,” launching an inflammatory attack that manifests as an allergic – sometimes deadly – anaphylactic reaction. These children will not be able to eat even the organic equivalent of this food as it can cause the same reaction.
This topic is of increased importance as in Australia, there are no policing of labeling these foods as GMO. Parents need to be pro-active as to what foods they are raising their children on and of the dramatic affects they can have on a growing body.
To date there have been no long term safety testing of GM crops and the health concerns they bring.
I’ll admit not everyone can afford to live solely on Organic food, but if you are aware of which foods are more likely to be ‘contaminated’ then you can just buy those foods organic, or even grow your own!
If it’s not labeled ‘organic’ or ‘verified non-GMO’ then avoid products made with ingredients that might be derived from GMO’s such as soya bean, canola, corn, potato and sugarbeet. All of these products have been approved for sale in Australia by FSANZ. These ingredients are widely present in breads, pastries, snack foods, baked products, oils, fried foods, confectionary, soft drinks, and sausage skins.
Labeling laws also do not cover foods that are made from animals fed with GM feed (for example, meat, milk, eggs, honey), that are highly refined (such as cooking oils, sugars, starches), or that are prepared at bakeries, restaurants and takeaways. Buying the organic version of these can almost be a guarantee of non-GMO.
For more information download the True Food Kids Guide at www.truefood.org.au.
By the way, all of the Healthy Mummy range and The healthy mummy smoothies only use non-GMO Soy Protein Isolate (which also means it is free of oestroegen as it only uses Soy Protein Isolate)
Written by Elisha Danine, Nutritionist.
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