Whole Foods admits their organic food isn’t so organic
Organic is a big buzzword when it comes to the marketing of food with every producer and food retailer looking to add more organic type foods to their shelves and one of the leaders would have to be Whole Foods.
Except there is a big problem with the company’s assertion that they sell true organic products – not all of those products are truly organic.
According to Joe Dickson, quality standards coordinator for Whole Food Markets, genetically modified foods are so prevalent in the United States that it is impossible for the company to keep those foods out of their stores.
Even though Whole Foods say they try hard to work with their suppliers to move them to foods that don’t contain genetically modified ingredients they point to the government’s lack of a mandate to force label information of food stuffs containing genetically modified (GMO) ingredients.
In spite of public skepticism about GMO foods, the FDA has backedMonsantoand other corporations, declaring that modified foods do not require special labeling lettingconsumersknow they are eating Frankenfoods. This is in contract to the European Union, where public concern over health issues resulted in a moratorium on GMO’s. Many European countries, including France, Germany, Greece, Austria and Luxembourg have bannedgenetically modified foods, while other countries in the EU permit their sale only when products include clear labels of GMO ingredients.
Whole Foods’ recent admission proves how successful the biotechcompanieshave been in their efforts to replace foods unadulterated by hormones with Frankenfoods. The fact that one of the best-known purveyors ofnaturalfoods has decided to throw in the towel rather than holding the line againstbiotechfoods means consumers will have fewer places to go in their quest to buy non-genetically engineered foods.
via NaturalNews.com
Tags : genetically modified corn, GMO, organic foods, Whole Foods
Posted: June 7, 2011
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Jun 7, 2011
Hi, Libba Letton from Whole Foods Market here. This story is inaccurate, starting with its headline.
A few quick points: first, the USDA National Organic Standards prohibit the use of GMOs in organic food, period. So the organic food we sell (well over half the store) is grown without the use of GMOs. Second, aside from the organic food we sell, we’ve enrolled *all* of our non-organic 365 store brand products in the Non-GMO Project Product Verification Program, and are actively pushing our other suppliers to enroll as well (www.nongmoproject.org). Finally, between organic, our 365 store brands and other Non-GMO verified product, we offer more non-GMO options than any other food store in the US. Every Whole Foods Market posts a list on its website of Non-GMO Project-verified products it carries.
For the full context of Joe Dickson's quote in this piece, and for good perspective on the problem our country faces from GMOs, see the Chicago Tribune story: trib.in/j3Jgmt <http://trib.in/j3Jgmt> and the follow up Q&A here: http://trib.in/ltbQ7D.
Jun 7, 2011
I went to a store in the San Diego area and couldn't find hominy because the grocer said they couldn't find a non-GMO source. It wasn't a chain, just a local natural grocery store. Guess what Whole Foods? You CAN be a leader in the space and let people know that you will not carry items that you can't find which haven't been genetically modified. Not that I expect you to. Now that Whole Foods is a larger, "mainstream" brand – I expect new "alternative" grocers to fill this need that grocers like Whole Foods used to fill. If folks have examples of grocers refusing to carry GE foods, please let us know about them! I couldn't even find listings like that on http://www.nongmoproject.org.
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Jun 8, 2011
Thanks, Libba!
Jun 10, 2011
Thanks Libba for clearing this up! I'm also from WFM so I found this article very inaccurate.
Jun 10, 2011
Of course you are going to find the article to be innaccurate. You are biased because you work there.
Jun 10, 2011
No it's not because I work there that I found this article inaccurate and that I'm biased. Please read Libba's comment because that is all factual. While it is true government mandates the organic standards, at WF we go by our own, even stricter standards before we allow an organic label on a product.
Mar 24, 2012
The writer of this article seriously should consider using a spell checker, and using proper grammar.
GMO's should NOT BE IN ANY FOODS WE EAT!