Fruit Stickers-Look for the 8

pearl · Joined: 26 Jul 2007 Posts: 120

12-Nov-2003

You've noticed that tiny stickers that now appear on almost all
fruit, and probably been annoyed that you have to peel each one off.
These contain bar codes for the check-out clerk, but they also
contain a secret the store might not want you to know.

Nutritionist Karma Metzgar of the University of Missouri writes that
these stickers also tell you if the fruit is organic or genetically-
modified. On conventionally-grown, non-organic fruit, the sticker has
only 4 numbers. Organically grown fruit has a five-numeral code,
which begins with the number 9. Since organic fruits and vegetables
now have to be in separate areas in grocery stores, this confirms
that your apple hasn't ended up in the wrong pile. However, the store
does not have to reveal which fruits and vegetables are genetically-
modified-but you can find out by looking at their stickers, which
will begin with the number 8.

According to Metzgar, this means a regular banana would have a
sticker saying 4011, an organic banana would say 94011 and a GM
banana would say 84011.

Lots of people complain that the stickers are too hard to peel off,
so it may be a relief to know that the adhesive is safe to eat.

http://www.unknowncountry.com/news/?id=3314

Archived from group: alt>animals>ethics>vegetarian

pearl · Joined: 26 Jul 2007 Posts: 120

"Jonathan Ball" wrote in message$sb4.9653@newsread2.news.pas.earthlink.net...

> Currently, there are two possible errors:
> misidentifying organic produce as conventional, which
> grocers have an incentive not to do (immediate monetary
> loss); and misidentifying conventional produce as
> organic, which is against the law.

And a third- having no way of identifying genetically
modified produce, which grocers and the industry have
an incentive not to do (immediate monetary loss).

> The thrust of the article ... posted is
> that grocers somehow want to fool consumers into
> thinking that conventional produce is organic, or at
> least allow them to think it.

The thrust of the article posted is to give shoppers
information so that they can distinguish between
conventional and GM produce, not that anybody
somehow wants to fool consumers into thinking that
conventional produce is organic, but that GM produce
is conventional, or at least allow them to think it.
(Clue, look at the title of the article)

> Organic
> produce in supermarkets is clearly marked as organic,
> for the aforementioned incentive (get more money for
> it). There isn't a shopper anywhere who doesn't know
> that if it doesn't say organic, it isn't organic.

Genetically modified produce is not clearly marked as GM.
for the aforementioned reason (get less, or no, money for it).

> >>pearl wrote:
> >>
> >>
> >>>12-Nov-2003
> >>>
> >>>You've noticed that tiny stickers that now appear on almost all
> >>>fruit, and probably been annoyed that you have to peel each one off.
> >>>These contain bar codes for the check-out clerk, but they also
> >>>contain a secret the store might not want you to know.

> >>The stickers do NOT contain bar codes. They contain an
> >>eye-readable numeric code that the grocery clerk must
> >>manually into the terminal.

Splitting hairs.

> >>>Nutritionist Karma Metzgar of the University of Missouri writes that
> >>>these stickers also tell you if the fruit is organic or genetically-
> >>>modified. On conventionally-grown, non-organic fruit, the sticker has
> >>>only 4 numbers. Organically grown fruit has a five-numeral code,
> >>>which begins with the number 9. Since organic fruits and vegetables
> >>>now have to be in separate areas in grocery stores, this confirms
> >>>that your apple hasn't ended up in the wrong pile. However, the store
> >>>does not have to reveal which fruits and vegetables are genetically-
> >>>modified-but you can find out by looking at their stickers, which
> >>>will begin with the number 8.
> >>>
> >>>According to Metzgar, this means a regular banana would have a
> >>>sticker saying 4011, an organic banana would say 94011 and a GM
> >>>banana would say 84011.
> >>>
> >>>Lots of people complain that the stickers are too hard to peel off,
> >>>so it may be a relief to know that the adhesive is safe to eat.
> >>>
> >>>http://www.unknowncountry.com/news/?id=3314
> >>>
> >>>
> >>
> >
> >
>

pearl · Joined: 26 Jul 2007 Posts: 120

Genetically Modified Foods Have Serious Health Risks
The Science Behind the Anti-biotech Movement
by Jeffrey M. Smith
Conscious Choice, November 2003

In the summer of 2002, the British government sponsored the first-ever
research on genetically modified food (GMOs) using human subjects.
Researchers fed seven volunteers a single meal of soy burgers and soy
milkshakes. The soy was genetically modified, as are 80 percent of the
soybeans planted in the US.

The volunteers were selected because they had all previously had their
lower intestines removed and were using a colostomy bag -- the bag
collected digested material after it passed through the small intestine.
Researchers were surprised to discover that in every case, a large
amount of genetically modified DNA survived digestion and remained
intact. (Biotech companies had insisted that DNA is broken down.)
Moreover, the modified gene from the soybean transferred into DNA
of bacteria inside the gut of three volunteers. Their intestinal bacteria,
like GMO soybeans, contained a foreign gene that allowed the bacteria to
survive a dose of weed killer. No one knows what the health consequences
of this are.

Scientists are more concerned about a related danger. Most genetically
engineered crops contain an antibiotic resistant marker (ARM) gene.
These allow the cells to survive an otherwise deadly application of
antibiotics. The ARM gene used in GMO corn, for example, confers
resistance to the antibiotic, ampicillin.

What if an ARM gene jumped from our corn muffins into our gut bacteria?
Could bacteria in our body become resistant to antibiotics?

The British Medical Association thinks so and cited this serious risk as one
of their reasons for wanting an immediate moratorium on genetically engineered
foods.

Likewise, when FDA scientists were asked in 1992 to approve ARM genes
in the first GMO crop, a tomato (no longer on the market), they were against it.
The director of the Division of Anti-infective Drug Products wrote in all capital
letters:

"IT WOULD BE A SERIOUS HEALTH HAZARD TO INTRODUCE A
GENE THAT CODES FOR ANTI-BIOTIC RESISTANCE INTO THE
NORMAL FLORA OF THE GENERAL POPULATION." Political
appointees overrode the scientists' recommendations and approved ARM
genes, siding with the biotech industry that assured them that DNA was
destroyed during digestion, and that genes could not transfer to gut bacteria.
Having disproved these assumptions, the soy burger study raises a more
serious threat. Before inserting a foreign gene, engineers attach a promoter
to keep the gene permanently switched on. Promoters overpower the cells'
regulatory system, which normally turn on genes only as needed. But
promoters can sometimes unintentionally switch on other naturally occurring
genes in the DNA, causing them to pump out potentially toxic or allergenic
proteins. Scientists are afraid that if these promoters transferred to bacteria
or internal organs, they might turn genes on at random or create unstable DNA.

Stanley Ewen, one of Scotland's leading experts in tissue disease, believes
that promoters might generate uncontrolled cell growth that could theoretically
lead to cancer. Evidence of unusually high cell growth in the digestive tract of
animals was discovered in three of the ten published animal feeding studies on
GMO foods. (Two showed increased cell growth. One showed increased
weight of the intestines. The other seven were not necessarily designed to
detect such changes.) In addition to the cell growth, a study published in the
prestigious Lancet found that young GMO-fed rats also had more sluggish
immune systems, partial atrophy of the liver, and smaller brains, livers, and
testicles.

Researchers believe that the unstable, unregulated, and aggressive promoter
may be the culprit.

In the absence of long-term safety tests, many people avoid eating GMO foods.
The four main GMO crops (unless labeled organic or non-GMO) are soy, corn,
cottonseed oil, and canola oil. Monsanto is now trying to introduce GMO wheat.

Jeffrey Smith is author of Seeds of Deception: Exposing Industry and
Government Lies about the Safety of the Genetically Engineered Foods
You're Eating. To order, call 888-717-7000, or click here.

http://www.consciouschoice.com/issues/cc1611/gmofoodrisk1611.html

ta · Joined: 26 Jul 2007 Posts: 7

"pearl" wrote in message$pf7$1@kermit.esat.net...
> 12-Nov-2003
>
> You've noticed that tiny stickers that now appear on almost all
> fruit, and probably been annoyed that you have to peel each one off.
> These contain bar codes for the check-out clerk, but they also
> contain a secret the store might not want you to know.
>
> Nutritionist Karma Metzgar of the University of Missouri writes that
> these stickers also tell you if the fruit is organic or genetically-
> modified. On conventionally-grown, non-organic fruit, the sticker has
> only 4 numbers. Organically grown fruit has a five-numeral code,
> which begins with the number 9. Since organic fruits and vegetables
> now have to be in separate areas in grocery stores, this confirms
> that your apple hasn't ended up in the wrong pile. However, the store
> does not have to reveal which fruits and vegetables are genetically-
> modified-but you can find out by looking at their stickers, which
> will begin with the number 8.
>
> According to Metzgar, this means a regular banana would have a
> sticker saying 4011, an organic banana would say 94011 and a GM
> banana would say 84011.
>
> Lots of people complain that the stickers are too hard to peel off,
> so it may be a relief to know that the adhesive is safe to eat.
>
> http://www.unknowncountry.com/news/?id=3314

Very interesting to know, especially for those who don't have access to
stores/farmer's markets that simply don't carry genetically modified foods.

pearl · Joined: 26 Jul 2007 Posts: 120

"ta" wrote in message $f8.217@bignews1.bellsouth.net...
>
> "pearl" wrote in message
> $pf7$1@kermit.esat.net...
> > 12-Nov-2003
> >
> > You've noticed that tiny stickers that now appear on almost all
> > fruit, and probably been annoyed that you have to peel each one off.
> > These contain bar codes for the check-out clerk, but they also
> > contain a secret the store might not want you to know.
> >
> > Nutritionist Karma Metzgar of the University of Missouri writes that
> > these stickers also tell you if the fruit is organic or genetically-
> > modified. On conventionally-grown, non-organic fruit, the sticker has
> > only 4 numbers. Organically grown fruit has a five-numeral code,
> > which begins with the number 9. Since organic fruits and vegetables
> > now have to be in separate areas in grocery stores, this confirms
> > that your apple hasn't ended up in the wrong pile. However, the store
> > does not have to reveal which fruits and vegetables are genetically-
> > modified-but you can find out by looking at their stickers, which
> > will begin with the number 8.
> >
> > According to Metzgar, this means a regular banana would have a
> > sticker saying 4011, an organic banana would say 94011 and a GM
> > banana would say 84011.
> >
> > Lots of people complain that the stickers are too hard to peel off,
> > so it may be a relief to know that the adhesive is safe to eat.
> >
> > http://www.unknowncountry.com/news/?id=3314
>
> Very interesting to know, especially for those who don't have access to
> stores/farmer's markets that simply don't carry genetically modified foods.

*Very much* so.

Vicky Conlan · Joined: 26 Jul 2007 Posts: 14

According to :
>According to Metzgar, this means a regular banana would have a
>sticker saying 4011, an organic banana would say 94011 and a GM
>banana would say 84011.

My banana sticker just says "Dole" and "Honduras" on it.
Nice a place as any to be unemployed, I guess ...

--
http://comps.org/ http://comps-offline.co.uk/ http://comps-online.co.uk/

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