Biotechnology. Genetic Engineering. Recombinant DNA Technology. These phrases all mean the same thing: Genetic Modification. And GM foods are more common than you think. What it means to be GM is that the genetic makeup of the food was directly altered through genetic engineering. More specifically, the rDNA of the food is altered. When you walk through a grocery, you can try to buy something that is not GM, but it may be a little hard. GM does not flat out have a warning that says "CAUTION: THIS FOOD IS GENETICALLY MODIFIED". You have to know what to look for and read the ingredients. Here is an example of what you might see:











If your food product contains any of the following, then make sure to double check whether the ingredients label includes a note that says if it was genetically modified.

• Corn
• Canoloa (edible oil mainly used for cooking)
  
• Flax (a plant used for clothing, seeds and such)
• Soybeans
• Squash
• Potatoes
• Tomatoes
  

So I put myself to the test. When my roommate and I went grocery shopping at Publix, I bought the food I normally would, except this time I wanted to buy everything free of genetic modification. My conclusion? It was pretty hard. I had to buy a specific type of milk made by Silk. The chips I had to buy . Cheese wasn't really a problem, but anything with soybeans, which is a lot of food, I had to surpass. Corn was an option, it was just really hard to find a can of all natural corn.


Resources:
http://www.faqs.org/nutrition/Foo-Hea/Genetically-Modified-Foods.html
http://home.cc.umanitoba.ca/~umwaldn6/PLNT4600/mini3/GM%20label.jpg (picture)