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Genetically Modified Chocolate!
Consumers in Brazil can now eat Hershey's M & M's without fear of genetically modified ingredients. Several weeks ago, Hershey's in Brazil announced that it will not use GM (genetically modified)ingredients, including genetically modified beet sugar, in the products it makes in Brazil, but it remains silent about its plans in the US.
United States farmers planted genetically modified sugar beet crops for the first time this year. These Roundup Ready GM sugar beets are genetically altered to resist Monsanto's toxic weed killer, Roundup, and its active ingredient, glyphosate, which has been shown to cause kidney damage and reproductive effects.
If that isn't bad enough... when the USDA first approved the planting of GM sugar beets, the EPA (at the request of Monsanto) also increased the maximum allowable residues of glyphosate on the beet roots, from which sugar is extracted, by a staggering 5,000%!
What this means for consumers is that the more GM ingredients are permitted in our foods, the greater the likelihood that we are ingesting more toxic chemicals. What's worse is that there will be no way to know if we're eating GM beet sugar once it hits the market, which could happen as early as next year, because GM ingredients are NOT labeled.
While I do not endorse adding Hershey's chocolate to the diet, whether genetically modified or not, this is just another indication of how GM foods are slipping onto the store shelves without our knowledge. Chemical companies, like pharmaceutical companies, have huge PAC's (Political Action Committees - Lobbyists) in Washington to sway regulators. As always, follow the money trail.
Once more, it's up to you and me to send letters to these companies asking them to publicly refuse to use genetically modified ingredients in their products. Can you imagine eating M & M's that were spliced with fish genes? Ewww! |
