Infant formula hides GMO risks, did you know?
Text by Huang Jialin (member of the Campus Lunch Go Non-GMO Action Team)
The Food and Drug Administration has just announced that it will ban the promotion of infant formula through "open-can prices" to compete for customers. After the policy was announced, it sparked a public backlash, with parents discussing online how the government is depriving parents who have no choice but to use formula milk of the "small happiness" they enjoy when making purchases. Setting aside whether restricting formula milk marketing practices can really promote breastfeeding, when caring for the little ones at home, parents should understand the inner workings of the infant and young child food industry. For example, the hidden presence of genetically modified ingredients in formula milk is a fact that most parents overlook.
GM soybeans and corn in milk powder
For the sake of their children's growth and development, many parents compare the nutritional content of formula milk powders from multiple sources. If they examine the ingredient labels more carefully, they can see items such as soybean oil, corn oil, canola oil, corn syrup, soy lecithin, soy protein isolate, modified starch and maltodextrin. These ingredients are mostly made from GM crops.
For example: modified starch, often added to milk powder as a thickener, may come from GM corn; while maltodextrin, used to increase volume and prevent milk powder from clumping, is often refined and dried from GM soybeans or corn. The source of dairy products may also be milk produced by cows injected with the GM growth hormone rBGH.
References
1. Are There GMOs Hiding in "Natural" Food and Baby Formula?
2. Statement: No Scientific Consensus on GMO Safety
3. Portland Infant Formula Has Pesticide-resistant GMOs
4. 3 Companies Using GMOs in Baby Formula
6. Abbott Rejects Shareholder Call for GMO Labeling on Its Products