You’re probably familiar to some degree with GMOs in human grade food such as corn, diary, soy etc. but are you aware that genetically modified foods are also effecting the world of our pets? Did you know that GMOs are now in many pet food brands?
We’ll go into some of the areas you need to watch regarding GMO ingredients in your pet’s food with the help of Dr Patricia Jordan but firstly we’ll look at why you need know and what you need to know.
For those of you not familiar with Dr Jordan’s excellent work she is a certified licensed veterinarian and a naturopath that has also been through certification programs in Nutrition and in homeopathy and Chinese Medicine as well as Eastern, Western, Chinese, Ayurveda Herbalism so pretty much a planetary herbalist. She has a worldwide consultation service that helps pet parents everywhere get access to natural medicines and nutrition information and she keeps her finger on the pulse of important topics that affect both human and animal health.
How is GMO affecting food?
GMOs are affecting food sources by causing those that directly eat genetically modified foods and then up the food chain, to be “reprogrammed” with laboratory engineered genes that were artificially forced into crops.
Recently in 2011 (published in 2012) a team of scientists found the mechanism of how this happens to mammals. It was found that GMO foods alter organ functions and pose a threat to health.
There are certain “biomarkers” that are actively secreted from cells and tissues that serve as the conduits for disease. Normal inter-cellular communications are affected and Micro RNA (molecules within gene expression) can reprogram how our mammalian genes express and preform.
The “reprogramming” by laboratory engineered genes is so powerful that they’ve been shown to change critical biological processes, effecting and influencing areas such as cancer development, immune response, to even the ability of our cells and tissues to know their identity and function!
GMO Pet Foods
In the US there are many pet food companies currently being sued for containing GMO ingredients found to cause cancer and responsible for chronic diseases in our pets. Avoid GMOs where you can because this is what everybody doesn’t need in their own food nor their pets. How the majority of this has come about is through food/pet food manufacturers using genetically engineered cereals or low cost ingredients in their foods.
So you’re aware, another name to know is GE (not General Electric) but genetically engineered as it is again a GMO.
Genetically Modified or Genetically Engineered foods are associated with causing cancers and being behind chronic disease such as liver and renal damage, digestive issues, immune problems and autism in dogs. (1)
Look below for the most common engineered ingredients found in pet foods. Sadly these ingredients are in many commercial pet food brands and are behind many major health concerns. As the law suits are uncovering, oftentimes products are found to have things in the food that are not actually listed on the labeling. It makes you wonder why a company would hide or deliberately make the decision to omit a full and comprehensive list of all ingredients.
How GMOs make their way into the food chain is this: Generally the farmers/growers that produce GMO crops sell the food to livestock and poultry feed companies and other companies including many large pet food manufacturers. Chains of engineered foods begin their journey not only into your pet’s everyday diet but into your’s too by the meat sources your and your pet are eating, as more and more farmed animals are being feed GMO foods as their main meals. Sadly it’s highly likely that farmed animals that are not raised as “grass-fed” and labelled as such are probably “GMO feed”.
As you can imagine all this goes against the laws of natural selection and can only have a very bad ending in sight. We’re not just talking about allergies, but chronic diseases such as cancer.
As independent researchers like Dr. Stephanie Seneff from MIT, are pointing out, we can no longer ignore what is actually happening as the initial unintended consequences of engineering foods are no longer looking inconsequential. Instead what’s becoming evident is that the side effects of GMO foods for both humans and pets and animals in general are looking lethal.
GMOs have been found to have such bad consequences in affecting a food’s actual/natural nutritional value, having an impact on toxins and allergic effects that they’ve been banned in 38 countries, 28 of which are in Europe.(2) Yet, the Americas continue to be big producers and consumers of GMO’s.
In order to help yourself and your pet, become a label expert. Know how to read labels correctly and look for those products that are labelled non-GMO.
Non-GMO labeling sadly doesn’t exist in Argentina but some simple rules to apply are these:
- The general rule of thumb is the first five ingredients are the most important and in ranked order. So you know you’re buying a good pet food the top ingredient should be the actual meat/protein source and not a by-product. By reviewing the top ingredients you’ll quickly begin to know whether a pet food and you’re food, is likely to have GMOs.
- Try to avoid foods that contain grains and cereals unless they are labelled organic and non-gmo.
- Try to avoid foods where you’re not sure what the ingredient is. If you’re having to scratch your head to think what an ingredient is, then it’s highly unlikely it’s natural.
Top 5 GMO foods found in commercial pet foods
1) Soy
2) Corn
3) Beets
4) Rice
5) Canola
Other potential ingredients you may come across in pet food that are also often genetically modified are vegetable oils made from corn and canola, soy protein, lecithin (product from soy), and sugar beets (beet pulp in some pet foods).
Consequences of GMO in cat and dog food?
Playing around with what should have remained the natural selection of the genes most likely to survive is really a game of Russian Roulette. It is a lethal game of chance that has been applied to our crops, to the foods we feed the animals, that then feed us, or the foods we feed our companion animals. All this can indeed bring about a lethal result. At the very least, genetic engineering is imprecise and unpredictable and just like the game of Russian roulette, can be unpredictably lethal.
Genetically engineering our foods has brought about some very unexpected consequences, not merely changing nutrient profiles in unexpected directions, but affecting what should have been natural selection and survival of the fittest.
Genetic engineering is genetically unstable and the unintended consequences like toxicities are emerging daily. Unfortunately the USA has now allowed Genetically Engineered alfalfa to be given as feed which is a very big deal, as so many of our food animals use alfalfa as part of their diet.
Laboratory studies have been done that show tumors in rats fed GE foods and not only that, they actually developed cancer faster and had higher mortality rates than rats feed on a standard diet.
Unfortunately, the biotech companies that profit from getting these GMO GE crops into the market are not required to do safety studies of significant length nor are they required to have independent third party studies. Finally the last nail in the coffin of oversight, remains the lack of proper labeling so that we’re totally unaware if or when a GE or GMO food is being used but it’s been estimated that 70% off all processed food contain GMOS. Added to this, we’ve also got to consider the effects of the generically modified vaccines that are used on farmed animals that work their way up the food chain as well.
It has been reported that “Almost every independent animal feeding safety study has shown adverse or unexplained effects of GM foods, including: Inflammation and abnormal cell growth (possibly pre-cancerous) in the stomach and small intestines; abnormal development, inflammation, and cellular changes in the liver, kidney, testicles, heart, pancreas, brain; and poor growth and higher mortalities than normal.
Researchers have found that unlike conventionally bred crops, “GM varieties are intrinsically unstable and prone to spontaneous mutations. When mutations occur, you can never know if what is being grown, harvested, processed, and consumed is really safe and nutritious.” To read the full article click here.
How to Avoid GMOs
Don’t you think you should know what is in your food or what’s been feed to the animals you eat? Or have full visibility of the ingredients in your pet’s food? Should any living creature have laboratories force the genes of one species into another?
We ideally need foods to be labeled properly and comprehensively. What you need to know, are which foods both you and your pet are eating whereby you’re feeding yourself and your cat or dog GMO foods.
This is important as “science” is telling us eating GMOs is not safe, comes with strong consequences that affect yours and your pet’s health, genomes and microbiome. It doesn’t take a giant leap to understand that if it can effect rats so dramatically then it’s going to effect us in pretty much the same way.
The best way to help your pet and yourself is to become a label expert, look for foods that are properly labeled with ingredients you can understand. Feed human grade foods whereby you know the “feed” is certified non gmo food. Or feed your pet a food that is prepared fresh and from non GMO fed animals. If these are not an option to you then try to select grain free pet foods or go for those pet foods where the possibility of exposure to GMO foods is limited to the ingredients at the bottom of a product’s ingredient listing and not the top.
Understand and investigate which brands are using those foods/ingredients that are highly likely to fall within the GMO food list above.
Start to think about the “source” of yours and your pet’s food and don’t be afraid to start asking about the source of your products. The more we as consumers asked if the meat etc. has come from certified non-gmo organic farms, the more the big supermarket chains will investigate the viability of getting those products on the shelf.
Ultimately, the best non GMO foods to feed your pet are those foods that have been unaltered and are free from pesticides and herbicides. Try to source your food from local small coop farmers who farm sustainably, don’t use engineered pesticides or herbicides and are not feeding their animals genetically engineered feeds.
If you want more in depth reading then pick up these two books written by the very passionate Jeffrey Smith. His books titled “Seeds of Deception” and a second one titled “Genetic Roulette” along with his annual conference, updates the public on the harm done by GE GMO crops. His work shows how the wool is being pulled over our eyes, oh yes, did I forget to mention even cotton is a GMO crop? https://responsibletechnology.org/listen-to-jeffrey-smiths-latest-interview-on-gmos/
