The Need for Labeling GMOs

The fact that so much of the heavy metal nickel is in our food should be alarming! We all need to be able to make informed decisions about what we are eating. Labeling genetically modified foods is the beginning to understanding more about what we are eating. This is why I voted for Oregon Initiative 92.

Told to eat healthy I gorged on beans, leafy greens, oatmeal, nuts and so many other foods that contain high concentrations of nickel in college. In 2009, my eating habits and stress led to my eczema ragging out of control and I was diagnosed with a nickel food allergy.

The fact that so much of the heavy metal nickel is in our food should be alarming!

An increase in the amount of nickel in the environment is a result of human activity, particularly combustion of fossil fuels, mining and smelting, electroplating, incineration of sewage sludge, chemical manufacturing containing nickel compounds or the use of fertilisers from water treatment plants.

When I eat foods with high concentrations of nickel, it results in a severe eczema reaction. Soy has high concentrations of nickel and is one the most prevalent GMOs (genetically modified organism). Since soy is in so many processed foods it makes it difficult to avoid.

Consumers like myself need to be able to make informed decisions about our food. We should have the choice to eat foods that are not genetically modified or engineered foods. We need to label genetically engineered foods so that we can make informed decisions.

This is why I voted for Oregon Initiative 92, which

Requires food manufacturers, retailers to label ‘genetically engineered’ foods as such, citizens may enforce:

Result of “Yes” Vote: “Yes” vote requires the labeling of raw and packaged foods produced entirely or partially by “genetic engineering,” effective January 2016; applies to retailers, suppliers, manufacturers.

Result of “No” Vote: “No” vote retains existing law, which does not require “genetically engineered” food to be labeled as such.

There is no scientific data showing a correlation between GMOs and genetically engineered foods causing my unique nickel food allergy. However, I believe the engineered modifications to our food over the last several decades have resulted in harmful effects on everyone’s health, including my own.

We all need to be able to make informed decisions about what we are eating. Labeling genetically modified foods is the beginning to understanding more about what we are eating.

It will enable us to understand how GMOs affect food allergies as a whole including my own nickel food allergy.

1 comment
  1. Why do you believe GMO foods harm your health? ALL domesticated animals are genetically modified, through selective breeding over generations. As a scientist with a nickel allergy there is no reason to confound nickel allergy and GMO. Almost all soy is GMO, and so is high in nickel, and so is organic soy. Most seeds accumulate high amounts of nutrients, this concentrating of nutrients for the next generation will result in high nickel, cadmium, lead if in the soil, in addition to beneficial nutrients.

    Great research on nickel, other than GMO confounding. That is not to say GMO foods shouldn’t be labeled but there is alot of negative press and lumping all GMO together is just poor thinking. GMO can be used to make herbicides selective (as much GMO soy is) or to improve nutrition, drought, or disease resistance aren’t these good things?

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

You May Also Like