Petition
Stop Selling Toxic GMO Potatoes and Unlabeled GMOs
In 2013, Whole Foods Market announced that by 2018, all products in U.S. and Canada stores would be required to be labeled if they contain genetically modified organisms (GMOs).
“We are putting a stake in the ground on GMO labeling to support the consumer’s right to know,” said Walter Robb, co-CEO of Whole Foods Market, in a 2013 press release. “The prevalence of GMOs in the U.S. paired with nonexistent mandatory labeling makes it very difficult for retailers to source non-GMO options and for consumers to choose non-GMO products. Accordingly, we are stepping up our support of certified organic agriculture, where GMOs are not allowed, and we are working together with our supplier partners to grow our non-GMO supply chain to ensure we can continue to provide these choices in the future.”
Then, when 2018 came around, Whole Foods Market, now owned by Amazon, dropped its commitment to consumers’ right to know about GMOs.
A new wave of toxic GMOs have been commercialized, and Whole Foods Market is doing nothing about it.
Are the potatoes in Whole Foods’ produce section genetically modified organisms (GMOs)? According to the store’s website, they very well might be. Whole Foods Market is not labeling its GMO potatoes. The only “shopping tip” the store offers is to “Choose organic if concerned.”
As a Whole Foods shopper, this is very disturbing to me. Dr. Caius Rommens, the genetic engineer who worked for Monsanto before creating GMO potatoes for Simplot, just published a new book, Pandora’s Potatoes: The Worst GMOs.
Dr. Rommens says GMO potatoes are the worst GMOs because they are weak varieties and because they are likely to accumulate toxins that are absent in normal potatoes.
In his book, Dr. Rommens reveals that “none of my modifications improved potato’s vigor or yield potential. In contrast, most GMO varieties were stunted, chlorotic, mutated, or sterile, and many of them died quickly, like prematurely-born babies.”
The main selling point of the GMO potato is that is has been engineered to stay white. It doesn’t turn green, brown or black when bruised, cooked or infected with pathogens.
That’s great for anyone who wants to sell white mashed potatoes and unblemished french fries and potato chips. For the consumer, however, this means that these perfect-looking potato products could actually be secretly harboring toxins, pathogens or allergens that have been hidden by the genetic modification.
In fact, the genetically engineered trait that keeps the potato from turning green, brown or black actually increases certain toxins, including:
Alpha-aminoadipate a known neurotoxin with links to a variety of diet-related diseases, including diabetes, Alzheimer’s, and cancer.
Tyramine, which can accumulate in the blood of sensitive populations and potentially cause high blood pressure, raising the risk of heart attack, stroke, kidney failure, and other problems.
Chaconine-malonyl, a derivative of glycoalkaloid toxins which can cause numerous health issues, including nausea, vomiting and neurological effects.
This is not a product that should be sold at Whole Foods Market. It definitely shouldn’t be sold unlabeled.
All GMOs present dangers. The vast majority of GMOs are harmful because they have been engineered to absorb Monsanto’s carcinogenic glyphosate-based Roundup weedkiller. There are also GMOs that produce their own genetically engineered insecticide.
Whole Foods shouldn’t sell the GMO potato or any other GMO.
