If your family eats foods that are packaged in bottles, bags or boxes that list ingredients in smallish print on the side or back, some of those ingredients are almost certainly made from GMOs, or genetically modified organisms, unless they are listed as certified organic.

The World Health Organization defines GMOs as “organisms in which the genetic material [DNA] has been altered in such a way that does not occur naturally.”

GMOs are also referred to as GE foods, or genetically engineered foods.

The American Academy of Environmental Physicians is concerned about GMO consumption and has asked physicians to educate their patients, the medical community and the public about possible health risks.

The Canadian Association of Physicians for the Environment (CAPE) has issued a strong position statement on GMOs, calling for continued laboratory research under controlled conditions, but the immediate suspension of the environmental release of GM crops and products and the cancellation of patents for all GM life forms and living processes.

There is a suspicion that the steep rise in allergies and many other health problems is not due solely to environmental irritants, but to GM products, as well.

They feel there needs to be a great deal of research to assure everyone that GM products are safe.

In Canada, we are not very aware of GMOs in our food supply for two compelling reasons.

One, the biotech industry funds universities and research institutions to promote their interests. So we have heard very little about possible dangers related to GMOs.

Two, our North American governments do not require the labeling of GMOs in our food supply as is required in Europe and some other jurisdictions. This is eerily reminiscent of the politics behind the ‘science’ that defended the use of tobacco for so long.

Today, the four most widely grown GM crops are soy, corn, canola and cotton. These crops have been modified to resist herbicides, making their production, for the time being at least, less labour intensive. Since the over-use of herbicides has resulted in the development of herbicide-resistant weeds, farmers must now use more toxic herbicides in order to combat them. Often, the companies that produce the herbicides are the same ones that created the GMOs.

GM sugar beets have recently been approved in North America and sugar from these GMOs will be added to breakfast cereal production. Unless the label states otherwise, the granulated sugar on store shelves may be genetically engineered. It is likely to find its way into your coffee and baking and the treats you make for your children.

Other GM crops in common use today include potatoes, papaya, zucchini and crookneck squash.

Doctors are not the only ones uncomfortable with GMO safety. So far it has come to notice that GM corn has negatively affected the reproductive ability of mice and farmers in the U.S. are reporting fertility/sterility problems with pigs and cows raised on GM corn. Think about the many products derived from corn that are in the foods we eat.

Some GM crops produce a pesticide in every cell of the plant, allowing it to be insect repellent. If targeted insects do not have a healthy food supply and a safe environment in which to live, then the animals that rely on those insects as a food source will not thrive either.

Our endangered species lists are already long.

We need to examine the overall environmental effects these crops and organisms will have on the balance in nature, and more immediately, the effects that GMOs will have on human health.

Industries promoting these technologies are quick to say that GMOs will be able to deliver vitamins to needy populations or enable food to be grown in drought conditions.

But in fact, GMOs are currently grown for the primary purpose of creating demand for specific herbicides.

We ought to heed the advice of our doctors and start looking very closely at what we are feeding our families.

Sheila Pratt is a director of the CEED Centre, a charitable, not-for-profit society dedicated to community education on environment and development.