Next Generation GMOs: Questionable Nanoparticles are in Your Clothes, Organic Food
Are you aware of nanotechnology and nanoparticles? Nanoparticles are tiny—like really tiny. A piece of your hair is about 100,000 nanometers wide; it’s the unit of measurement that your fingernails grow in a single second, but their size isn’t the only problem. Nanoparticles are potentially toxic, according to the Alliance for Natural Health (ANH), and they are found in everything from certified organic foods to clothing.
How nanoparticles ended up in organic foods requires a little bit of background.
Part of the FDA’s job is to regulate food additives, among other things. In 1958, the agency created the GRAS (generally recognized as safe) designation to exempt some foods from needing approval. This meant that foods on the GRAS list were not analyzed by the FDA, but simply “recognized as safe” and not needing further research.
Initially, things like salt and nutmeg were added, but overtime more and more additives were added to the list.
In 1997, the FDA decided to let food makers determine what would be considered GRAS and created a voluntary notification system in which these food producers could inform the FDA of any new additives that they believed belonged in the GRAS group. No rules were really set on how food producers were to make this determination. So, most of them hire someone to say the additive in question is safe, submit a notification to the FDA, and get their additive a spot on the GRAS list.
Since the voluntary notification system was created in 1997, the list has grown by 451 additives. In all, there are more than 4,300 ingredients on the list– ingredients that are “generally recognized as safe” and given the green light to be added to your foods, even your organic foods. Nanoparticles are included.
In 2010, the Government Accountability Office issued a report alleging the FDA was not doing enough to ensure the safety of additives in the food supply. They were motivated in part by the growing use of nanoparticles in our food system. Six recommendations, including that the FDA actually “assess the continued safety of GRAS substances”, were made. To date, none of them have been implemented.
Read: Nanoparticles Could be Giving You Cancer, Nutritional Deficiencies
As ANH reports, engineered nanoparticles (those that are deliberately created rather than naturally produced):
“are more reactive and potentially more toxic; are often less stable; have the potential to pass the blood-brain barrier and the placental barrier; can migrate to different tissues and organs; and can increase the bioavailability of other toxins.”
Though admittedly, the FDA seems to be focusing on nanotechnology more than before:
“At this point, in terms of the science, we think it’s likely the exemption does not apply and we would encourage folks to come in and talk to us…This is an emerging, evolving technology and we’re trying to get ahead of the curb to ensure the ingredients and substances are safe,” said Dennis Keefe, director of FDA’s office of food additive safety.
The federal government has misplaced trust in the food industry, or simply turns a blind eye to their transgressions. Like genetically modified foods, nanoparticles are being warned against based on the lack of thorough safety (in addition to the known complications). Similarly, nanotechnology is believed by some to be the ‘next industrial revolution’, but like genetically modified foods, it has never been proven totally safe for use or consumption.
The Alliance for Natural Health has created an Action Alert to “Tell the USDA that Nanotechnology Has No Place in Organic Foods.” You can do your part by taking action.
How is this article at all useful if it doesn’t reveal which organically grown foods are subject to nanoparticle pollution? Or are they all in the mix?
Uggg, another thing to worry about. And there are all these supposedly Eco friendly non stick pans. Do those also have nanoparticles? If this article is going to help consumers, can you at least describe what to avoid???
Am I missing something or does this article do nothing more than try to make people fearful of their foods? What the hell ARE nanoparticles… other than really really tiny particles? What KIND of nanoparticles are we talking about? What kinds of foods? What purpose do these “nanoparticles” possibly serve in our foods that would make someone try to put them there? Are we just talking about processed foods or is this something that could affect more natural foods like produce and meats? Shame on you for putting out this article. I find most of your articles to be quite useful but this article should never have been published. Try doing some more research next time you want to discuss this topic!!
Try researching on how Morgellon’s disease is caused (worm like fibers deep in the flesh that spring out of the pores and other openings of the body). I read that there are more than 12,000 people suffering from Morgellon’s …(this number is for America plus there are others around the world)… and doctors have no cure for it except natural therapy and a very powerful herb. I do feel sad for these suffering folks.
Wisdom you could have put a little more info in your comment. LIKE where these are coming from…chemtrails, the geoengineering program in our atmosphere. They are spraying our skies with these nano particles to reflect the sunlight that all living things need. Problem is they all fall to the ground, destroying our soils, water, and health. Try checking your windows and windshields when the sun hits them directly. You’ll be shocked to see all the “nano” particles that look like colored glitter. You can’t see any of this unless the sun hits directly on the glass. Take a picture and zoom in on it on the computer, pretty scary. We breathe this stuff everytime we walk out the door. Pay attention to commercials and shows on TV, even the news. They will show a streak of sunlight and it is full of these colored particles, only huge. They are photoshopped in. They want us to know without telling us. There are thousands of YouTube videos from all over the world showing chemtrails and chem clouds. LOOK UP, watch the sky, nothing is natural anymore. They are controlling the weather. Do some research on chemtrails, geoengineering. Many, many websites, many states have a sky watch website. There are gov articles and patents, research, research, research! People need to wake up! No one seems to watch the skies anymore, this is being done right before our eyes but no one looks! Geoengineering watch dot org is a good place to look at. Lots to learn from there. Wake up people this is not good for our health!
I’m sorry but you need to read the article again. Once again companies are putting substances (i.e. nanoparticles) into your food for primarily increasing the shelf life or in a nieve attempt to increase the nutritional content without proper testing and all you say is I don’t know what nanoparticles are!?! Wake-up!
Nano is a unit of measure means tiny tiny bacteria many different tyes of bacteria man made. Mycoplasma Is one type
………… P.S. Why is there an ad for BayerCorpScience on a site that promotes natural and organic foods? ………..
Ever heard of Tares (Darnell) among the Wheat)??? That’s what we have among us today and it is difficult to distinguish these unless we are alert AT ALL TIMES to what is happening around us.
Beware of Gliblesnerks added to your food. I won’t tell you what a gliblesnerk is, how it occurs, how it gets into your food, but beware! This article was worthless.