Unhealthy Food

According to GMO Compass, one in five people believe they suffer from a food allergy/intolerance. Rates of Celiac Disease,an intolerance of gluten, has been on the rise. "Since 1974, in the U.S., the incidence of the disorder has doubled every 15 years. Using blood samples from more than 3,500 adults, the researchers found that the number of people with blood markers for celiac disease increased steadily from one in 501 in 1974 to one in 219 in 1989. In 2003, a widely cited study conducted by the celiac research center placed the number of people with celiac disease in the U.S. at one in 133," according to Science Blog. The rate of childhood peanut allergies has also more than tripled since 1997, according to Science Daily.

What is going on? It's not an easy question to answer but more and more researchers are wondering about what is happening to the safety of our food supply. One such researcher is mom and activist, Robyn O'Brien, author of The Unhealthy Truth. A Houston native from a conservative family, this MBA and married mother of four was not someone who gave much thought to what went on inside government agencies or about the additives and chemicals in our food. Until the day her youngest daughter had a violent allergic reaction to eggs, and everything changed. Robyn explains in her book:

"The more I learned, the more overwhelming the problem came to seem. I was stunned at how prevalent food allergies had become in the last ten years - at least one out of every seventeen children under the age of three suffers from them, more than double the number a decade ago. I was even more shocked to realize how little information there was about this rapidly growing condition and to discover corporations with vested interests in the issue were funding - and skewing - what little research was being done. It floored me to learn that the system that was supposed to guarantee us and our families safe, healthy food had broken down a long time ago and had been replaced by a revolving door between the FDA and the very corporations that it's supposed to regulate. In the course of my journey, I've learned a lot. I've discovered that one out of every three U.S. kids currently suffers from allergies, asthma, ADHD, or autism and that the number of children with peanut allergies actually doubled between 1997 and 2002."

What causes these allergies? Proteins in foods that are not recognized by the body are a fundamental cause for allergic reactions. Some have theorized that the increasing genetic modification of our food supply may be a contributing factor - and that allergies will continue to increase in record numbers as these techno-foods flood our supermarkets. According to the Institute for Responsible Technology, soy allergies skyrocketed by 50% in the UK, soon after GM soy was introduced. In fact, cooked GM soy contains as much as 7-times the amount of a known soy allergen.

We all need to learn more about GMOs and how they are impacting our health and the health of our children. We are honored to have Robyn O'Brien as a speaker at the 2011 Natural Living Conference coming up on October 1st in Irvine, CA. We will also have representatives from the Institute for Responsible Technology and Label GMOs on-hand to help answer questions for parents. Join us to learn more and to show your support for food safety!