Tag: Non GMO Project Verified

Whole Foods Wake-up: Salsa GMO vs Non-GMO

Non GMO Project verified

While shopping at Whole Foods Market this morning, on the salsa shelves, I noticed that only two of the Whole Foods 365 brand (non-organic) salsa were verified by the Non GMO project. Hmm, why only two? What was up with the 4 or 5 other flavors?

So, I looked at the labels of the 365 Black Bean & Corn and the 365 Tequila Lime, the latter of which was GMO-free verified. (Note: I saw only the paper verification tag under each product; there wasn’t any notification on the actual label)

Click the photo to view each jars’ ingredients
365 salsa gmo or not??

365 Black Bean & Corn Salsa Ingredients

(probable/possible GMO ingredient bolded)
Diced tomatoes, water, tomato paste, black beans, onions, corn, jalapeno peppers, green chiles, distilled vinegar, sugar, salt, dehydrated garlic, cilantro, citric acid, basil, oregano, natural flavor

365 Tequila Lime Salsa Ingredients

(without distilled vinegar and citric acid)
Diced tomatoes, water, jalapeno peppers, tomato concentrate, sugar, salt, dehydrated onions, onions, lime juice, cilantro, dehydrated garlic, coriander, natural flavors

Hmm, no actual tequila in this salsa? Funny, must be in the “natural flavors” sigh.

Why Such a Fuss Over GMO

Anyway, my point is, Whole Foods Market makes such a big fuss over a selected few products being verified for the non-GMO project, but in reality, most of their non-organic products don’t qualify!

Why only 2 flavors of salsa? Why not take the extra step and use non-GMO ingredients for all flavors? It’s not that difficult to do.

Maybe it’s a marketing ploy. (It’s how Kashi/Kelloggs plays.) If WF verifies only 2 flavors out of 6, maybe when the customer sees the little “non-GMO Project Verified” tag, they won’t notice or realize the other flavors don’t meet non-GMO standards.

Or maybe it’s just that they need to keep their prices as low as possible, trying to distance themselves from the “Whole Paycheck” moniker. But while keeping their prices are low, are they any better than General Mills or Kraft? Sadly, no. Whole Foods Market is getting more and more like conventional Big Food every day.

Years ago, Whole Foods Market used to mean trust-worthy, quality, safe ingredients. It’s unfortunate that they are slowly sliding away from those qualities for more profits and sales.

See all posts in my Whole Foods Wake-up series.

Whole Foods Wake-Up: GMO Ketchup

I admit I was one of the biggest Whole Foods Market groupies. Visiting to one of their stores was like going to church. But the delusion is over, at least for me. I still shop there, but my eyes are open and I diligently read labels.

I think what really set me over the edge was California’s Prop 37 for Genetically Modified (GMO) food labeling and the fact that Whole Foods Market was virtually silent. They pretended to care at the last minute, but Really! Whole Foods doesn’t want GMO labeling any more than other Big Food companies like General Mills, Kelloggs, and Pepsi. If a law like that passed, they would be forced to share with all of us (including their millions of blind-trusting shoppers) that a good chunk of their products do indeed include GMO ingredients.

Non GMO Project verified

Case in point, their 365 house-brand ketchup.

A few days ago, I noticed their organic ketchup had the “Non GMO Verified” paper tag under it. Well duh! It’s organic! GMO ingredients are not allowed in any organic foods, so it’s really irrelevant, but that verification label sure does look good, doesn’t it?

Then I glanced to the left, and noticed the non-organic Ketchup did not have the certified GMO free tag. Hmm, why? What’s in ketchup that could be GMO? And there it was: Distilled White Vinegar, made from cheap GMO corn.

(click for larger view)
whole foods ketchup organic vs regular

Notice that only the organic version has the little blurb about how their “private label products are formulated to avoid genetically engineered ingredients” – those words are missing from the label on their regular ketchup.

What I’d like to know are are there any non-organic 365 branded foods that are GMO Free? And I don’t mean single-ingredient foods like rice or beans.

I’d like to see a 365 product that specifically includes some form of corn or soy that is on their Non-GMO verified list. Perhaps there is one, perhaps there isn’t. I’ll be sure to keep looking!

See all posts in my Whole Foods Wake-up series.