Unilever has since discontinued the products. At Sainsbury's and Safeway supermarkets in Britain, genetically modified tomato paste, introduced in 1996, initially outsold the conventional variety but was discontinued this year in the face of rising consumer resistance. In the United States, the FDA requires labeling only if added genes change a food's nutritional features, for example by enhancing vitamin content or adding a potential allergen. These crops have been altered not to add nutrition but to help farmers by resisting herbicide sprays or producing toxins that kill insect pests. These three crops show up in a multitude of foods.
Corn is a primary ingredient in many chips, tortillas and breakfast cereals.
Corn sweeteners are used in sodas and fruit drinks, spaghetti sauce, pancake syrup, hot dogs and even salsa. Cottonseed, soy and corn oils turn up in bread, salad dressing, granola bars, cake mixes, and hydrogenated peanut butter. Some of these products may, in fact, not contain genetically modified ingredients. Though skeptics concede that there have been no known health problems from genetically modified food, they contend that the FDA's labeling standards aren't rigorous enough. Drawing inspiration from the European Union, where activists have been instrumental in raising consumer resistance, U.S. critics have in recent months coalesced around the issue of labeling and are becoming increasingly vocal.