Frankenfood
by Catherine Haug, November 14, 2012
By now I’m sure you heard that California’s Proposition-37 (the Right to Know Act that would mandate labeling of GMOs in foods) was defeated after a massive outpouring of money from GMO companies like Monsanto and DuPont. But you might be surprised to know who else contributed funds to oppose our right to know.
With the holidays coming up, here are some items you may wish to avoid:
- Libby canned pumpkin,
- Ocean Spray canned cranberry sauce or Craisins,
- Land O’Lakes butter,
- Campbell’s or Swanson chicken & beef broth,
- Campbell’s Cool Whip
- Con-Agra Reddi-Whip
- Idahoan instant mashed potatoes,
- Godiva chocolates,
- Meadow Gold dairy,
- Pepperidge Farm desserts and stuffing mixes.
Curious about more? Interested in boycott? See Companies Fighting Prop-37 and OCA: Boycott Organic-Brand Parent Companies. Below are familiar companies and a few of their brands you can find in our local grocery stores, just in case you want to avoid or boycott them. NOTE: almost all are processed foods and fast-food restaurants. They are not necessarily GMO today, but could be tomorrow. Even some ‘Organic‘ and ‘Natural‘ brands are in the list (indicated as bold-black text), because they are owned by a larger company that supports the use of GMOs.
Companies & Brands that opposed Prop-37
Some of these companies/brands use GMO ingredients, some not yet. But all of them contributed funds to oppose our Right to Know. Some of these brands are ‘Organic‘ or ‘Natural‘ that used to be honest brands, but are now owned by a larger company that supports the use of GMO ingredients.
Download a wallet-sized boycott list of brands that contributed funds to fight our Right to Know: GMO-Labeling Boycott Guide or Poster-size Boycott Guide. And here’s a more comprehensive list:
- Bumble-Bee Foods (Bumble-Bee Tuna, King Oscar, etc.)
- Campbell Soup (Campbell soups, Pepperidge Farm, Prego, Swanson, V8)
- Cargill (Truvia sweetener)
- Coca-Cola (Coca-Cola beverages, Dasani, Evian, Smartwater, Dr. Pepper, Just Juice, Nestea, Monster, Vitaminenergy, Powerade, Minute Made Juices, Capri-Sun, Five Alive)
- Con Agra (Chef Boyardee, Banquet, Egg Beaters, Healthy Choice, Hunt’s, Hunt’s Organic, Snack Pack, Reddi-whip, Wesson, Pam, Hebrew National, Kid Cuisine, Marie Callender’s, Orville Redenbacher’s, Slim Jim)
- Dean Foods (Silk, Meadow Gold, Alta Dena, and more)
- Del Monte (Del Monte brand canned foods)
- Dole (Dole brand canned foods)
- General Mills (Betty Crocker, Bisquick, Gold Medal, Good Earth, Muir Glen, Haägen Daz, Pillsbury, Yoplait, Cheerios, Cinnamon Toast Crunch, Fiber One, Lucky Charms, Nature Valley, Hamburger Helper)
- Godiva Chocolates
- Heinz (Heinz, Classico, OreIda brands)
- Hershey (Hershey, Almond Joy, Reese’s, Mounds, Kit Kat, York, Twizzlers)
- Hormel (Spam, Sloppy.Joe, Jennie-O, Dinty Moore, Chi-Chi’s, Di-Lusso, Stagg Chili, World Food and more)
- Idahoan (idahoan Instant mashed potatoes, hash browns, and casseroles)
- Inventure Foods (Burger King, T.G.I.Friday’s, Nathan’s Famous Hotdogs)
- J.M. Smucker (Crisco, Dunkin’ Donuts, Folgers, Jif, Adam’s Peanut Butter, Café Bustelo, Crosse & Blackwell, Dickinson’s, Dutch Girl, Eagle Brand, Hungry Jack, Kava, Knott’s Berry Farm, Medaglia D’Oro, MillStone, None Such, Pillsbury, R. W. Knudsen juices, Recharge, Red River, Smucker’s Jams & Preserves, Smucker’s Toppings, Smucker’s Uncrustables, WhiteLily)
- Kellogg (Kellogg breakfast cereals, Cheez-It, Famous Amos, Keebler, Special K, Pringles, Austin, Mother’s Cookies, Carr’s, Gardenburger, Worthington, Frosted Mini-Wheats, Rice Krispies, pop-tarts, Chips Deluxe Cookies, Eggo, All-Bran, Nutri-Grain, Frosted Flakes, Crunch Nut, Krave, Coco Pops, Fruit Loops, Corn Flakes, Corn Pops, TownHouse)
- Kraft Foods (A-1 Steak Sauce, Alpen Gold, Boca Burger, Cadbury, Capri Sun, Cheeze Whiz, Chips Ahoy!, Cool Whip, Cracker Barrel, Crystal Light, Dentyne, Garden Burger, General Foods, Gevalia, Honey Maid, Halls, Jell-O, Kraft, Kashi, Kool-Aid, Oscar Mayer, Maxwell House, Miracle Whip, Morningstar Farms, Nabisco, Newtons, Nilla, Nutter Butter, Oreo, Philadelphia, Planters, Ritz, Stove Top, Tang, Tolberone, Trident, Triscuit, Velveeta, Wheat Thins)
- Land O’ Lakes (Land O’Lakes butter and other dairy products)
- Mars Food (Wrigley’s, Uncle Ben’s, Flavia, Starburst, Skittles, Orbit, LifeSavers, Eclipse, Altoids, Dove, 3 Musketeers, Combos, Mars Bars, M&M’s, MilkyWay, Twix, Snickers, Kudos, Galax, Pedigree dog food, Whiskas cat food)
- McCormick & Company (McCormick herbs, spices, rubs, etc.)
- Morton Salt (Morton salts and seasonings)
- Nestle (Carnation, DiGiorno, Hot Pockets, Lean Cuisine, Abuelita, Nestle Toll House, La Lechera, Libby’s Pumpkin, 100 Grand, Baby Ruth, Bottle Caps, Butterfinger, Skinny Cow, Crunch, Wonka, Nips, Nescafe, Coffee-mate, Taster’s Choice, JuicyJuice, Nesquik, Dreyer’s, Drumstick, Edy’s, Haagen-Dazs, Push-up, Buitoni, California Pizza Kitchen, DiGiorno, Lean Pockets, Stouffer’s, Tombstone)
- Ocean Spray (Juices, juice drinks, Craisins, cranberry sauce, fruit snacks)
- Pepsi-Co (Frito Lay, Tropicana, Tropicana Organic, Quaker, Gatorade, Izze, Mountain Dew, AMP Energy, Seattle’s Best Coffee, Tazo iced teas, SoBe, Aquafina, Brisk, Lipton, Propel Zero, Miss Vickie’s, Sabra hummus, Sunchips, Tostitos Organic)
- Pinnacle Foods (Bird’s Eye, Armour, Duncan Hines, Aunt Jemima, Mrs. Butterworth’s, Vlasic, Voila!, Celeste, Hungry-Man, Lender’s, Snyder’s, Husman’s)
- Reilly Foods (Presto, Swans Down, and more)
- Safeway (as member of Grocery Manufacturers Assoc.: Safeway Organics)
- Sara Lee (Sara Lee desserts, Sara Lee Deli, Hillshire Farms, Ball Park Franks, Jimmy Dean, Deli d’Italia)
- Smithfield (Smoked hams, fresh pork, bacon, sausage, lunchmeat, Lean Generation, Recipe Ready)
- Sunny Delight Beverages (SunnyD, etc.)
- Unilever (Ben & Jerry’s)