Although a few states have passed laws requiring genetically modified (GMOs) foods to be labeled, there is not yet a federal law in the U.S. People who do not live in states requiring GMO labeling have no real way to know if there are GMOs present in the foods they buy.
Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack thinks whipping out your smartphone and using its barcode just might solve the problem.
While speaking at the Aspen Ideas Festival on June 26, Vilsack touted a barcode system as the way to give consumers more information about the food they eat. Through a barcode system, consumers who are “interested in all the information about a product would be able to obtain it fairly easily, either through their smartphone or a scanner that would be available in grocery stores,” he said. Describing his idea as “21st century answer,” he stated that the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) “could help coordinate the compilation of information.”
Using a barcode “wouldn’t create misinformation about the safety of a product which could happen depending upon how something is labeled,” Vilsack said. “It seems to me that’s a way of approaching a very difficult issue that’s creating a great deal of conflict, and finding a common sense solution,” he added.
You don’t have to wait until the federal government creates a barcode system to obtain information about food. Barcode smartphone apps already exist that provide information about what is in food products. Fooducate is an iPhone and Android app that “looks beyond the calorie,” as the iTunes store puts it. You scan a food product’s barcode, using your smartphone, to find out what it really contains. You can find out if there is high fructose corn syrup, monosodium glutamate (MSG), artificial colors and flavors, additives and preservatives, and if suspected GMOs are present.
Two other barcode apps to check out are ShopWell and FoodScanner. Both work similarly to Fooducate. ShopWell is available for iPhones and Android phones. It allows you to scan foods and find out if they would be a good match for your diet. For example, if you have Celiac disease, you could use ShopWell to find out if gluten is present in the food you want to buy. The iTunes store states that Shopwell allows you to “avoid ingredients you don’t want such as added sugar and trans fat.” There is no mention of GMOs.
Read more about reading nutrition labels
FoodScanner is only available for iPhones. Using your iPhone’s camera, you scan barcodes on the foods you want to buy. You can also type in food names. You are able to “view complete nutrition labels,” according to the app’s website. In addition, you can use the app to keep track of the total daily calories you have eaten.
Image: jstaryuk
