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Kosher, non-GMO, gluten-free, natural and organic: Top twelve things you probably didn’t know about food label claims

Are you confused about food label claims and what they really mean? That’s part  of the strategy of the global food giants, of course: confuse you with so much  noise that you give up trying to make sense of it all.
That’s why I wrote  this article: to demystify food label claims and give you the low-down on  what they really mean. Most of these points will probably surprise  you…
#1) “Kosher” does not mean non-GMO
Genetically  engineered ingredients are openly allowed in Kosher-certified foods. The Kosher  certification does not involve testing for GMOs, and Kosher certifications are  routinely found on foods containing GMOs.
#2) “Organic” does not mean  low in heavy metals
The USDA certified organic certification process  does not test for heavy metals. Foods that are very high in lead, arsenic,  cadmium, mercury and even aluminum are openly allowed to be labeled USDA  certified organic.
#3) “Non-GMO” does not mean organic
Just  because a food is certified non-GMO doesn’t mean it is organic. Even  conventionally-raised crops such as corn, soy and canola can be certified  non-GMO if they are grown without genetically engineered seeds.
There are  several snack chips on the market right now which use non-GMO ingredients grown  with chemical pesticides.
#4) “All Natural” doesn’t mean anything at  all
The phrase “All Natural” is not regulated in any way by the FDA.  Any foods, including foods made with artificial colors, chemical sweeteners,  chemical preservatives and GMOs, can be labeled “all natural.”
“All  natural” is the trick used by large food corporations to try to mislead consumers into thinking their junk food products  are somehow organic.
#5) “Trans-Fat Free” does not mean free from  trans fats
The FDA currently allows foods containing up to 0.5g of  trans fats per serving to claim ZERO grams of trans fats per serving.
The  FDA, you see, has been completely hijacked by food and drug corporations, and  they have convinced the FDA to allow food  labels to blatantly lie to consumers about what the food really contains.  Everywhere else in the world, 0.5 does not equal zero. Even in high school math  class, it’s rounded up to one. But at the FDA, 0.5 somehow means  zero.
#6) “Non-GMO” does not mean certified non-GMO
There  are many foods, superfoods  and even nutritional products currently claiming to be “non-GMO” but failing to  provide any certification of that status. A company that self-proclaims its  products to be “non-GMO” is most likely trying to pull a fast one on you unless  it can back up that claim with certification.
Only certified non-GMO means something. The next time you see athat claims “non-GMO,” ask  yourself, “Certified by whom?” “Where’s the proof?”
#7) “Gluten-free”  foods are often GMO
Beware of GMOs in gluten-free foods. Because  gluten-free foods are often based on corn, they are usually made with  genetically modified corn containing BT toxin, a deadly  insecticide.
Avoid gluten-free unless it’s also certified  non-GMO.
#8) “Organic” foods can still contain a small amount of  GMO
GMOs are so widespread that they have now contaminated virtually  the entire food supply. Foods that are certified organic can still contain trace  levels of GMOs.
How much are they allowed to contain? “there aren’t  specific tolerance levels in the USDA organic regulations for GMOs,” says  the USDA. “National Organic Program policy states that trace amounts of GMOs  don’t automatically mean the farm is in violation of the USDA organic  regulations. In these cases, the certifying agent will investigate how the  inadvertent presence occurred and recommend how it can be better prevented in  the future. For example, they may require a larger buffer zone or more thorough  cleaning of a shared grain mill.”
Even though certified  organic foods can still contain trace levels of GMOs, they are still far  healthier for you than conventionally-grown foods, by the way.
#9)  “Organic” foods are now being routinely grown in heavily polluted countries such  as China
An increasing percentage of “organic” foods, superfoods and  raw materials used in nutritional supplements are being imported from China. Natural News has found that these raw  materials are consistently higher in heavy metals than competing products grown  in North America.
But because they are significantly lower in case, they  are being increasingly used in nutritional products or sold at health food  stores after being labeled “organic.”
Organic  certification standards openly allow organic farms in China to grow produce in  fields that are heavily polluted with cadmium, lead and mercury. There is no  limit on the heavy metals levels in soils used to produce USDA certified organic  foods.
#10) The FDA currently has no limit on the amount of heavy  metals allowed in foods, either
The FDA does, from time to time,  conduct food contaminant tests on imported foods. However, the FDA does not  publish or set any official limits on heavy metals in imported  foods.
Usually, when the FDA does find metals in foods (such as arsenic  in rice), it declares the contaminant “too low to cause short-term health risks”  while blatantly ignoring the long-term health risks.
As long as  the food is dead and not carrying e.coli or salmonella, there is almost no  food too polluted for the FDA.
#11) The use of “organic”  ingredients does not automatically make the whole product  organic
Some products sold today are being described as “organic”  when only a fraction of their ingredients are organic. This does not qualify a  product to be called organic.
Unlike the phrase, “all natural,” the term  “organic” is highly regulated by the federal government and carries a specific  meaning. The mere presence of organic ingredients in a product is not sufficient  to be able to claim the entire product is organic.
Interestingly, even if  ALL the ingredients used in a product are certified organic, the product itself  still needs to be separately certified to be accurately called  “organic.”
By the way, sometimes the cleanest product in a particular  category is not the one that’s certified organic, as we discovered in our heavy metals tests of chlorella  superfoods.
#12) “Low calorie” almost always means it is sweetened  with a chemical sweetener
Look on the ingredients labels of “low  calorie” foods or beverages, and you’ll almost always find sucralose, acesulfame  potassium, saccharin, aspartame or other chemical sweeteners. The presence of  such chemical sweeteners is almost ubiquitous on foods sporting the “low  calorie” label.
And yet “low calorie” does not mean it’s healthier for  you in any way whatsoever. In fact, low-calorie foods such as diet sodas can  still contain extremely damaging ingredients such as phosphoric acid, a potent  chemical that can eat away your teeth and bones.

What is the ultimate food, then?

The ultimate commercially-available  food would be certified organic, certified non-GMO, grown in your local country,  certified Kosher and lab tested to be very low in heavy metals.
But if  you just grow it in your own garden, you don’t need all those labels and  certifications in the first place. You’ve got real food right from your own  yard.
That’s why I encourage everyone to grow what you eat and  eat what you grow. The answer to pollutants, GMOs, pesticides and heavy metals  in foods is found when you get on your knees and put some seeds in the  ground.
Everything else in the marketplace — including  quadruple-certified premium food — is vastly inferior to food you grow  yourself.
How do you know you can trust me on this point? Because I sell  superfoods and I’m still telling you to grow your own instead. In my vision of a  perfect world, the Natural News Store wouldn’t even exist because everybody would be growing their own foods and  superfoods in their own yards or greenhouses. 🙂

Source:http://www.naturalnews.com/042045_food_labels_demystified_certified_organic.html

Mike Adams: