Consumers are clamoring for honest, accurate information about their food. And GMOs in food products have become a hot topic in the past few years. Many people are now wanting to know if there are GMOs in their food, and want accurate information from food companies about this issue.
But accurate information cuts both ways. In a new op ed in the Houston Chronicle on behalf of GMO Answers, Registered Dietitian Neva Cochran notes that Amazon, which has recently bought Whole Foods, needs to be more honest and clear in their marketing of their foods.
She writes:
Consumers are so bombarded with food and nutrition hype on the internet that they are confused about the safety, healthfulness and nutritional contributions of many foods and ingredients. With a plethora of absence claims on food labels and shelf tags – gluten-free, non-GMO, sugar-free, no added hormones, no artificial ingredients, antibiotic-free – fear-based marketing seems to have become the preferred way to sell a product.
She lists many of the common misleading claims found on products in U.S. grocery stores, including chicken labelled with no added hormones (No chicken sold in the U.S. is allowed to have added hormones) or gluten-free labels on products that no one would ever think to contain gluten (Assuming people actually know what gluten is).
Finally, she addresses the hot trend of slapping the phrase “non-GMO” on items, or what we call spreading misinformation about GMOs:
Finally, there are non-GMO claims, which imply that foods produced through GMO agriculture are not safe or healthful. The fact is GMO foods are perfectly safe to eat. The 2016 National Academy of Sciences report, “Genetically Modified Crops,” examined over 1,000 research and other publications and concluded there was no substantiated evidence of a difference in risks to human health between commercially available GMO and conventional crops.
There are only 10 approved GMO crops currently in the United States: field and sweet corn, soybeans, cotton, canola, alfalfa, sugar beets, papaya, squash, potatoes and apples But you will find non-GMO labels on items ranging from salt, vodka and orange juice to cat litter.
In the end, people just want to know if their food is healthy, safe, and nutritious for them and their families to eat. Misleading marketing labels do nothing to help consumers make those decisions, and companies should stop doing it.
Prana Biotechnology (NASDAQ:PRAN) was upgraded by investment analysts at ValuEngine from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report issued to clients and investors on Wednesday. Separately, B. Riley set a $4.00 target price on Prana Biotechnology and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a …
White biotechnology takes advantage of enzymatic processes to produce high-value chemicals from sustainable sources with less energy consumption as well as waste production. An early example of this would be enzymes in washing powder, which allow for efficient cleaning at lower temperatures …
This week, Dr. Peter Bach of Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center authored an op-ed about the cost of prescription medicines within state Medicaid programs. The opinion piece fails to mention several key points that patients and policymakers deserve to know. In response, BIO Communications submitted the following comments:
There are few important points Dr. Bach either glosses over or fails to mention entirely.
First, drugmakers are required by law to provide significant rebates to state Medicaid programs to help provide access to innovative medicines. These rebates reduce the list prices for innovative drugs by at least 23.1 percent. Then there is the “best price” rule, which requires drugmakers to provide Medicaid the lowest price offered to any other entity in the marketplace. Medicaid is entitled to whichever concession – the 23.1% rebate or “best price” – leads to the best possible deal for taxpayers.
States may then demand supplemental rebates in addition to these federal requirements, all of which help provide low-income patients access to innovative medicines at a lower cost to taxpayers. To leave the impression that Medicaid might pay the full price for a prescription medicine is grossly misleading.
Second, ICER has a habit of relying on hypothetical assumptions derived from a non-transparent system to promote their preconceived notions about the value of innovative biopharmaceutical medicines. No one knows for certain what assumptions ICER bases its reviews on, because much of its work remains shrouded in secrecy.
Also, more often than not, ICER’s views stand in stark contrast to those of physicians and patients who understand the true value of biomedical innovation. That was the case during last week’s hearing in New York, which this column also fails to mention. Instead of holding up ICER’s black-box approach as the gospel, we should all view its work with a great deal of skepticism.
In a piece for Biofuels Digest, BIO’s Executive Vice President, Industrial & Environmental Section, Brent Erickson (@BErickson_BIO) shares BIO’s 2018 “Renewable Chemical Platforms Building the Biobased Economy” report, which documents the contribution that over 100 companies are making to grow the biobased economy.
The 2018 report is your guide to understanding the landscape of the biobased economy, from small startups to large brand manufacturers, and the perfect resource for partnering with the hundreds of industrial biotech companies that will be at the 2018 World Congress on Industrial Biotechnology in Philadelphia, July 16-19.
The biobased economy encompasses the entire value chain of sustainable manufacturing – from the supply of renewable or waste feedstock, through biotech platforms, to production and use of biobased fuels and products. BIO is a global leader in advocating policies that support commercialization of emerging renewable chemical technologies and companies. We recently published our new 2018 report, “Renewable Chemical Platforms Building the Biobased Economy,” to document the contribution that over 100 companies are making to the growth of the biobased economy value chain.
The latest edition of BIO’s industry directory illustrates the rapid expansion of renewable chemical platforms and applications around the world. “Renewable Chemical Platforms Building the Biobased Economy” profiles companies located in 16 countries – from small startups to large brand manufacturers – that are commercializing renewable chemical applications. The new, one-of-a-kind publication highlights the location and commercial stage of these renewable chemical makers, succinctly describing each company’s technology, products, potential markets, partnerships, and funding. We invite everyone interested in the industry to click here to download a free copy.
In capturing a snapshot of the industry’s status today, the directory also provides a glimpse of the potential for the future. Renewable chemical technologies are expanding from the biobased plastics and biofuels currently on the market to the development of nutritional food additives, cosmetic and personal care ingredients, and new materials and fabrics. A promising area for the future is biological pest control and crop growth stimulants, which will bring the biobased economy full circle by improving the renewability of feedstocks. The biobased economy continues to generate new ideas and products.
The rapid evolution of the biobased economy poses a difficult task in estimating its size and contribution to overall domestic production. BIO estimates that on a global scale, the value of biofuels, renewable chemicals and polymers, enzymes, biobased materials and the agricultural inputs are worth $355.28 billion. Our estimate is drawn from industry studies and analyses that supplement official government statistics with industry surveys. Official government statistics by themselves rarely separate renewable chemical manufacturing from the petroleum industry. BIO’s new industry directory shows how some traditional chemical manufacturers are partnering with technology companies on renewable chemical projects.
The growth of renewable chemicals is strongest in certain manufacturing sectors. TEConomy Partners – a research, analysis and strategy consultancy based in Ohio – estimates that renewable chemicals generate 16 percent of the economic activity in some important sectors of the U.S. organic chemical manufacturing industry. The company also estimates that biobased materials contribute 24 percent of the economic value of the acetate fiber market. Those percentages are more substantial than many existing industry studies calculate.
“Renewable Chemical Platforms Building the Biobased Economy” offers a view of where biobased innovation in the chemical sector is taking place. The partnerships that are building the biobased economy are key. Most – if not all – of the companies in the new directory have attended, presented or engaged in partnering meetings at the annual BIO World Congress on Industrial Biotechnology. The annual conference is a great opportunity to explore opportunities in the rapidly growing biobased economy. This year, it returns to Philadelphia at the Pennsylvania Convention Center July 16 – 19.
BIO will continue to champion policies that help renewable chemical companies build the biobased economy. We will also continue to provide the industry the best opportunities for partnering and business development through our annual conferences. We hope our new directory, “Renewable Chemical Platforms Building the Biobased Economy,” will provide companies and their business partners a new tool to use and share and to further those important efforts.
Taycor Financial hired Suzanne Costa to lead the Biotechnology and Medical Device division. Costa will assume the role of VP of Biotechnology and joined the team with more than 13 years of equipment finance experience. “We are very excited to welcome Suzanne Costa, who is bringing us her broad …
Sustainability is a major food trend this year – it continues to enter our conversations, whether we’re talking about reducing food waste and plastic use or producing food in more earth conscious ways. People are asking more questions than ever before about the origins of food and its impact – not only on themselves but also on the world around them.
Yet, the environmental benefits of GMOs and how they check many boxes for sustainability has largely been missing from these conversations. Contrary to misconceptions, GMOs DO help protect the environment in more ways than most think.
To help spread the word about the environmental benefits of GMOs and encourage people to #RethinkEarthConscious foods, GMO Answers compiled a few big (well, billboard size) shareable suggestions based on common environmental questions asked on the GMO Answers website in a post called, Should GMOs Make You Rethink ‘Earth Conscious’ Foods? Yes.
Put simply, GMOs have given farmers the ability to do more with less. They are also helping us solve major food challenges like citrus-greening disease, which is threatening an estimated 80% Florida’s citrus groves, and banana wilt virus in East Africa. Solving these issues on the farms where they start means local farmers can continue to make a living and provide enough orange juice and bananas to fill breakfast tables across the world.
So, the next time you’re engaging in conversations about sustainable foods – remember that GMOs are one tool in the modern farmer’s tool box that can benefit us all and the environment in many ways. Check out the GMO Answers website to read the entire post about GMOs, the environment, sustainability, and Earth Day!
So we are now well underway with a fresh week of trading in the biotechnology space and, as we reported yesterday, things have gotten off to a pretty volatile start with a whole host of fresh inputs hitting press at the market open on Monday. Tuesday is no different, with more companies putting out data …
On Sunday night, 60 Minutes ran a captivating segment on the promise and possibilities of CRISPR – the revolutionary, cutting-edge technology used to delete, insert, or repair DNA in humans. “There are about six thousand or more diseases that are caused by faulty genes. The hope is that we will be able to address most, if not all of them,” Feng Zhang of the Broad Institute told 60 Minutes. Catch the full segment here.
To learn more about genome editing and its potential to produce transformative breakthroughs in both human health and agriculture, head over to our new issue page. We provide important resources and background materials to better understand these groundbreaking innovations and what is needed to ensure the policy and regulatory environments are keeping pace with the scientific advances happening in labs across the nation.
