There have been many attempts in the past decade to water down the meaning of the Organic label. At this point, any product being sold in the USA under and organic label is prohibited from containing GMOs, whether it is imported or domestic. That is the rule.

Now, that being said, the reason that it is so important that we work toward a moratorium on GMOs is that they contaminate neighboring crops. So, organic crops can become contaminated, via cross-pollination, with GMO crops. This has already happened with corn. The trouble is, companies do not simply disclose what tests they are performing or how often they are performing them in order to determine that their processed Organic products are truly GMO free.

My understanding is that the testing is expensive, so we are kind of dependent upon a manufacturer’s commitment to rigorously test his product for contamination. I find it hard to put absolute faith in this. In America, it is getting harder and harder to avoid GMOs.

That being said, Organic is still our best hope of avoiding GMOs in processed products. What we need is mandated, concrete testing to make sure that Organics are always 100% free of GMOs. Beyond this, what we desperately need is for GMOs to be banned here as they have been in other countries.

Sunflower oil does have a nice, light neutral taste. There is a little bit of a nutty flavor to it, but it’s really a basic overall flavor that does really well in any dish where you don’t want the stronger flavor of olive oil.

I definitely wouldn’t suggest corn oil. I’m not sure about peanut oil. This is used in Chinese-American food and gives some of its distinctive flavor to that cuisine, but I’ve never researched its health-related properties. That might be a good one to learn more about. I’ve never used it in my kitchen, but I’m sure there is more information out there on the web to be had about it.

Right now, I am using Spectrum Naturals Organic Sunflower Oil. I like their company a lot. For Organic Olive Oil, I use Whole Foods’ brand. I’ve had more delicious olive oil, for sure, but theirs is really pretty good and it’s very affordable compared to some of the fancier brands.

Best Wishes, Chris!
Mim

I’m so glad you enjoyed this article and I’ll be happy to tell you what I’ve learned about oils. This is actually something I have done some personal research on. Here is my quick guide to choosing healthy oils.

1. The first step to choosing a healthy oil is to choose only Organic oils. Apart from concerns about pesticide and herbicide content in conventional oils, any conventional oil sold in the United States may contain GMOs (genetically modified organisms) which independent testing have shown to be very dangerous to consume. Many European countries have banned GMOs, but in the US, GMOs are not only not banned, but aren’t even labeled. Soy, canola and vegetable oils are especially likely to be genetically modified. Organic products, however, are not allowed to contain GMOs, so choosing organics is your first step to finding a healthy oil to use.

2. Look for the words ‘expeller pressed’ or ‘cold pressed’ on the bottle. Unless you can find a small family business producing small batches of oil by hand, pretty much any oil you will find in any store is going to be mechanically pressed. Cold pressed and expeller pressed oils are mechanically processed (run through machines) but they are not chemically extracted (which is what you want to avoid). Most conventional oils are extracted with hexane (not good), but you will be likely to find many organic oils that are cold or expeller pressed.

Basically, companies expeller press very hard seeds and nuts and the ‘heat’ in the process isn’t applied externally; rather, it comes from the friction needed to get the oil out of the seed or nut.

Cold pressing tends to be done with more delicate seeds and nuts that would be damaged if too much friction heat occurred in the extraction process.

I consider both methods to be fine.

3. Consider avoiding Canola oil, though it is sometimes possible to find this as an organic oil and it is used in many organic processed foods. The canola (or rapeseed) that is used in oils was genetically modified with radiation. Though this is not the same gene-splicing process that has brought most of the GMOs into the food supply, it’s a type of modification many people distrust, and I do not, personally, use canola oil because of my concerns about its origin.

4. My personal preferences for oils include Organic Extra Virgin Olive Oil and Organic Expeller Pressed Sunflower Oil. Olive oil has been consumed for thousands of years in the Mediterranean and sunflowers are a heritage crop of the Americas, having been grown and eaten by indigenous Americans for at least 4000 years (probably more). I depend on this history of healthy eating more than I do on all of the recent data about saturated fats, trans fats, omega 3s and etc. If people built civilizations eating these oils, they’ve been proven simply by their endurance through time.

In our home, we use about 75% olive oil and 25% sunflower oil for cooking, salad dressings and other uses. I recently described our oil use ratio to my doctor who said it was a model use of oil and very healthy.

5. Consider the other sources of oil and fats in your diet. Fats from sources like avocados, nuts and seeds are likely to be great for you, whereas fats from animal sources (meat, dairy and eggs) contain tremendous amounts of cholesterol and doctors have linked this to heart disease and strokes. No vegetable of any kind contains cholesterol, so if you are concerned about cholesterol, just keep in mind that it always comes from animal sources and never from vegetable sources.

6. Consume oils in moderation. If you look at your diet and see that you are frying a large percentage of your foods, consider ways you might bake some of those foods instead, or eat them raw. Let oils be a cooking aid and a condiment, not a major food group in your diet!

I hope this information is useful to you, Chris, in creating a really healthy diet for yourself. Please, if you do see Food, Inc., come back and tell us what you thought of it.

Come again any time!
Mim