Genetically engineered (GE) foods are so prevalent in the U.S. that the average American consumes more than their weight in GE products.

This assessment was provided by the Environmental Working Group (EWG), which opposes GE foods.

EWG says the average person eats about 193 pounds of GE food in a year. This is more than the average weight of an American adult: 179 pounds.

“These figures raise a question: If you were planning on eating your body weight of anything in a year, wouldn’t you want to make sure it was safe to eat?” wrote EWG’s Renee Sharp.

The group notes that “virtually no long-term health studies have been done on consumption of genetically engineered food.” And it adds that there likely won’t be any studies done soon due to opposition from GE food producers and lack of interest on the part of the federal government.

More than 90% of sugar beets and soybeans and 88% of corn grown in the U.S. are genetically engineered, according to the organization. Sugar beets are the preferred sweetener for 55% of prepared, sweetened foods, and 79% of salad oil is made from soybean oil.

EWG did not include in its estimates several foods that are commonly genetically engineered, such as canola oil, cottonseed oil, papaya, yellow squash and miscellaneous soy products. It also excluded GE animal feed that consumers may eat indirectly through meat.

Sixty-one different nations require labeling of GE foods, but the United States is not one of them,

-Noel Brinkerhoff, David Wallechinsky

To Learn More:

Americans Eat Their Weight in Genetically Engineered Food (by Renee Sharp, Environmental Working Group)

61 Nations Require Labeling of Genetically Engineered Foods…but not U.S. (by Noel Brinkerhoff, AllGov)

Monsanto and DuPont Spend Big to Fight Labeling Genetically Modified Foods (by Ken Broder, AllGov California)