Thanksgiving is a time for celebrating around the dinner table with family and friends. But, is there an unwanted guest at your table? You may not realize that many common Thanksgiving foods contain genetically engineered ingredients!
The good news is that it is easy to get the GMOs out of Thanksgiving by purchasing foods that are certified non-GMO or organic. You can find many non-GMO and organic options at your local co-op or farmers market, at Whole Foods, and increasingly, at mainstream grocery stores. Using ingredients that are organic and non-GMO will also create tastier foods at the table. So, whether you are hosting a Thanksgiving meal, or bringing a dish to share, make sure to leave the GMOs out!
The following chart will help you identify the GMOs in popular holiday foods, and non-GMO alternatives. This is only a partial list. In particular, keep a look out for foods from companies that opposed Prop 37, such as Campbell’s, Coke, General Mills, Kraft, Nestle, Pepsi, Hershey, Unilever (full list here). Remember, if you buy foods that have corn, soy, or sugar in the ingredient list, and they are not certified non-GMO or organic, then you could be eating genetically engineered ingredients!
Some Common Thanksgiving Foods That May Contain GMOs, and non-GMO and Organic Alternatives
| Caution: Likely contains GMOs! Unless it is certified non-GMO or Organic, products often contain GMOs | Non-GMO! Look for non-GMO and organic certified products. |
 Soups (e.g., Campbell’s Tomato Soup) |
Organic soups (Amy’s, Pacific, and many other brands available) |
 Cooking Oils –including corn and canola in particular (e.g., Wesson Canola Oil) |
Organic Cooking Oil (Nutiva, Dr. Bronner, Whole Foods Organic, and many other brands available) |
 Canned Yams (e.g., Bruce’s Yams) |
Use fresh organic yams |
 Chocolate (e.g., Hershey Milk Chocolate) |
Organic chocolate (Equal Exchange, Theo, and many other brands available, many are Fair Trade as well) |
 Crackers (e.g., Pepperidge Farm Crackers) |
Organic crackers (Mary’s Gone Crackers, Nature’s Path, and many other brands available), or toast organic bread and cut into squares. |
 Dressing (e.g., Kraft Classic Ranch Dressing) |
Organic dressings (Annie’s, many brands available), or make your own dressing using organic oils, vinegar, mustard, mayonnaise, etc. |
 Rice mixes (e.g., Rice a Roni chicken flavored rice) |
Organic rice (Lundberg, and many other brands available). If you are in a rush, use organic couscous. |
 Cranberry Sauces (e.g., Ocean Spray Cranberry Sauce) |
Buy organic cranberries and use organic and fair trade sugar (e.g., Wholesome Sweeteners) to sweeten. Or purchase organic jellied cranberry (Tree of Life, Grown Right and several other brands available) if you are in a hurry. |
 Stuffing (e.g., Kraft’s Stove Top Stuffing , Cornbread) |
Make your own stuffing with organic bread. Or purchase organic stuffing mix (Arrowhead Mills and several other brands available) |
Once you are getting the GMOs out of Thanksgiving, you can spread the word:
- If you are hosting a Thanksgiving meal, print out a menu of the foods you are serving and make sure to note that they are non-GMO and organic. Share the recipes with friends and family as well.
- Post a picture of your non-GMO feast on your Pinterest and Facebook pages. You can also share your feast on the Facebook.com/gmoinside page.
- If you donate foods to a shelter this holiday (which is a great thing to do), donate organic and non-GMO foods.
- If you already purchased holiday foods with GMOs inside, you can print out our handy labels, put them on the foods, and take a picture to post to social media, so you can warn family and friends. Share with the GMOinside community on our Facebook page as well.
- You can also check to see if foods with GMOs inside have a money back guarantee. If they do, go ahead and send them back to the manufacturer, and ask for your money back.
