Should I trust Trader Joe's non-GMO claims?

This is something I've been trying to get at for a while, but I'm not exactly sure how.

I originally just assumed that if it didn't say organic, it likely contained GMO. One day during a conversation with the check-out guy at a Trader Joe's I frequent, I brought it up. He said he was pretty sure that any product that's sold under the 'Trader Joe's' name was GMO-FREE. If you don't know, Trader Joe's sells products both under the Trader Joe's label, as well as from other manufacturers. When I pressed the check-out guy about it, he reiterated that he was "pretty sure" that TJ's kept a strict agreement with those they get their ingredients from that nothing is to contain anything GM.

Not satisfied, I went to customer service, where the man at the counter assured me I had heard right. I was elated, and for the past couple months haven't been paying much attention to ingredients that are commonly GM (corn, soy, etc) while shopping there. But then it dawned on me.. should I really just blindly trust them like that?

Tonight, my instinct to be concerned was somewhat confirmed when I was again conversing with a (different) check-out guy. HE said that he thought only SOME of the products under the 'Trader Joe's' label were GMO-free. He said for some things, using GM ingredients was unavoidable. Letdown. I asked if there was a way to find out which items contained it and which didn't, and he told me there are lists for all their products concerning gluten, something else, and GMO. So again, I went to customer service and asked if they could provide that list. The lady contradicted the check-out guy by telling me they did have lists for gluten-free items and that other thing I forgot, but not for GMOs. Then the other customer service guy, who was on the phone but must have overheard, said "Everything we make is non-GMO." I said are you sure? He said "yes" then continued his phone conversation.

So I guess my question is more about trusting a corporation. As much as I like Trader Joe's and think that they seem to be a good company, is it naive of me to just trust what the customer service guy tells me? Especially when the check-out guy was informed differently? Should I even trust them at all if they can't provide proof or some kind of official statement that this is true?

Does anybody have any information on this? Anybody here work for Trader Joe's and know anything about it?

reply to post by bacci0909

According to the Utne Reader ("The Best of the Alternative Press"), Trader Joe's is, at the very least, "notoriously tight-lipped about where its store-brand products come from."

They go on to say:

A report on organic dairies from the Cornucopia Institute, a sustainable-agriculture watchdog group, warns consumers to be vigilant about the explosive growth in these sorts of “organic” store brands. Private-label organics like those in Trader Joe’s “seem to contradict what many thought the organic movement was all about: consumers understanding where their food comes from and how it is produced,” the report states. The Trader Joe’s brand of milk, for example, claims to be organic—but it won’t disclose which dairies it buys from. Ditto for the soybeans it uses in its brands of soy milk, tofu, and other products. And a recent report found that its store brand of veggie burgers are made using hexane-extracted soy protein.

Source here.

According to Organic Consumers Association

Pat St. John, vice president of marketing for Trader Joe's West Coast division in South Pasadena, Calif., said the chain sources organic products whenever possible, and objects to being targeted by Greenpeace for selling GM foods, "when 60% to 70% of the food on anybody's shelf is likely to contain GMOs. "We don't carry, nor do we claim to carry, GMO-free products. It is a goal of ours, but due to certain standards, we are unable to guarantee it at this point," St. John said. "Trader Joe's is not going to
say we aim to do something that we are not sure we will ever be able to do. Regarding labeling, St. John said, "The state of the industry right now is very much in flux, and even well-meaning people are finding it very difficult. [For GMOs,] if the FDA, or USDA choose to mandate labeling, they will have to agree on what the labeling will be. To test down to the zero percent is impossible now.

So I'd say your instincts are serving you pretty well....

reply to post by bacci0909


of course you shouldnt just trust the customer service dude,

and like the last poster said, trader joes is tight lipped about the source of its food, the customer service guy probably doesnt even know where it comes from him self, he's just repeating to you what he has been told to say, can you trust the person who told him to say it? you dont even know who told him what he claims to know. you dont even know who or what your are trustingm

so should you trust that? obvious is obvious


imo if a product was intentionaly and specificaly gmo you can bet they'd put that on the label since it is a selling point,

there arent any customers out there who would look at a product label and think "oh its non gmo in that case i wont buy it"......

even if you do see a product with non gmo on the label you STILL shouldnt trust it, there is no one or nothing regulating whether or not a company puts non gmo on its label, i doubt the fda would realy give a crap if a company called a product non gmo when it was in reality totaly gmo


and i think the complete answer to the question of if trader joes uses gmo was the qoute in that last post by Ex_CT2

Originally posted by Ex_CT2
reply to post by bacci0909

 

"We don't carry, nor do we claim to carry, GMO-free products. It is a goal of ours, but due to certain standards, we are unable to guarantee it at this point," St. John said.

reply to post by pryingopen3rdeye


Obviously Ex_CT2's information is telling and pretty much settles the issue

Any product containing high fructose corn syrup(HFCs) IS made from GM corn as there is no organic HFCS plants in the world.
Likely any corn oil used is GMO also.
www.wikihow.com...
www.huffingtonpost.com...

There may be food processors that are miss labeling food they sell to trader joe's and not telling.
and Trader Joe's may truly not know about any problem.

Originally posted by ANNED
Any product containing high fructose corn syrup(HFCs) IS made from GM corn as there is no organic HFCS plants in the world.
Likely any corn oil used is GMO also.
www.wikihow.com...
www.huffingtonpost.com...

There may be food processors that are miss labeling food they sell to trader joe's and not telling.
and Trader Joe's may truly not know about any problem.

Yes, definitely. I stay away from all HFCS. Trader Joe's is good about that. I'm not sure if they have anything that contains it, actually