Nestle to launch new non-GMO products ... How shocked will Monsanto be?

Thursday, October 27, 2016 by: Vicki Batts
Tags: GMOs, Nestle, Monsanto

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(NaturalNews) One of the food industry's most prominent players recently announced that they will be expanding their line of non-GMO products, due to the ever-increasing customer demand for clean food. Nestle may have wowed consumers with their choice, but it may make some waves with their good friend, Monsanto.

"The company is broadening its product offerings to give consumers more options with no GMO ingredients and identifying these products with the SGS-verified 'no GMO ingredients' claim," the food giant stated on Tuesday.

"Nestle USA understands that consumers are seeking choice and many prefer to select products with no GMO ingredients," they declared.

Of course, this is not Nestle's first move towards GMO-free products. In April, Nestle announced that they would be removing GMO ingredients from six of their top-selling ice cream products, as well. The company states it is trying to evolve along with consumer demands. It is great to see that companies are beginning to realize that consumers want options; no one wants to be forced to buy GMO products.

It is easy to want to applaud Nestle for their decision to continue to expand their line of non-GMO products. However, it is also clear that this company is doing so out of their own financial interests – not because they care about what people are eating. Organic, GMO-free foods are the newest trend, and smart manufacturers are beginning to see that they will not win anyone over by insisting that GM, pesticide-laden food products are safe. "If you can't beat 'em, join 'em," is a philosophy Nestle has clearly taken to heart.

Nestle is not an angelic company, even if they have decided to start serving up "GMO-free" options. Just three years ago, they donated millions of dollars to prevent and oppose GMO labeling in Washington state, along with Monsanto and other biotech firms. Truth Out reports that on October 18, 2013, the Grocery Manufacturers of America disclosed that several of their largest, most powerful players silently donated large sums of money to oppose Initiative 522. This bill would have required grocery items containing GMO ingredients to be labeled as such. The group chose to voluntarily release the names of the silent donors, after Washington state Attorney General Bob Ferguson filed a lawsuit against their concealment of corporate donors.

Nestle was among the top three highest contributors, and donated a cool $1.5 million to keep GMO ingredients under wraps and off product labels. Nestle also made a large donation to oppose similar legislation in California the year before, in 2012. The bill ultimately failed, after Big Food and Big Biotech joined forces and together raised a staggering $46 million to prevent its passing. And we're supposed to believe they care?

The controversial history of Nestle doesn't end with their consistent financial support of GMO labeling opposition efforts. It is a corporation that is wrought with wrongdoings and corrupt practices. Look no further than their outright theft of water in California.

Given that the coastal state is currently being plagued by a devastating drought, you might be shocked to learn that just last year Nestle pumped a disturbing 36 million gallons of water out of one of the state's water sources, known as Strawberry Creek. Peter Gleick, president of the Pacific Institute and author of Bottled and Sold: The Story Behind Our Obsession with Bottled Water, estimates that Nestle is making millions of dollars in this way.

"They're converting a public resource into private profit," he told Los Angeles Magazine.

The most shocking thing is that their permit to pump water from the creek expired in 1988. The forest service has allowed Nestle to gouge the creek for water at will, so long as they continue to pay a minuscule access fee. While bottled water accounts for only a small fraction of California's water use, the overall environmental impact of what their practices are doing to a drought-stricken state have yet to be examined.

Nestle has been subject to countless other controversies, including human rights violations, and has been host to many environmental and product safety issues.

To put it simply: Nestle may be trying to win over customers with their non-GMO products, but they don't deserve to. Monsanto may be shocked, but only because Nestle is still one of their own.

Sources:

SustainablePulse.com

Truth-Out.org

Corp-Research.org

LAMag.com