What exactly are we eating?

A significant debate is unfolding in the House of Commons in Ottawa as we speak, over the adoption of a law that would make the listing of genetically modified organisms (GMOs) mandatory on food packaging. Believe it or not, but we may well be on the verge of not only finding out exactly what is on our plates, but most importantly, we'll have the freedom to choose what we want to eat. Even if that knowledge is a fundamental right, the federal government has never seen fit to give us the tools necessary to make that information available to us.

The question, then, is a very important one. Between 60 and 75 per cent of processed foods we consume contain GMOs (breakfast cereals, salad dressing, potato chips, tomato sauce, cooking oils and desserts are among the main culprits) and their long-term effects on our health and the environment are, to date, still unknown. That's why more than 40 countries around the world have already voted to make GMO labeling mandatory, preferring to hold human beings' – and the environment's -- well-being above risk-taking.

In Canada, between 80 and 90 per cent of people are in favour of mandatory GMO labeling. Ignoring this quasi-consensus, the federal government instead opted in 2004 to bring in a 'voluntary' rule giving companies the option to label products that contain GMOs. The result? Four years later, there are precisely zero products on shelves that are labeled as containing GMOs.

It's impossible for the public to find out how many, or in what proportion, GMOs are being added to the food we eat. Does it seem strange to anyone else that the information we need to make proper dietary choices is being withheld from us?

The worst part of all this is that the federal government hasn't yet conducted a single independent study on the effects of GMOs. All the information they've got comes directly from the companies that produce those goods, and that information remains confidential.

How can we be expected to -- given the conditions and lack of general information -- have any confidence at all in the process?

And if GMOs were any good at all for your health, companies would have labelled their products a long time ago in order to capitalize.