How To Identify Original, Organic and Genetically Modified Food

Plum pox resistant plum. Wikipedia.

Fruit. Photo by Angela Lansbury. Copyright.

I was astonished to discover that pink grapefruit was genetically modified. I prefer sweeter grapefuit. 

Old world wines from France have to be grown on root stock imported from America because it is resistant to the phyloxera beetle which destroyed almost all European the vines accidentally when the voracious citters were imported years ago.

Rose Petal Aroma

 I discovered on a recent trip to Cyprus that the sweet smelling roses whose petals are picked to perfume cordials, wines and cosmetics, last only a day. The huge perfectly formed and long lasting roses without the attractive smell are modifications. So, old fashioned roses which smell gorgeous but wilt fast, or bigger blooms which look good and last but have no aroma - now you know why that's the case and which to choose, aroma or visual appeal.

I try to buy patio rose bushes with aroma, hard to find. I identify them by sniffing them in garden centres, rather than buying from a catalogue. If I buy from a catalogue I check that they smell good as well as looking good.

A more frequent purchase is fruit. I recently discovered that the label numbers reveal what you want to know.

 I wrote this poem for myself as a reminder:

Fruit is genetically modified

Disease resistant, and more besides

I think that we can all agree

What others avoid, leaves more for me

For those who fret, or cry or sigh

It's my belief you will not die

But if you really want to know

The number eight will tell you so

To identify modified, you are are able

By reading the numbers on the label

Four digits means food's the same as before

Five digits organic, starts with eight - added more 

I wish they'd do the same to me

Make me the best that I can be

Taller, slim and young and wise

With high IQ and chameleon eyes.

-ends-

Written by Angela Lansbury Saturday 18 2022.

Comic poem on genetically modified fruit and how to identify it by Angela Lansbury 18 2022.

That's my photo of fruit. Really? Can I be sure? Can I prove it? Yes. 

My photos tend to have the warm colours of red, orange or pink somewhere, and lots of circles or curves. I have two of everything, hence the round woved placemat and the plastic placemat. My husband likes earth colours, neutral colours, but I like warmer colours, rainbow colours, so the pale brown neutral Denbyware china handled cutlery was his choice, but the blue Denbyware plate is from a couple of oddments in the same style which I bought later.

Those blue plates are Denbyware seconds in a discontinued line, same shape as the creamy brown Seville pattern. I bought the blue in a charity shop in the UK and you cannot find any more for love nor money. The brown handled cutlery is also Denbyware seconds, bought from our wedding list in 1976, again almost impossible to obtain. The plastic placemats with the oranges were bought from a shop in Singapore and I cannot find any more to match them. The chance of anybody having and mixing those two sets of discontinued Denbyware and the third odd item, the Singapore discontinued mat are near zero. 

Simplified Tip

Prefix 8 is genetically modified

Prefix 9 is organic

Useful Websites

https://www.food.gov.uk/safety-hygiene/genetically-modified-foods 

Long and technical

https://www.gov.uk/guidance/organic-food-labelling-rules

Label Numbers

https://www.kqed.org/bayareabites/51586/food-labeling-how-to-identify-conventional-organic-and-gmo-produce

Sugar Cane Juice and Plum at Newton Hawker Centre

Problem
Where to go after 10 pm near Newton, that doesn't cost the earth (like the Sheraton Towers hotel).

Answer
Newton Hawker Centre. I had previously declined invitations to go there. I didn't need more calories. I didn't want to spend money.

But this time I really wanted to talk. I managed to persuade my companion to walk further and cross at the lights. I have been knocked down by a car in the UK.

The hawker centre is crowded with people.

My new friend offers to pay. I am going to teach him some French. He might teach me some Mandarin in return.

Juice
I opt for fruit juice. I select the cheapest juice. It is $2.50. Cane juice with plum. Sounds good to me. I can't get that at home (in England).

Stool
Despite being perched on round stools with no backs, in the open air, I never noticed any discomfort, perhaps because I am engrossed in the conversation as well as by the drink.

Table
We are at a long table.

Drink
It is a long drink. Cold. With a straw.

It is slightly sweet. At the bottom are two small plums, looking a bit like prunes, shrunk to the size of elongated black cherries. Nothing special about the drink. Good enough. Cheap and convenient.

Singaporean

Author
Angela Lansbury, travel writer and photographer. Photos will be added tomorrow.

Romanian words of the week : plums and prunes

Romanian
P r u n a - plum
p r u n a  u s c a t a - prune

English
plum - p r u n a
prune - p r u n a  u s c a t a

Note the bowl shape accents on the letters tell you how to pronounce them. You can also hear the words said using Google translate and /or Duolingo.com

Duolingo.com Free language learning website.

For information on travel see
www.romaniatourism.com

Author
Angela Lansbury, travel writer and photographer, author and speaker, teacher and learner of languages. I have several more posts on the Romanian language and other languages. Please share links to my posts.