Non-compliance in the labeling of transgenic foods: Presence of transgenic ingredients in meat and meat preparations

Abstract

The soy and maize crops in Brazil are mostly genetically modified. Its derivatives are used
like food ingredients all over the world. The aim of this study was to analyze the presence of
possible transgenic ingredients in the meat products commercialized in a large supermarket
in Brazil. Information on 496 products was recorded. Meats products were classified into food
subgroups and analyzed using the text mining technique. The results showed that 49.2% of the
total contained at least one ingredient derived from soybeans or maize and the subgroups of
turkey breast and pate contained more food products with these ingredients. Soy protein was
the most frequent ingredient in the analyzed foods (43.7%) and no food product declared the
presence of GMOs on the label.