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I'm wondering.  We're not so crazy about food that's been monkeyed around with -- see genetically modified foods. But would we be averse to actually eating bar codes , mashed into our food? The idea is a good one.  It's to thwart counterfeit drugs, according to Janet Fang at smartplanet.com. She writes, "Honolulu-based startup TruTag Technologies is bringing to market edible bar codes that can be integrated directly into both edible and non-edible products. Businessweek reports ." She notes that we won't even know it's in our foods. "These TruTags are the size of a speck of dust (a gram contains over 12 million unique tags), and they can be scanned to authenticate a product," she notes. TruTags are made entirely of silicon dioxide, also called silica, a compound that is inert, edible, and incredibly durable (with an infinite shelf life and the ability to survive temperatures up to 1,000C), she recounts. Fang explains how the whole th...

I can't take any credit for the name, but I got an email the other day that McDonald's is considering a new genetically engineered potato that the FDA may soon approve for its french fries. The email reads: "GE foods have not been adequately tested, aren't labeled and are potentially unsafe. In the case of GE fries, that's a particular problem because they're marketed to children. But McDonald's can help keep GE potatoes off the market, because if they won't buy it, then farmers won't plant it." The email then goes on to note that McDonald's is the biggest buyer of American potatoes and if this goes through, there's no doubt that they soon will be part of the food our children eat when they go to the fast food franchise. So far, according to a Web site hoping to get people to unite and protest the upcoming FDA decision, more than 10,000 people have signed a petition to keep the McFrankenfries off the menu. My son and I don...

Where do you stand on genetically modified food ?  If you're like most Americans, you'd rather not -- or at least know when you're eating it. But the agriculture industry has been successful in fighting the distribution of this knowledge, using big bucks and political allies (read: Congressmen they sponsor). But last month Vermont became the first state to pass a bill requiring "labeling of foods produced using these genetically modified organisms, or GMOs, and thankfully, my home state, Connecticut. Right to Know GMO, a self-described grass-roots coalition with members in 37 states, counts 26 states that have introduced labeling bills, passed its own, according to Dan D'Ambrosio of USA Today. Barbara Boxer, Democrat from California, always in the forefront of protecting the consumer, whether from guns or artificially assembled food, told D'Ambrosio in an e-mail, "As more and more states take action, I believe lawmakers in Washington will realize tha...