Ingredients and additives.
The greatest likelihood of coming into contact with foods made from GMOs lies with processed ingredients and additives. These GMO-derived substances generally undergo several processing steps and cannot be differentiated from their conventionally produced counterparts. This holds true for processed ingredients or additives made from GM plants and for additives or vitamins produced with the help of genetically modified microorganisms. Every year, the EU imports approximately 40 million tonnes of raw soy. The world's leading soy producers predominantly grow genetically modified soy cultivars. Soy is not only the basis for numerous ingredients and additives, it also makes up a major part of poultry, swine, and cattle feed. Converting starch to sugar is one of the most economically important areas of biotechnology. It is a central process in the production of countless foods.

Enzymes are responsible for the breakdown of starch, the vast majority of which are produced by genetically modified microorganisms. Starches are chemically bound clusters of sugar molecules found in plants. Under the right conditions, starch molecules can be broken down into sugar. This process makes it possible to obtain sugar from the starch of many different plants, rather than just sugar beets or sugar cane. This is now being done by industrial-scale starch saccharification. The most important sources of starch are maize, potatoes, and wheat. Strong acids were once used to break apart starch molecules and release sugar. Now, enzymes do the job offering many advantages: With enzymes, the process targets the proper chemical bonds much more precisely. Different enzymes can be used to produce syrups with different levels of sweetness and different technical characteristics. The end products are not only used as custom tailored ingredients in countless foods and drinks, they can also be further processed into glucose, artificial sweeteners, or fat substitutes. For a long time, breaking down starch (saccharification) didn't make economic sense. Things changed, however, as soon as the enzymes responsible for this process became available at low cost, high quality, and at unlimited quantities. Now, almost all of the enzymes used to break down starch are produced with the help of genetically modified microorganisms. Genetic engineering can be associated with starch derived sugars that are used in foods and beverages in two ways: The plant starch source can be genetically modified, and the enzymatic "tools" used for breaking down the starch can be made by genetically modified microorganisms.

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