For related articles and more information, please visit OCA’s Genetic Engineering page and our Millions Against Monsanto page.

For more than 100 years, the profits generated by their sale have helped make it possible for young girls all across the country to develop valuable life skills and make their communities better places. But today’s Girl Scout cookies are loaded with health-destroying ingredients like genetically-modified (GM) beet sugar, high-fructose corn syrup (HFCS), and transgenic soy derivatives, and one young girl scout from California has had enough.

After discovering that Girl Scout cookies contained all sorts of processed, GMO-laden ingredients, young Alicia Serratos from Orange County asked her mother why the cookies could not simply be reformulated with non-GMO ingredients. Not knowing the answer, Alicia’s mother initially thought of simply writing the Girl Scouts organization a letter asking it to remove the GMOs, but eventually decided that a Change.org petition might be more successful.

So the two created one together, entitling it “Girl Scouts: Please make cookies without GMOs,” which quickly went viral gaining thousands of signatures from eager supporters. As of this writing, Alicia’s
Change.org petition has 6,000 signatures and counting, and many more concerned Girl Scouts and their parents are signing on to the effort every single day.

“GMO studies (in animals) have linked them to infertility, immune problems, accelerated aging, faulty insulin regulation, and changes in major organs and the gastrointestinal system,” states the petition.

Girl Scouts organization claims GMOs are safe

On its frequently asked questions (FAQ) page, the Girl Scouts organization admits that its cookies contain GMOs, stating the following: “Our bakers determine whether to use genetically modified agricultural crops (GMOs) in Girl Scout Cookies based on a range of market-related factors.” The organization goes on to claim that it “feel[s] confident in the safety of all the ingredients in Girl Scout Cookies, including GMO ingredients.”

Apparently the Girl Scouts organization is unaware of the many recent studies showing the dangers of GMOs, including the widely-circulated review out of Europe showing that GMOs and the pesticides used to produce them can cause severe cancer tumors and early death. Surely those in charge of the Girl Scouts do not intend for their cookies to harm customers, but their insistence upon the alleged safety of GMOs without evidence is deeply concerning.