Green group targets Super Bowl’s official hummus

If you’re a chickpea grower and you didn’t already know it, you’ll be pleased to hear Americans watching the Super Bowl this weekend might not only be chowing down on chicken wings.

Thanks to its designation as the National Football League’s (NFL) official dip sponsor, they could also be dipping into Sabra brand hummus, of which the main ingredient is chickpeas.

But not if Green America’s GMOInside.org campaign has anything do with it. It’s launched a call-in day of action and social media campaign to convince Sabra and its parent company, PepsiCo, to stop using genetically modified ingredients in the healthy snack alternative.

In a press release, Green America says the campaign comes just one week before Super Bowl XLIX, which will prominently feature Sabra as the official dip of the NFL.

The Sabra website says the product of made from “fresh chickpeas (not pasteurized or from a can) real Mediterranean sesame tahini (and) imported Mediterranean herbs and spices.”

However, it doesn’t mention soybean oil, another ingredient.

“By continuing to use genetically engineered soybean oil, produced with toxic pesticides that put humans, pollinators, and the planet at risk, Sabra is supporting an unsustainable food system that largely benefits big chemical and agribusiness corporations,” Lisa Archer of Friends of the Earth said in the release.

The campaign targets PepsiCo for its support of anti-GMO labelling campaigns around the country. Green America says PepsiCo has spent $4 million to fight GMO labelling initiatives in Oregon and Colorado, and more than $8 million in total fighting labelling. — AGCanada.com Network