WHY SUNSHINE BURGER?

Sunshine Burger is dedicated to providing food that is healthful and wholesome. As part of our initiative to provide certified organic, whole food products for our customers, it is also our mission to work with foods that are healthy for our planet. That’s why we do not use any genetically engineered (GE) or genetically modified organisms (GMOs) in our products. We work closely with the Non-GMO Verified Project, a non-profit organization committed to preserving and building sources of non-GMO products, educating consumers, and providing verified non-GMO choices.

GMOs are plants and animals whose genetic material has been altered in a laboratory using genetic engineering techniques such as gene splicing. This experimental technology merges DNA from different species to create new combinations of plant, animal, bacterial and viral genes that cannot be formed naturally. Virtually all commercial GMO crops are engineered to withstand direct application of herbicides and/or produce toxic insecticides inside the plant itself. Despite biotech industry promises, none of the GMO traits currently on the market offer increased yield, drought tolerance, enhanced nutrition, or any other consumer benefit. Plus, there have been no long-term studies ever conducted proving the health safety of GMOs; in fact, a growing body of evidence points to significant health and environmental risks associated with GMO food and agriculture. See GMO Myths and Truths for a summary of peer reviewed, scientific research demonstrating the health and environmental risks associated with GMOs.

Sunshine Burgers supports the Non-GMO Project by using the Non-GMO Project Verified Seal and by NOT INCLUDING ANY GMO-RISK INGREDIENTS in its vegan burgers. GMO-risk ingredients include soy, corn, alfalfa, cotton, canola, papaya from Hawaii, zucchini and crooked neck squash.

The Non-GMO Verified seal verifies that Sunshine Burger’s products have gone through a rigorous verification process that assures a product has been produced according to consensus-based best practices for GMO avoidance:

• Ongoing testing of all GMO-risk ingredients—any ingredient being grown commercially in GMO form must be tested prior to use in a verified product.
• An Action Threshold of 0.9%. This is in alignment with laws in the European Union, where any product containing more than 0.9% GMO must be labeled.
• Rigorous traceability and segregation practices to be followed in order to ensure ingredient integrity through to the finished product.
• For low-risk ingredients, conduct a thorough review of ingredient specification sheets to determine absence of GMO risk.
• Verification is maintained through an annual audit, along with onsite inspections for high-risk products.

GMO Resources:

• Institute for Responsible Technology
  
• Non-GMO Project, GMO Facts
• California Right to Know
  

All Sunshine Burgers are gluten-free, meaning that they do not contain any gluten, wheat, kamut, spelt, barley, rye, malts or triticale. Gluten allergy sufferers can be confident that all Sunshine Burgers meet gluten-free standards.

Sunshine Burgers are safe for those individuals living a gluten-free lifestyle or living with Celiac disease. We produce our tasty vegan burgers in a gluten-free production line with only gluten-free ingredients. Our dedicated production line is used solely for Sunshine Burgers. However, the facility that processes Sunshine Burgers does process other foods that contain gluten. To ensure the integrity of our products, we regularly test them to ensure that they contain a gluten threshold of less than 20 parts per million.

In addition to being gluten free, all Sunshine Burgers are free of: soy, corn, oats, dairy, eggs, treenuts and peanuts.

Gluten Free Resources:

Learn more about the gluten-free diet and Celiac disease at Celiac.com

• National Foundation for Celiac Awareness
  
• Living Without
  
• Gluten-Free Living
  
• Celiac Disease Foundation
  
• Celiac Spruce Association