by Graeme » Thu 10 Jan 2013, 19:36:55
This is a controversial topic but I don't think the issue will go away. Here are a couple more reports which could prompt you to look deeper into GMO.
Genetically modified foods: Major media reports reveal serious risks, dangers
$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('', '&')quot;French scientists said ... that rats fed on Monsanto's genetically modified corn or exposed to its top-selling weedkiller suffered tumors and multiple organ damage. The researchers said 50 percent of males and 70 percent of females died prematurely, compared with only 30 percent and 20 percent in the control group. GMOs are deeply unpopular in Europe and many other countries, but dominate key crops in the United States."
-- MSNBC/Reuters article on a two-year study of rats fed genetically modified foods, 9/19/2012
Are genetically modified foods helpful or harmful? Monsanto and the food industry have poured $35 million into a campaign in California against Proposition 37, which would require the labeling of foods which contain genetically modified (GM) contents. Though over 60 countries require GM food labeling, no state in the U.S. has this requirement. Yet as the major media articles below have shown, over 90% of polled U.S. residents would rather have the right to know.
The huge industry campaign against GM labeling in California has clearly had an effect. Poll results show that in late September 67% of respondents favored Proposition 37, yet by Oct. 10th that number had dropped below 50%, largely as a result of incessant advertising sponsored by Monsanto and other major food corporations. Sadly, proponents of labeling have less than $5 million to present information on the many studies showing how harmful genetically modified foods can be.
Below are highly revealing news articles reported in the major media which reveal the many risks and dangers of GM foods, as well as the intense and deceptive campaign by big industry to promote these foods as healthy and avoid labeling. Links are provided to many reliable sources showing the harmful effects of these foods. Please read below, spread the word, and see our "What you can do" section below the article summaries. Thanks for caring and for making a difference in our world.
examinerThe latest GMO study raises more questions than it answers$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('', 'I')t’s been hard to avoid hearing about the recent study [PDF] linking GMO corn and pesticide (Roundup) exposure to tumor growth and early death in rats. Most major news organizations have picked it up, including The New York Times, the Washington Post, the Chicago Tribune, NPR, and the LA Times.
The study itself, published in the peer-reviewed journal Food and Chemical Toxicology, was performed by Gilles-Eric Seralini, head of the Committee for Independent Research and Information on Genetic Engineering and a scientist who is a self-described opponent of genetically modified food.
The group that co-sponsored the research, the U.K.’s Sustainable Food Trust, declared it to be the first “lifetime feeding trial” of GMOs’ effects in rats; Seralini and his team followed the rats for two years — the full lifespan of the animal. Most GMO rat feeding studies last no longer than 90 days — the equivalent to a much longer period in human terms, of course.
Still, it’s worth noting that GMOs entered the marketplace less than 20 years ago, and there haven’t been any lifetime feeding studies of their effects in humans. So it’s worth paying attention to what Seralini has done. Here’s how he constructed the study, as summarized by The New York Times:
The rats in the study were split into 10 groups, each containing 10 male and 10 female rats. Six of the groups were fed different amounts of a corn developed by Monsanto to be resistant to the herbicide Roundup. In some cases the corn had been sprayed in the field with Roundup.
Three other groups were given different doses of Roundup in their drinking water, with the lowest dose corresponding to what might be found in tap water in the United States, the authors said.
The 10th group, the control, was fed nonengineered corn and plain water.
The study found that in groups that ate the engineered corn, up to 50 percent of the males and 70 percent of the females died before they would have from normal aging, compared with 30 percent of the males and 20 percent of the females in the control group.
Some 50 to 80 percent of the female rats developed tumors compared with only 30 percent of the controls. And there were several times as many cases of liver and kidney injury in the exposed rats.Other scientists immediately criticized the structure of the study, the findings, and Seralini himself. Both Monsanto and the Food and Drug Administration responded with a more guarded “we’ll review it and get back to you.”