Warning signs point to risks of GM foods

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GMW: Warning signs point to risks of GM foods

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Wed, 30 Mar 2005 09:13:11 +0100

 

 

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Warning signs point to risks of GM foods

The Scotsman, 30 march 2005

Jeffrey M Smith

http://news.scotsman.com/opinion.cfm?id=335102005

 

IN A study in the early 1990s rats were fed genetically modified (GM)

tomatoes. Well actually, the rats refused to eat them. They were

force-fed. Several of the rats developed stomach lesions and seven out

of 40

died within two weeks.

 

United States Federal Drugs Agency scientists who reviewed the study

warned that GM foods in general might create unpredicted allergies,

toxins, antibiotic-resistant diseases and nutritional problems.

 

The safety studies conducted by the biotech industry are often

dismissed by critics as superficial and designed to avoid finding

problems.

Tragically, scientists who voice their criticism, as well as those who

have discovered incriminating

evidence, have been threatened, stripped of responsibilities, denied

funding or tenure, or fired.

 

For example, a UK government-funded study demonstrated that rats fed a

GM potato developed potentially pre-cancerous cell growth, damaged

immune systems, partial atrophy of the liver, and inhibited

development of

their brains, livers and testicles. When the lead scientist went public

with his concerns, he was promptly fired from his job

after 35 years and silenced with threats of a lawsuit.

 

Americans eat genetically modified foods every day. Although the GM

tomato has been taken off the market, millions of acres of soy, corn,

canola, and cotton have had foreign genes inserted into their DNA.

 

The new genes allow the crops to survive applications of herbicide,

create their own pesticide, or both. While there are only a handful of

published animal safety studies, mounting evidence, which needs to be

followed up, suggests that these foods are not safe.

 

Rats fed GM corn had problems with blood cell formation. Those fed GM

soy had problems with liver cell formation, and the livers of rats fed

GM canola were heavier. Pigs fed GM corn on several Midwest farms

developed false pregnancies or sterility. Cows fed GM corn in Germany

died

mysteriously. And twice the number of chickens died when fed GM corn

compared with those fed natural corn.

 

Soon after GM soy was introduced to the UK, soy allergies rocketed by

50 per cent. Without follow-up tests, we can't be sure if genetic

engineering was the cause, but there are plenty of ways in which genetic

manipulation can boost allergies.

 

No-one in the US or elsewhere monitors the human health impacts of GM

foods. If the foods were creating health problems in the US population,

it might take years or decades before we identified the cause. As a

result, millions of Americans are exposed to the potential dangers, and

children are most at risk. Perhaps the revelations in the reports

released on opposite sides of the planet will awaken consumers as well as

regulators, and GM foods on the market will be withdrawn.

 

Jeffrey M Smith is the author of Seeds of Deception.

 

 

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