GMW: Endangering India's Health - GM foods

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GMW: Endangering India's Health - GM foods

" GM WATCH " <info

Fri, 3 Jun 2005 10:46:42 +0100

 

 

GM WATCH daily

http://www.gmwatch.org

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This is to accompany the press conference in New Delhi given about now

by the food and trade policy analyst, Devinder Sharma and the

geneticist Dr Suman Sahai.

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PRESS RELEASE

New Delhi, June 3:

 

GM Foods: Endangering India's Health

 

Recent reports that rats fed on a diet rich in genetically modified

maize developed organ abnormalities and changes in the blood profile,

have

raised fears about human health risks from eating genetically modified

foods.

 

Data on the collapse of the immune system and organ abnormalities in

rats fed with GM maize (MON 863) have been leaked from secret research

carried out by the multinational food giant Monsanto. The Monsanto study

clearly showed that rats fed on normal maize were healthy. Monsanto has

refused to make its 1139 page report public despite requests from

several official quarters, including the European Food Safety Authority,

stating that the report " contains confidential business information which

could be of commercial use to our competitors " .

 

Dr Arpad Puzstai, formerly of the Rowett Institute in Scotland and

pioneer of the rat feeding studies with GM foods, has said that the

differences between GM maize and non-GM maize fed rats in the Monsanto

study

were so distinct that it was a clear indication that changes in the

nutritional value and the biological/immunological properties of GM maize

had take place. He said that " It is almost impossible to imagine that

major lesions in important organs (kidneys, liver, etc) or changes in

blood parameters (lymphocytes, granulocytes, glucose, etc) that occurred

in GM maize-fed rats, is incidental " . It may be recalled that Dr Pusztai

had demonstrated some years ago that rats fed with GM potatoes show

organ malformations and altered immune response.

 

In the USA, the Center for Food Safety (CFS) has alerted both the

Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and Monsanto about the failure

of the

company to comply with the adverse reporting requirements of the

Federal Insecticide, Fungicide and Rodenticide Act (FIFRA). According to

CFS, the MON863 rat feeding study showed " unreasonable adverse effects "

which should have been drawn to the attention of the regulators. Failure

to do this is potentially a criminal offence.

 

Professor Bela Darvas of the Hungarian Academy of Sciences complained

that they had asked Monsanto several times to provide MON 863 material

necessary to conduct further research on behalf of the Hungarian

government, but the company said that it did not wish to provide more

modified

seeds for research purposes. " This is absolutely unacceptable from a

scientific standpoint. We cannot suspend studies into the safety of GM

crops just because the findings upset the biotech industry. If this is a

reflection of how little they care about the impact of their products

on the environment, we have cause to be very concerned. "

 

Earlier studies on rats have also shown that the rodents don't take

particularly to GM foods and have routinely rejected genetically modified

foods in the laboratories. When the first genetically altered tomato

" Flavr Savr " was fed to rodents in the labs in 1994, they refused to eat

the GM tomatoes containing a foreign gene to make it ripen more slowly.

Data revealed that many of the rats that ate the GM tomato developed

lesions in their stomachs. For unknown reasons, researchers did not

examine tissues elsewhere in the digestive tract. They also did not

provide

an explanation as to why seven of the forty rats that were fed with GM

tomatoes died unexpectedly within two weeks.

 

There have been numerous reports of stomach lesions in rats, false

pregnancies in cows, excessive cell growth and damage to animal immune

systems.

 

In another experiment, researchers at the University of Cornell in

America observed that the caterpillars of monarch butterfly when fed with

genetically modified corn suffered varying degrees of ailments, and were

crawling more slowly than usual. Scientists concluded that 44 per cent

of the caterpillars died after being fed continuously with the GM corn

pollens. None of those exposed to non-GM corn suffered. Those fed on

normal corn pollen turned into butterflies.

 

This raises the obvious question. Why are the companies trying to force

genetically altered foods to an unsuspecting population? Why are they

shying away from making public the results of the research trials? Why

are our politicians so keen to take the unproven technology? Why are our

scientists blindly pushing a risky technology, which like chemical

pesticides, can take a heavy human toll, pollute the environment and

destroy the ecology?

 

In light of the damming evidence that is gathering about the health

risks of GM foods, Gene Campaign, Forum for Biotechnology and Food

Security, New Delhi, and other civil society groups demand an

immediate ban on

GM foods before these are seriously reviewed in India.

 

The provisions of the draft Indian policy are so reckless that they do

not require safety testing for most GM foods. Health effects of the

kind reported in the leaked Monsanto study would not even be detected in

India since the new policy would not require their testing; the

population would be exposed to such untested foods and it would be too

late to

do anything when the health impacts were detected.

 

There is widespread criticism of the draft biotechnology policy for its

jettisoning the precautionary principle and putting in place provisions

that will seriously jeopardize the safety of the environment and of

human and animal health. The Monsanto study should be reason enough for a

serious overhaul of the draft Biotechnology Policy, introducing

elements of precaution, safety and public participation.

 

Mr Devinder Sharma and Dr. Suman Sahai raised a number of demands on

behalf of civil society groups:

 

* We would like immediate publication of all the food and feed safety

data that has been generated on the GM crops that are being researched

in India. There are many of these, like cabbage, cauliflower, brinjal,

potato, tomato and even rice.

 

* The methodology used for the food and feed safety tests must be made

known to the public, as also the laboratories where such safety tests

were conducted. All decisions on GM crops and foods must be taken in

accordance with the provisions of the Cartagena Protocol on Biosafety

which requires public participation.

 

* Food and Feed safety data must NOT be accepted from companies but

must be generated in government laboratories, in a transparent manner,

open to public scrutiny.

 

* A competent, transparent and independent regulatory process with more

participation from the public/civil society to oversee all aspects of

GM crops and foods must be put in place immediately, to replace the

technically inadequate, and industry-friendly compromised regulatory

structures that exist today.

 

* The import of GM foods into India must be stopped immediately; all

foods that have been imported must be tested for the presence of GM foods

and food safety tests should be conducted on these before their import

can be allowed. We believe that much of the imported maize is

genetically engineered, and so are numerous food products that adorn

the super

malls.

 

* A ban on the release of GM foods must be put in place immediately.

There are several GM food crops in the pipeline; these must be held in

abeyance until clear safety data, generated independently, have been

subjected to a public risk-benefit analysis.

 

* Given the feeble health status and vulnerability of the Indian poor,

the complete lack of information on safety testing procedures and the

weak and inefficient regulatory system, it would be advisable for India

to keep away GM foods.

 

* India is a storehouse of food and agricultural diversity and has many

options to offer for food and nutritional security. There appears to be

little reason why it should opt for potentially dangerous GM foods,

especially when the systems in place for regulation are so demonstrably

weak.

 

 

 

 

 

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