The Unethical Biopharming of America

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http://www.mercola.com/2006/jun/3/the_unethical_biopharming_of_america.htm

 

 

The Unethical Biopharming of America

 

 

 

The company Ventria Bioscience has provoked controversy by growing an

experimental diarrhea drug in rice genetically engineered with a human

gene. Environmental groups, food corporations, and farmers have

managed to keep Ventria's rice farms out of California and Missouri,

and they continue to allege that Ventria is recklessly using untested

technology.

 

Will it Mix With Food Crops?

 

Ventria's rice, now grown in North Carolina, produces two proteins

found in human milk, saliva and tears, which could help reduce the

severity of diarrhea attacks. Diarrhea is a leading killer of children

in developing countries. But many fear that Ventria's experimental

crops will intermix with food crops, rendering them unsafe to eat.

 

Natural Bananas Disappearing

At the same time as companies throughout the world are bioengineering

new crops, the UN Food and Agriculture Organization warns that natural

wild banana species could soon become extinct. Without wild bananas

for hybridization, the world banana crop, threatened by disease, could

very well collapse.

 

News May 14, 2006

 

New Scientist May 13, 2006

 

Dr. Mercola's Comment:

 

I am absolutely convinced that genetic engineering is one of the most

significant threats to the future health of this world. I am currently

in the process of writing a book on this topic that should be out in 2007.

 

I am equally convinced that Monsanto is one of the most evil companies

I have ever reviewed. They have manipulated the legal system to

actually be able to patent their destructive changes and sue innocent

farmers after their manipulated plants have infected their fields

through the process of natural pollination.

 

Folks, it doesn't get much more morally reprehensible than this.

Monsanto's plans to control the future of food in the world are

literally some of the most frightening issues I have ever encountered

in health.

 

Last year I ran an article about Ventria Bioscience, and their

practice of growing transgenic rice containing human genes.

Unfortunately, Ventria was granted clearance in March from the U.S.

Department of Agriculture (USDA) to expand its operations to some 335

acres near Greenville, N.C.

 

Coincidently, one " neighbor " of the Ventria farm was a USDA test site

for new breeds of rice. That is, until the agency promptly moved its

testing facility to Maryland. Looks like they don't want to be

anywhere near this stuff either ...

 

Ventria has petitioned the FDA for approval of its protein powder used

to fight diarrhea, not as a drug but a medical food, which means it

wouldn't require extensive human testing. And, despite growing

opposition, the company has a long-range plan of adding its unnatural

protein product to baby formula, although food manufacturers aren't

interested.

 

The company claims it's virtually impossible for its genetically

modified rice, when mixed with conventional crops, to create a deadly

product.

 

Nevertheless, it's a certainty that they will mix at some point and,

when that happens, who really knows how these Frankenstein-like crop

combinations will affect your health. Hybrids between GM plants and

wild plants have already created weeds resistant to herbicides. Now we

are presented with the frightening possibility that medical drugs

could end up in our food supply.

 

The effects of genetic modification on the environment and on our

health are unknown. Essentially, it is a massive and risky experiment

on the whole human race and the earth's biosphere. And it isn't a

question of whether or not GM plants will mix with non-GM crops; they

will do so. We do not have control over the wind, the birds and the soil.

 

And while GM crops continue to proliferate, some natural, healthy

foods may get killed off.

 

Unless something is done, there may come a time when a natural banana

is unobtainable, and only genetically modified varieties remain, with

all the potential risks to your health that entails. If there isn't a

concerted effort to favor natural foods over GM foods, and soon, the

human race will be making a dangerous gamble with their physical

health and fragile biosphere.

 

Unfortunately, you've probably eaten GM foods, because there's no

labeling policy forcing manufacturers to list them on food labels in

America. And at least seven out of 10 items on the shelf have been

genetically modified. There are, however, ways to identify GM foods.

 

If you want to steer clear of eating GM food for good, take the

following steps:

 

* Avoid processed foods. Some 75 percent of processed foods

contain GM ingredients.

 

* Read produce and food labels. GM soybeans and corn make up the

largest portion of genetically modified crops. When looking at a

product label, if any of the ingredients are corn flour or meal,

dextrin, starch, soy sauce, margarine, or tofu (to name a few),

there's a good chance it has come from GM corn or soy, unless it's

listed as organic.

 

* Buy organic produce. Buying organic is currently the best way to

ensure that your food has not been genetically modified. Food that is

certified organic is by definition free from all GM organisms.

 

* Look at produce stickers. Those little stickers on fruit and

vegetables contain different PLU codes depending on whether the fruit

was conventionally grown, organically grown, or genetically modified.

The PLU code for conventionally grown fruit has four numbers,

organically grown fruit has five numbers prefaced by the number nine,

and GM fruit has five numbers prefaced by the number eight.

 

 

 

Related Articles:

 

Genetically Modified (GM) Foods Prepare a Takeover

 

The Damage GM Foods Can do to Your Body

 

The Damaging Effects of GMOs Revealed