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GM surprise in the cereal box

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Poster's Comment: I posted this article because of the info about GM foods

being in so many of our cereals - however, I trust that most people realize

that the comment here about " there are no documented health risks associated

with GM foods " is totally untrue. There is an abundance of proof that they are

dangerous such as

The Health Risks of GM Foods: Summary and Debate

summarizes the health risks of genetically modified foods

_http://www.seedsofdeception.com/Public/GeneticRoulette/HealthRisksofGMFoodsSu

mmaryDebate/index.cfm_

(http://www.seedsofdeception.com/Public/GeneticRoulette/HealthRisksofGMFoodsSumm\

aryDebate/index.cfm)

GM Food Safety: Royal Society Suppressed Study

_http://www.communicationagents.com/sepp/2005/08/10/gm_food_safety_royal_socie

ty_suppressed_study.htm_

(http://www.communicationagents.com/sepp/2005/08/10/gm_food_safety_royal_society\

_suppressed_study.htm)

 

Most Offspring Died When Mother Rats Ate Genetically Engineered Soy

_http://www.seedsofdeception.com/utility/showArticle/?objectID=297_

(http://www.seedsofdeception.com/utility/showArticle/?objectID=297)

Mass Deaths in Sheep Grazing on Bt Cotton

_http://www.i-sis.org.uk/MDSGBTC.php_ (http://www.i-sis.org.uk/MDSGBTC.php)

Unintended GMO Health Risks

_http://www.seedsofdeception.com/Public/Newsletter/March2008-UnintendedGMOHeal

thRisks/index.cfm_

(http://www.seedsofdeception.com/Public/Newsletter/March2008-UnintendedGMOHealth\

Risks/index.cfm)

 

 

GM surprise in the cereal box

Bobby Jordan

_http://www.thetimes.co.za/PrintEdition/News/Article.aspx?id=814190_

(http://www.thetimes.co.za/PrintEdition/News/Article.aspx?id=814190)

 

Label battle grows as lab tests show top breakfast brands contain a hefty

proportion of genetically modified maize

 

Millions of South Africans eat genetically modified cereals for breakfast.

Laboratory tests have found that more than half of the maize used in some of

the country’s top breakfast brands is genetically modified.

Maize is one of the country’s staple foods and a key ingredient in breakfast

cereals.

The type of modified maize grown locally contains an additional gene,

borrowed from a type of bacteria, that makes the crop more resistant to

insects.

Products that have tested positive for GM maize include ProNutro original

flavour (52.7 %), ProNutro Toddlers Instant apple and banana flavour (97.5%),

Iwisa Maize Meal (27.2%), Tiger Brands Ace samp (53.7%) and Purity cream of

maize baby soft porridge (24.9%).

Cereal products found to be completely GM free were Pick n Pay No Name Brand

cornflakes and Kellogg’s cornflakes.

The results have drawn an outcry from anti-GM groups, who want compulsory

labels on all GM food sold in South Africa.

Labelling in South Africa applies only to GM foods that are “substantially

different†from non-GM foods or contain animal or human genes. There is a

global row over the labelling of GM foodstuffs, with some countries —

including

all European Union member states — insisting on labels for any kind of GM

food.

“Labelling GM foods in Europe did not result in increased food prices but

did result in an almost total rejection of them,†said Andrew Taynton,

spokesman for SafeAge, which commissioned the latest survey.

Andries Pretorius, director of food control in the Department of Health,

said: “Currently in South Africa, GM foodstuffs on the shelves only contain

inserted bacterial genes and proteins and these foodstuffs are considered

substantially equivalent to their non-GM counterparts and therefore do not

require

to be labelled.â€

The laboratory tests, done at the University of the Free State, drew a

cautious reaction from retailers, who said the days of GM-free cereal appeared

to

be over due to the size of the country’s GM crop.

With more than half the maize crop now genetically modified, buying GM-free

maize is increasingly difficult, and likely to become more expensive. Both

Kellogg’s and Pick n Pay, whose cereals tested negative for GM, said they did

not specifically request non-GM maize from suppliers.

Kellogg’s spokesman Marlinie Kotiah said: “We don’t have a policy one way

or another. But we produce crops that can give us the corn flakes we desire.â€

Pick n Pay’s Cindy Jenks said GM crops were so widespread that very few

foods were completely GM-free — and labels to that effect might be

misleading.

Felix Lombard, a spokesman for Bokomo, which produces ProNutro, said the

company supported the government line, that GM labels were only needed on

products whose nutritional content was changed due to GM.

Tiger Brands’ Jimmy Manyi said GM maize was an industry issue, not a

Tiger-specific matter.

South Africa, Africa’s only sub-Saharan country to commercialise GM food

crops, has about 1.6 million hectares of GM maize — about 57% of the total

maize

crop.

Other African countries have expressed concern about trade and technology

issues around GM technology. To date there are no documented health risks

associated with GM foods, although anti-GM lobbyists are concerned about

possible

long-term GM side-effects.

Leslie Liddell, director of environmental group Biowatch, said: “The

patenting of GM seeds, which prohibits saving of the seeds by farmers who plant

them, in normal circumstances, but particularly in the current food crisis is

disturbing as our food production system is increasingly being placed in the

hands of GM seed companies, thus undermining not only household food security

but also food sovereignty.â€

Jocelyn Webster, executive director of GM-lobby group Africa Bio, gave a

counter view: “Farming is a hugely risky business; the input costs can be

anywhere between R5000 to R7000 a hectare. If you’re spending that much you

have to

get a good yield. . . the major beneficiaries here are the farmers. â€

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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