HEALTH SCANDAL - MONSANTO'S GMO PERVERSION OF FOOD

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HEALTH SCANDAL - MONSANTO'S GMO PERVERSION OF FOOD

_http://www.newswithviews.com/Richards/byron189.htm_

(http://www.newswithviews.com/Richards/byron189.htm)

By Byron J. Richards, CCN

January 20, 2010

NewsWithViews.com

 

 

In the 2010 growing season _Monsanto plans to unleash its latest

Frankenfood experiment_ (http://www.newswithviews.com/NWV-News/news182.htm) on

the

American and Canadian public, a new version of genetically mutated corn with

eight abnormal gene traits called Genuity SmartStax corn. It is the

culmination of an astonishing scandal that has been steadily building over the

past decade. During this time Monsanto’s mutated seeds have grown to 90% of

the U.S. soy crop and 85% of the corn crop – and wheat is next on their

agenda. Their efforts have been marked by corporate bullying and have drawn the

attention of the Justice Department who is conducting an antitrust

investigation. All the while they have been spending millions on lobbying to

fast

track their agenda before the American public even realizes what hit them.

Monsanto is making an ominous power play to corner the worldwide market on

food and seeds. In the process they are adversely altering the very nature

of food itself.

 

 

Few people would eat Monsanto’s “food†if they understood what it was or

knew that they were eating it. President Obama and his family won’t eat it.

Neither did the Bush family. Even a Monsanto employee cafeteria rejects

it. This is no laughing matter. Your health and the health of your children

and grandchildren are at stake. It seems more like a scene from a horror

flick than something happening in modern day America. Imagine your digestive

tract turned into a Roundup Ready herbicide factory and other warped genetic

signals slowly and progressively rotting away your health. Unlike acute

food poisoning from infectious E.coli, it is a slow and insidious poisoning.

 

 

Why GMO Food is Dangerous

 

 

Monsanto’s GMO (genetically modified organism) technology inserts non-food

genes, genes from other species, into the DNA of food, _altering the very

nature of food itself_

(http://www.newswithviewsstore.com/mm5/merchant.mvc?Screen=PROD & Store_Code=NWVS & \

Product_Code=DV27 & Category_Code=DVD) . In some

cases these genes make the crops more tolerant to the Roundup Ready

herbicide made by Monsanto and in other cases the genes abnormally cause the

DNA of

food cells to produce toxic proteins that act as pesticides.

 

 

Most people are not comfortable with the concept of altering the nature of

food in a grand genetic experiment with unknown consequences. The idea of

food producing its own internal toxin is equally abhorrent. After all, who

wants to eat toxic food? Even fewer trust this technology in the hands of

Monsanto, a company with a history of blatant disregard for human health. It

was Monsanto that knowingly poisoned the planet with toxic PCBs.

 

 

The process of making GMO seeds also poses health risks. Viral promoter

genes are used during this production process and become part of the DNA mix,

posing a risk for new types of viral disease. An unintended side-effect of

this production technology is chronic activation or suppression of normal

genes in the modified plants. This alters the actual nutrient structure of

food and the function of the proteins within that food – a very serious

matter.

 

 

The entire process of producing GMO seeds is also unpredictable. It

creates multiple random genetic events in every food cell invaded by the mutant

genes. Because each gene doesn’t just do one thing and is highly interactive

with other genes, the production of GMO food is not consistent and

therefore safety cannot be guaranteed – especially when you understand that

our

scientific knowledge of gene interdependencies is in its infancy.

 

 

Eating food that is mutated by other non-food species is a grand

experiment to say the least. GMO mutants can transfer to the living bacteria in

your

digestive tract, as has been shown in animal experiments. This can

adversely change the way your gut bacteria behave so that they create

pesticides

and become more resistant to your immune system and medical treatments. If

the GMO mutants were to transfer to an existing infection in your digestive

tract then it could create your own superbug.

 

 

Because the proteins in GMO food are structurally different than normal

food they significantly increase the risk for allergy. Allergy is one form of

inflammation that is likely to result from GMO food, but there are many

other potential sources. These include the mis-metabolism of the food, the

inherent toxicity of the food, and the pesticide residues on the food. These

inflammatory problems of GMO food will additively contribute to other forms

of inflammation such as pollution and stress and add to the total

inflammation burden sets the stage for many diseases. It is likely that GMO food

will have a significant impact on pregnancy problems and developmental

problems in children. At this time nobody can rule out GMO as a possible

causative

factor in Autism, as the rates of both have risen together. A recent

re-evaluation of data provided by Monsanto showed that various types of GMO

corn

caused significant inflammatory organ damage to rats.

 

 

It has now been shown that the health consequence of eating high amounts

of Roundup Ready residue that is being sprayed in ever-higher amounts on GMO

crops is the disruption of your endocrine system. A recent study shows

that these residues of Roundup Ready are highly interactive with sex hormones

and significantly disrupt their function.

 

 

A 2008 Austrian government study showed that feeding GMO corn to mice for

multiple generations resulted in fertility issues and weakened kidneys, as

well as changes in metabolic pathways involved with inflammation,

cholesterol, and protein. Here is a link to the 105 page report.

 

 

GMO crops are also drastically and adversely altering soil quality. In

fact, soil animals such as earthworms are now found to have incorporated GMO

mutant corn genes into their cells. This finding is of extreme importance to

potential human health problems. There is certainly nothing preventing

this from happening to humans.

 

 

For more information on the devastating health consequences of consuming

GMO foods read _Jeffrey Smith’s_

(http://www.newswithviews.com/Smith/jeffreyA.htm) books, _Seeds of Deception_

(http://www.newsw

ithviewsstore.com/mm5/merchant.mvc?Screen=PROD & Store_Code=NWVS & Product_Code=B12 & \

Category_Code=BOOKS)

and _Genetic Roulette_

(http://www.newswithviewsstore.com/mm5/merchant.mvc?Screen=PROD & Store_Code=NWVS & \

Product_Code=B48 & Category_Code=BOOKS) .â€

 

 

You may be wondering the obvious; if GMOs are so dangerous to eat then why

are they allowed in the food supply?

 

 

Corporate Cronyism - A Corrupt FDA Places the Public in Danger

 

 

We now know that FDA scientists originally working on the issue of the

safety of GMO food had _considerable concerns_

(http://www.ijsaf.org/archive/16/1/lotter1.pdf) that included allergies,

toxins, adverse nutritional

effects, and new diseases. They urged long-term studies but were ignored by FDA

management who instead decided that GMO food was “substantially equivalentâ€

to normal food. In 1992 these managers issued the following policy

statement in the Federal Register, “The agency is not aware of any

information

showing that foods derived by these new methods differ from other foods in

any meaningful or uniform way.†In retrospect, that policy, which stands to

this day, was a flat out lie and a treasonous betrayal of the public trust.

 

 

Court cases have forced into public view the documents expressing the

concerns of the FDA scientists. You can read them all at this link to the

_BioIntegrity.Org_ (http://biointegrity.org/list.html) website. In fact,

rushing GMO foods to market also represents a serious breach of scientific

integrity by the overall research community.

 

 

Today, the FDA is a world leader in proteomic technology, the advanced

analysis of protein structure and function. _Italian researchers_

(http://www.wellnessresources.com/studies/entry/protein_signalling_in_gmo_food_i\

s_signfic

antly_altered) using proteomics have already proven beyond any question

that GMO food is so genetically different from normal food that it cannot

possibly be considered substantially equivalent. Certainly the FDA could

discover this fact for themselves in a matter of hours. Why are FDA scientists

in handcuffs and not taking action?

 

 

Part of the FDA management team’s culture of corruption is a revolving

door with the various companies they are supposed to be regulating, the very

definition of corporate cronyism. These shenanigans have had the net effect

of the FDA acting primarily as a police force bully representing various

powerful lobbies that buy protection and marketing favors, while stomping on

the rights of the little guys like organic family farms and consumers. In

the case of food, Monsanto wins the gold medal for influence pedaling at the

expense of human health.

 

 

One of the more egregious examples of cronyism is Michael Taylor. He was

an FDA staff lawyer and Executive Assistant to the FDA Commissioner from

1976 to 1981. From 1981 to 1991 he worked at the law firm of King and

Spaulding, acting as Monsanto’s lawyer and lobbyist. He was a major proponent

for

overturning the Delaney Clause, a 1958 law prohibiting the introduction of

known carcinogens to processed foods, a law Monsanto hated and which was

eventually overturned by Clinton in 1996. His main responsibility during this

time was gaining regulatory approval of Monsanto’s genetically modified

cancer-causing bovine growth hormone (rBGH).

 

 

To complete his efforts on the bovine growth hormone issue Taylor went

back to work for the FDA in 1991 with the title Deputy Commissioner for Policy

at the Food and Drug Administration. He was directly responsible for

writing the FDA policy on “substantial equivalence†which initially ushered

in

the rBGH era and to this day enables Monsanto to market its GMO mutated food

with no appropriate oversight by the FDA as to safety. He also formulated

policy that prevented milk producers from informing consumers that their

milk was free of bovine growth hormone – intentionally preventing consumers

from being able to tell what was in the milk product they were consuming.

 

 

After accomplishing his dirty work, he left the FDA in 1994 and went to

work for Monsanto as Vice President for Public Policy, working on Monsanto’s

long range plans. More recently, he became a Senior Fellow at Resources for

the Future (RFF) and Director of the Risk, Resources and Environmental

Management division. In this role, he strategized how to get Monsanto’s GMO

crops into Africa, working closely with the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation

and the Rockefeller Foundation. He also worked closely with the Bush

Administration, and is the point man in helping an _elite agenda to spread GMO

seeds_ (http://www.organicconsumers.org/articles/article_18866.cfm) and

biotech dependence around the world.

 

 

You guessed it – now he is back at the FDA in a new position the Obama

Administration created – _Senior Advisor to the Commissioner_

(http://www.globalresearch.ca/index.php?context=va & aid=14826) , working

primarily on issues

of food safety! “I am pleased to welcome Mike Taylor back to the FDA,â€

Commissioner of Food and Drugs Margaret A. Hamburg, M.D., said in announcing

Taylor’s appointment. “His expertise and leadership on food safety issues

will help the agency to develop and implement the prevention based strategy

we need to ensure the safety of the food we eat.â€

 

 

As Monsanto, in anti-competitive _collusion with Dow_

(http://www2.prnewswire.com/cgi-bin/stories.pl?ACCT=104 & STORY=/www/story/01-18-2\

006/0004262577 & EDA

TE=) , takes their new GMO toxic and mutated corn to market, stacked with

eight genes, it should come as no surprise that absolutely no safety

testing is being required by the FDA. Never before have there been eight genes

altered simultaneously within the cells of food. One gene is bad enough.

Three is horrendous. But eight?

 

 

The fact that the FDA is not requiring extensive safety testing by

independent sources of this highly unpredictable and dangerous technology is

unthinkable. It is a grim day when the fox is in charge of the henhouse.

 

 

There Is No Good Reason for Monsanto’s GMOs

 

If you listen to Monsanto and their business cohorts such as _Cargill_

(http://www.ukabc.org/gaiam4_4.htm) , they state they are trying to feed the

world. In reality, the world could eliminate Monsanto’s mutated food

tomorrow and it would be a better place. It could also do without Cargill acting

as an _unregulated food banker_

(http://www.scribd.com/doc/7470879/Cargill-A-Threat-to-Food-and-Farming) ,

profiting on the manipulation of food sales at

the expense of farmers in a way that is every bit as bad as the worst of

Wall Street. There is no need for _Monsanto’s GMO mutated seeds_

(http://www.newswithviewsstore.com/mm5/merchant.mvc?Screen=PROD & Store_Code=NWVS & \

Product_

Code=DV27 & Category_Code=DVD) . They offer no advantages. It is an industry

being propped up by unelected bureaucrats and elected officials on the

receiving end of Monsanto’s multi-million dollar lobbying operation.

 

 

Michael Taylor is one example of _corporate crony influence_

(http://www.organicconsumers.org/articles/article_18635.cfm) , there are _many

others_

(http://www.politicalfriendster.com/showPerson.php?id=5580 & name=Monsanto) .

The USDA is profiting from Monsanto’s seeds that cannot be used the next

growing season (the _Terminator_

(http://www.banterminator.org/The-Issues/Introduction) aspect of the problem).

The EPA’s failure to regulate the amounts

of Roundup Ready used on food is yet another scandal. It’s all about

profits and control – while undermining the world’s farmers and the

biodiversity and sustainability of crops.

 

 

Contrary to the Monsanto and Cargill propaganda, GMO technology does not

increase crop yields, as has been fully documented in the Union of Concerned

Scientists report titled _Failure to Yield_

(http://www.ucsusa.org/assets/documents/food_and_agriculture/failure-to-yield.pd\

f) . And GMO crops are

very bad for the _carbon footprint_

(http://seminal.firedoglake.com/diary/19936) .

 

 

The fact that the _Obama administration_

(http://www.huffingtonpost.com/eric-holt-gimenez/obamas-pick-for-head-of-u_b_396\

154.html) is actively

forwarding Monsanto’s efforts should be a _grave concern_

(http://www.grist.org/article/2009-09-24-usda-obama-monsanto-organic/) to every

American. Of

course, the last 16 years of Clinton and Bush also did everything in their

power

to help Monsanto. No wonder Americans are fed up. Politicians in both

parties are beholden to the golden idol, not the best health interests of its

citizens.

 

 

Take Back Our Food – Join the Fight

 

 

We the people can have a huge impact and we can change this serious threat

to human health. Don’t buy GMOs food. GMOs permeate corn and soy products,

_beet sugar_

(http://www.wellnessresources.com/freedom/articles/monsantos_toxic_and_mutated_w\

orld_is_sugar_safe_to_eat/) is now mutated, and wheat is

next in line. If you aren’t sure how to avoid GMO foods and brands then

follow the advice given on Jeffrey Smith’s _Non-GMO shopping guide_

(http://www.nongmoshoppingguide.com/SG/Home/index.cfm) . Demand from your

political

representatives that all GMO food be labeled as containing GMOs. This isn’t

just a political issue – this is about your personal health and the future

of food.

 

 

Watch this humorous and informative animation and pass it on to your

friends: _Larry Leptin & Family in Invasion of the Frankenfoods_

(http://www.larryleptin.com/) .

 

 

 

Related Articles:

 

1- _Supermarket News Forecasts Non-GMO Uprising_

(http://www.newswithviews.com/Smith/jeffrey129.htm)

 

 

Byron J. Richards, Board-Certified Clinical Nutritionist,

nationally-renowned _nutrition expert_

(http://www.wellnessresources.com/newsroom/index.php/tips/articles/get_health_ti\

ps_from_the_expert/) , and founder of _Wellness

Resources_ (http://www.wellnessresources.com/index.php) is a leader in

advocating the value of _dietary supplements_

(http://www.wellnessresources.com/health_topics/daily_program.php) as a vital

tool to maintain health. He is

an outspoken critic of government and Big Pharma efforts to deny access to

natural health products and has written extensively on the life-shortening

and health-damaging failures of the _sickness industry_

(http://www.wellnessresources.com/newsroom/index.php/freedom/) .

His 25 years of clinical experience from the front lines of nutrition have

made him a popular radio guest who callers find impossible to stump. He

has personally developed 75 unique nutraceutical-grade _nutritional supplement

formulas_ (http://www.wellnessresources.com/supplements.php) with a focus

on _thyroid nutrition_ (http://www.wellnessresources.com/h

ealth_topics/thyroid_metabolism.php) , healthy _weight loss supplements_

(http://www.wellnessresources.com/products/leptin_control_pack.php) ,

_cardiovascular nutrition_

(http://www.wellnessresources.com/health_topics/cardiovascular_health.php)

, and _stress management_

(http://www.wellnessresources.com/health_topics/stress_energy_mood.php) .