[mobglob-discuss] GM foods 101

[Bella]

Hi all,
Here's a little piece on GM foods and crops (from EcoNews ezine). It's a
good one to send to people who's alarm clocks are starting to ring.
Know your source,
Bella


(from the recent issue of EcoNews)

A FOOD CONSPIRACY

There's a huge food fight going on over genetically modified (GM) 
between the USA and Europe. The Americans are furious that Europe 
will not accept its GM produce, and have filed a complaint to the 
World Trade Organization to try to force the EU to loosen its 
restrictions. There's also a battle going on in Britain, where the 
government has launched a major public debate on the issue, and is 
seemingly determined to open up the floodgates. So why is GM food so 
worrisome? After all, millions of North Americas have been eating GM 
soy, canola, corn and other products for several years without 
dropping dead. But now heed this evidence, from The Ecologist (March 
2003):

* The New England Journal of Medicine found that a GM bacteria used 
in the production of the food supplement tryptophan produced toxins 
that killed 37 people and permanently disabled 1500 others.

* Almost all GM crops grown in UK trials have resulted in 
cross-pollination; Professor Katz from Jena University in Germany has 
found that GM genes have jumped from pollen to bacteria and yeast 
found in the gut of bee larvae.

* The UK Food Standards Agency has confirmed that human gut bacteria 
can absorb antibiotic resistant DNA from GM food. 12 test sites in 
England and 2 in Scotland have been contaminated with antibiotic 
resistant genes.

* Dr Arpad Pusztai of the Rowett Research Institute in Aberdeen has 
found that rats feeding on GM potatoes suffered stomach and intestine 
damage.

* The University of Nebraska found that GM soy yielded up to 11% less 
than normal soy, and needed 5 times more herbicide.

* Researchers at the York Nutritional Laboratory found that allergies 
to soy, a now widely consumed GM food, had risen by 5% over the last 
year.

* British farm trial research has found that GM crop genes are 
interbreeding on a large scale with conventional crops and weeds. The 
genes from GM oil seed herbicide-resistant canola were found on 
conventional crops 200 metres away.

* Some combine harvesters are not being cleaned after harvesting GM 
crops, causing the GM seed to spill onto land meant for conventional 
crops.

* In another case, a GM crop interbred with wild turnip weed and 
passed on its herbicide-resistance, raising the prospect of 
superweeds invading the countryside.

* The widespread use of Monsantoís Roundup-Ready crops in the US has 
caused Roundup-resistant weeds to evolve on half a million acres. The 
more resistant the weeds, the greater the quantity of Roundup that 
needs to be applied ñ a handy result for Monsanto. Now Monsanto wants 
to press ahead with GM wheat, in spite of opposition from the 
Canadian Wheat Board.

One of the concerns that surfaced at last year's organic growers 
conference in Victoria was that GM producers knew that genetic 
contamination would threaten organic crops. With the organic food 
movement growing so rapidly, that would be very convenient. "The hope 
is that over time, the market is so flooded [with GM products] that 
thereís nothing you can do about it. You just sort of surrender." ñ 
Don Westfall, VP of Promar International, a leading US food & 
pharmaceuticals consultancy.



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"Here's a message for the masses, never ass kiss" Ozo Matli

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