Dangerous Genetically Modified Foods
Being
Served in Homes Across the US
Dear friends,
Jeffrey
M. Smith has written the definitive expose on Genetically Modified foods in
his engaging book Seeds of Deception. This is one of only two or
three books that I feel have the potential to wake up the general public to
what is going on. It is a both a fascinating read and very well documented.
You can read a 10-page summary of the book on our website at www.WantToKnow.info/deception10pg.
Below is a shorter article in Mr. Smith which reveals the depth and
severity of this huge health risk. Please help to spread this vital news far
and wide.
With
best wishes,
Fred
http://www.seedsofdeception.com/newsletter-Aug1_2004.doc
Genetically
Engineered Foods May Pose National Health Risk
By Jeffrey M. Smith
In a study in the early 1990’s rats were fed genetically modified (GM)
tomatoes. Well actually, the rats refused to eat them. They were force-fed.
Several of the rats developed stomach lesions and seven out of forty died
within two weeks. Scientists at the FDA who reviewed the study agreed that it
did not provide a “demonstration of reasonable certainty of no harm.” In
fact, agency scientists warned that GM foods in general might create
unpredicted allergies, toxins, antibiotic resistant diseases, and nutritional
problems. Internal FDA memos made public from a lawsuit reveal that the scientists
urged their superiors to require long-term safety testing to catch these
hard-to-detect side effects.
But FDA political
appointees, including a former attorney for Monsanto in charge of policy,
ignored the scientists’ warnings. The FDA does not require safety studies.
Instead, if the makers of the GM foods claim that they are safe, the agency
has no further questions. The above-mentioned GM tomato was approved in 1994.
The safety studies
conducted by the biotech industry are often dismissed by critics as
superficial and designed to avoid finding problems. Tragically,
scientists who voice their criticism, and those who have discovered
incriminating evidence, have been threatened, stripped of responsibilities,
denied funding or tenure, or fired. For example, a UK
government-funded study demonstrated that rats fed a GM potato developed
potentially pre-cancerous cell growth, damaged immune systems, partial
atrophy of the liver, and inhibited development of their brains, livers and
testicles. When the lead scientist went public with his concerns, he was
promptly fired from his job after 35 years, and silenced with threats of a
lawsuit.
Americans eat
genetically modified foods everyday. Although the GM tomato has been taken off the market,
millions of acres of soy, corn, canola, and cotton have had foreign genes
inserted into their DNA. The new genes allow the crops to survive
applications of herbicide, create their own pesticide, or both. While there
are only a handful of published animal safety studies, mounting evidence,
which needs to be followed up, suggests that these foods are not safe.
Rats fed GM corn had
problems with blood cell formation. Those fed GM soy had problems with liver
cell formation, and the livers of rats fed GM canola were heavier. Pigs fed
GM corn on several Midwest farms developed false pregnancies or sterility. Cows
fed GM corn in Germany died mysteriously. And twice the number of
chickens died when fed GM corn compared to those fed natural corn.
Soon after GM soy
was introduced to the UK, soy allergies skyrocketed by 50 percent. Without follow-up tests, we can’t be
sure if genetic engineering was the cause, but there are plenty of ways in
which genetic manipulation can boost allergies.
- A gene from a Brazil nut inserted
into soybeans made the soy allergenic to those who normally react to
Brazil nuts.
- GM soy currently consumed in the
US contains a gene from bacteria. The inserted gene creates a protein
that was never before part of the human food supply, and might be
allergenic.
- Sections of that protein are
identical to those found in shrimp and dust mite allergens. According to
criteria recommended by the World Health Organization (WHO), this fact
should have disqualified GM soy from approval.
- The sequence of the gene that was
inserted into soy has inexplicably rearranged itself over time. The
protein it creates is likely to be different than the one intended, and
was never subject to any safety studies. It may be allergenic or toxic.
- The process of inserting the
foreign gene damaged a section of the soy’s own DNA, scrambling its
genetic code. This mutation might interfere with DNA expression or
create a new, potentially dangerous protein.
- The most common allergen in soy is
called trypsin inhibitor. GM soy contains significantly more of this
compared with natural soy.
The
only human feeding study ever conducted showed that the gene inserted into
soybeans spontaneously transferred out of food and into the DNA of gut
bacteria. This
has several serious implications. First, it means that the bacteria inside
our intestines, newly equipped with this foreign gene, may create the novel
protein inside of us. If it is allergenic or toxic, it may affect us for the
long term, even if we give up eating GM soy.
The same study verified that
the promoter, which scientists attach to the inserted gene to permanently
switch it on, also transferred to gut bacteria. Research on this promoter
suggests that it might unintentionally switch on other genes in the
DNA—permanently. This could create an overproduction of allergens, toxins,
carcinogens, or antinutrients. Scientists also theorize that the promoter
might switch on dormant viruses embedded in the DNA or generate mutations.
This is only a partial
list of what may go wrong with a single GM food crop. The list for others may
be longer. Take for example, the corn inserted with a gene that creates its
own pesticide. We eat that pesticide, and plenty of evidence suggests that it
is not as benign as the biotech proponents would have us believe. Preliminary
evidence, for example, shows that thirty-nine Philippinos living next to a
pesticide-producing cornfield developed skin, intestinal, and respiratory
reactions while the corn was pollinating. Tests of their blood also showed an
immune response to the pesticide. Consider what might happen if the gene that
produces the pesticide were to transfer from the corn we eat into our gut
bacteria. It could theoretically transform our intestinal flora into living
pesticide factories.
No one monitors
human health impacts of GM foods. If the foods were creating health problems in the US
population, it might take years or decades before we identified the cause.
One epidemic in the1980’s provides a chilling example. A new disease was
caused by a brand of the food supplement L-tryptophan, which had been created
through genetic modification and contained tiny traces of contaminants. The
disease killed about 100 Americans and caused sickness or disability in about
5-10,000 others. The only reason that doctors were able to identify that an
epidemic was occurring, was because the disease had three simultaneous
characteristics: it was rare, acute, and fast acting. Even then it was nearly
missed entirely.
Studies show that the more
people learn about GM foods, the less they trust them. In Europe, Japan, and
other regions, the press has been far more open about the potential dangers
of genetic manipulation. Consequently, consumers there demand that their food
supply be GM-free and manufacturers comply. But in the US, most people
believe they have never eaten a GM food in their lives (even though they
consume them daily). Lacking awareness, complacent consumers have
been the key asset for the biotech industry in the US. As a result, millions
of Americans are exposed to the potential dangers, and children are most at
risk. Perhaps the revelations in the reports released on opposite sides of
the planet will awaken consumers as well as regulators, and GM foods on the
market will be withdrawn.
To become more informed of
the dangers of GM foods, to download a letter to food manufacturers, and to
learn how to avoid buying and eating GM foods, see www.seedsofdeception.com. To sign
up for the Seeds of Deception newsletter, see http://www.seedsofdeception.com/newsletter.php#optin
This is the
first in a regular column about genetically modified foods by Jeffrey M.
Smith. He is the author of Seeds of Deception: Exposing Industry and
Government Lies about the Safety of the Genetically Engineered Foods You’re
Eating, and the Director of the Institute for Responsible
Technology.
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