Issue link: https://cp.revolio.com/i/341630
Page 12 | Abby's Magazine - www.AbbysHealthAndNutrition.com expert Jeffrey Smith, who oversees the Institute for Responsible Technology, "The single most common outcome of genetic engineering has been surprise." Who benefits? The major players profiting from the nearly silent introduction of GM foods into our marketplace include Monsanto, Syngenta, DuPont and Bayer. These companies make money by selling farmers not only their patented life forms but also their pesticides. The pesticides fulfill the purpose of the GM plants in the case of pesticide-resistant crops, which comprise much of the GM market. These companies already have control over the vast majority of seeds available to farmers and gardeners. (For more on seed industry consolidation, read Seed Industry Consolidation: A Close Look.) Genetically engineering seeds gives companies an extra measure of control, because, once engineered, the seeds can be patented, making it illegal to plant these crops without purchasing the right to do so from the patent owner. And saving seeds to use from one year to the next— an ancient and fundamental tenet of sustainability—is prohibited under "technology agreements" farmers are forced to sign with Monsanto and other biotech manufacturers. The Safety of GM Foods The FDA allows the companies that develop GM foods to be the same entities that are responsible for ensuring GM food safety, a policy set in place by the FDA in 1992, against the advice of some FDA scientists. As long as the biotech firm—the company that stands to profit from the sale—considers a GM food to be "substantially equivalent" to a food that is "generally recognized as safe" ("GRAS" in industry terms), then the novel food is approved for the market. Yet studies have found GM foods to behave differently than conventional foods in the bodies of animals. Research published in The European Journal of Histochemistry reported that the reproductive organs of mice and rats fed Roundup Ready soybeans showed dramatic changes. In rats, the testicles were dark blue instead of pink. In mice, young sperm cells were altered. At a scientific symposium in Italy in 2006, researchers shared documentation of DNA changes in embryos of GM soy-fed mice. Studies of the first GM crop, the Flavr Savr tomato, which was never released to market, showed significant health risks. Seven out of 20 rats fed the GM tomatoes developed stomach lesions. One of the world's leading GM food and safety experts, Árpád Pusztai, said the types of lesions linked to the GM tomatoes "could lead to life- endangering hemorrhage." Ronnie Cummins, author of Genetically Engineered Food: A Self-Defense Guide for Consumers, calls attention to the differences in regulatory policies concerning GM food between the United States and other nations. "U.S. agencies treat GE foods no differently than other foods—requiring neither mandatory safety testing nor labeling," he writes. Yet more than 50 countries that allow GM foods on the market require labeling, including most of the European Union, Japan, Russia and China. Some countries have forbidden the sale of GM foods, and India recently recommended a 10-year moratorium on GM field trials. In a New York Times Magazine essay, food studies author Michael Pollan writes: "These new crops [are] revolutionary enough (a 'new agricultural paradigm,' Monsanto said) to deserve patent protection and government support, yet at the same time the food made from them was no different than it ever was, so did not need to be labeled." Read this essay at Vote for the Dinner Party. GMOs: 4 Potential Health Risks 1. Allergies Perhaps the No. 1 health concern over GM technology is its capacity to create new allergens in our food supply. Allergic reactions typically are brought on by proteins. Nearly every transfer of genetic material from one host into a new one results in the creation of novel proteins. Genetic engineering can increase the levels of a naturally occurring allergen already present in a food or insert allergenic properties into a food that did not previously contain them. It can also result in brand new allergens we've never before known. 2. Antibiotic Resistance Genetic engineers rely heavily on antibiotics to help them determine which of their genetic experiments succeed. It works like this: Not all host cells will take up Genetic modification is defined as "a variety of methods used to genetically modify organisms or influence their growth and development by means that are not possible under natural conditions or processes."