GMO Safety, Information and Tidbits thanks to GMO Free USA

GMO SAFETY

THERE IS NO SCIENTIFIC CONSENSUS ON THE SAFETY OF GMOs

GMO LABELING MUST BE MANDATORY

Though the debates continue, experts agree that there is no consensus on the safety of GMOs. Organizations aligned with the agrichemical/biotech industry often mislead the public with claims of absolute safety when, in fact, the safety of GMOs is fully inconclusive. In the absence of a consensus on the safety of GMOs, it is recommended that mandatory labeling standards be enacted to allow the public a choice whether they consume Genetically Engineered/GM food or not.

American Academy of Environmental Medicine (AAEM): “because GM foods pose a serious health risk in the areas of toxicology, allergy and immune function, reproductive health, and metabolic, physiologic and genetic health and are without benefit, the AAEM believes that it is imperative to adopt the precautionary principle”
http://www.aaemonline.org/gmopost.html

Glyphosate is the active chemical ingredient in Roundup herbicide as well as many other name brand glyphosate-based weedkillers. These herbicides are the most widely used in the world and their use has increased exponentially with the introduction of Genetically Engineered (GMO) crops. Largely because of the spread of glyphosate-resistant weeds, herbicide-tolerant GMO crops have led to a 527 million pound increase in herbicide use in the U.S. from 1996 through 2011 (1).


*** Also see Boston Article that I blogged about earlier noting the most common fruits and veggies to have the highest level of pesticides in them.

• GMO – genetically modified organism. GM – genetically modified. GE – genetic engineering or genetically engineered. GMO and GE are interchangeable in contemporary terminology.
• GMOs are created and patented by agrichemical (chemical/biotech) companies such as Monsanto, Syngenta, DuPont-Pioneer, Dow, Bayer CropScience, and BASF.
• GMOs are banned or restricted in over 60 countries. [1]
• GMOs are created through transgenic engineering, completely unlike traditional breeding. GMOs are made by forcing genes from one species into the DNA of an unrelated species in order to introduce a new trait. This can not occur in the natural world. For example: inserting a coldwater fish gene into a tomato plant so that the tomato plant won’t freeze in the winter. Another example would be inserting a bacterial gene toxic to insects into corn plant so that corn worms die when they attempt to eat the corn. [2]
• GMOs are inadequately or not safety tested. In the United States the FDA does not do safety studies and allows biotech companies to do their own studies. These industry “studies,” which always present GMOs favorably, are kept secret from the public. [3] [4] [5] [6]
• The FLAVR SAVR tomato was the first genetically engineered crop product to be commercialized, but failed in the market and now no longer exists. GMO soy was introduced in 1996 and GMO corn shortly thereafter. Since then, many commodity crops have undergone genetic engineering and represent the majority of what is grown in the USA today, unbeknownst to most Americans.
• GMOs currently on the market are corn, soy, canola, sugar beet, cotton, alfalfa, Hawaiian Rainbow papaya, yellow crookneck squash, zucchini, and derivatives of those crops including cottonseed oil. Aspartame is also a GMO. GMO ingredients are used in as much as 80% all processed foods in America. [7