GM Foods: Cancer in Rats???

PoliticalChic

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Oct 6, 2008
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1. “Are GM foods harmful or nutritionally less beneficial when compared to conventional or organic foods? Scientists and regulators almost universally say “no.” That’s why a study published this week claiming that GM corn causes cancer in rats is creating such a furor….This study by a team of French researchers in the JournalFood and Chemical Toxicology is the first to seriously challenge the scientific consensus—and its release comes just in time to play a disruptive role in the upcoming California vote on Proposition 37, which would require mandatory labeling of all food products that include any biotech component.

2. …French researchers claimed to have found that rats fed a high dose lifetime diet of Monsanto’s genetically modified corn or exposed to its top-selling weed killer Roundup suffered tumors and multiple organ damage….died earlier than those on a standard diet.




3. Considering these controversial findings—out of synch with all of the published research so far showing GM food and crops to be safe and nutritionally equivalent or even superior (as a result of vitamin enhancement) to conventional and organic foods—it’s no surprise that the story exploded on the web….euphorically received by anti-GM campaigners around the world who immediately moved to leverage the conclusions.

a. “Setting aside possible health issues, the pervasive use of herbicide-resistant crops in the US is perpetuating a rapidly escalating arms race with insects and weeds that develop a resistance to the industry’s potent poisons as they become more common,” wrote Aviva Shen at Think Progress.

4. The reaction to the report by scientists who are expert in this area has ranged from bewilderment to derision to hints of research malpractice….“If the effects are as big as purported, and if the work really is relevant to humans, why aren’t the North Americans dropping like flies? GM has been in the food chain for over a decade over there—and longevity continues to increase inexorably,” he wrote in a comment emailed to Reuters.

a. …for nearly 20 years, billions of animals in the European Union and the United States have been fed soy products produced from genetically modified soybean, mainly from Latin America. Yet, no problems have been reported by the hundreds of thousands of farmers, officials and vets.

5. Wendy Harwood, senior scientist at the John Innes Centre in Norwich, UK, reviewed the study, concluding: “These results cannot be interpreted as showing that GM technology itself is dangerous.”






6. Questions have also been raised about the motivations of the researchers. Anti-GM campaigners regularly mount ad hominem cases against any scientist whose studies conclude that GM foods and crops are safe….Greenpeace’s favorite and most reliable anti-GM scientists, has been actively campaigning against GM crops since 1997, when he publicly demanded a moratorium on GMOs. He frequently claims that GM foods cause a “slow death” in humans, but cites no evidence to back that up.

a. …2007 study (reproduced in slightly different form in 2009) claiming that biotech enhanced corn caused liver and kidney damage in rats was reviewed by the European Food Safety Agency, which determined it to be statistically flawed.

7. But what appears to be sloppy and brazenly politically motivated research serves the interests of no one who genuinely cares about empirically based science. It confuses the public and pushes consumers even more towards the precautionary precipice, where fear rules.” Scientists Savage Study Purportedly Showing Health Dangers of Monsanto's Genetically Modified Corn - Forbes


So.....how much credence should be given to the French researchers in the JournalFood and Chemical Toxicology study?
Simple mistake in the experiment?
Hmmmmm......




8. Until one realizes that nothing in secular society is without political significance, one will be unable to rate the significance of so-called ‘facts.’
At a Whole Foods in Seattle, customers are greeted by signs that warn them to avoid genetically modified (GM) food. Let’s explore the myth. In Europe, such new foods are made to prove that they are not harmful. Think about that. Here, the procedure is for those who believe them to be harmful to be asked to provide proof, some cases of harm. There is not a single documented case of GM foods causing even a stomach ache, let alone lingering health problems.

a. Get it? Whole Foods promotes organic food as a wholesome alternative to the poison those competitors are foisting on their customers!

b. It is a business model founded on selling a feel-good lifestyle based on a lie. And it influences the gullible.
Berezow and Campbell, “Science Left Behind,” chapter three.

c. Even many on the Left understand the scam: “GMO Opponents Are the Climate Skeptics of the Left” Are GMO foods safe? Opponents are skewing the science to scare people. - Slate Magazine
 

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