Saying No To GMO Foods

Reasons to Avoid GMO Foods

If we don't have enough reasons by now to avoid genetically modified food, read on, watch the video and buy the books, all from Jeffery M. Smith, Executive Director Institute for Responsible Technology. He is a recognized worldwide authority on the dangers of genetically modified food and organisms.

In a nutshell, the controversy around GMO foods, especially food crops, stem from the fact that when the corporate patent holder does the testing on its own product, the results always indicate that the product is safe for animal and human consumption.

When independent labs test GM seeds, definite health hazards are uncovered. The manufacturers testing methods are suspect due to the short duration of the testing; 90 days versus an ideal testing period of two or more years.

Another serious concern is how the genetic modification is done. In the pre-1980's, instead of splicing a single gene into corn or cotton DNA, Monsanto was using a particle bombardment technique to fire genes wrapped around microscopic gold particles into the plant tissue.

In addition to the desired protein being produced, several new proteins were discovered; most likely produced through mutations in the plant DNA. Monsanto dismissed them as insignificant even though no one knew what these new proteins were or what they would do if consumed.

A whistle blower likened these unknown proteins to prions, mis-folded proteins that caused mad cow disease. He was ignored, shunned and eventually left the company. The unintended proteins are still in the food crops and who knows what, if any, their long term effects on human health could be.

The gestation period for prions was 20 to 30 years; what if the alien protein in our corn and soy crops is a time bomb waiting to explode? If it is, we should start seeing the explosions any time now.

The gene gun fell out of use in favor of soil bacteria types that could do the job with more predictability. Disease causing genes are removed from the bacteria; genes of interest are inserted into the bacteria and mixed.

The resulting Petri dish soup is then inserted into the plant. The "gene-carrying" bacteria does the work of placing the new gene where it belongs in the plant.

In reality, exactly where the gene is inserted into the plant DNA matters greatly and when the genes are inserted at different points in the target plants DNA, some very strange plants can be expressed (formed).

Fast forwarding several years, enough adverse incidences from GMO foods, notably GM corn and cotton, have occurred to show that perhaps the concern about unforeseen side effects was warranted.

For example numerous sheep have died after several days of grazing on Bt cotton plants and allergic reactions have been reported by field workers harvesting Bt cotton with many being hospitalized.

Lab rats and mice fed GMO foods, specifically corn, have developed abnormalities in their livers, kidneys and blood. Mice fed GM corn developed serious reproductive problems and disrupted immune systems.

Cows, pigs and chickens fed Bt corn fared even worse. The pigs developed fertility and sterility problems, 12 cows in Germany died after eating GM corn and in feeding trials with chickens, twice as many died after eating GM corn than those fed non-GM corn.

The video below is long, a little over an hour, but it is vital that everyone watch it and become an informed consumer.

Not everyone will believe what Jeffery Smith is saying but at least watch it and use it as a springboard for conducting your own research. Then make up your mind to eat or not eat GMO foods.

Click on "Everything You HAVE to Know About Dangerous Genetically Modified Foods" to see Jeffery Smith's Video then decide for yourself.

Smith's two books on the subject of GMO foods, The "Seeds of Deception" and "Genetic Roulette" are widely available but can be easily ordered from Amazon.com by clicking on the book covers shown below.

"Seeds of Deception" exposes how industry uses its wealth, power and political influence to fast track genetically modified food and seeds into the food chain for both humans and animals.

It shows how manufacturer’s tests are structured to show favorable results, adverse results are buried or ignored, and how Monsanto has turned the FDA into a puppet with the strings going from Washington to St. Louis, Missouri.

Genetic Roulette is an amazing book that actually documents the health risks of GMO foods. In this book the author falls back on reams of information he gleaned from previously unavailable company and government files by using the Freedom of Information Act.

In addition he makes good use of case studies, eyewitness accounts, medical records, media reports and unpublished studies. The book is meticulously organized into a "one-finding-per-chapter" format.

Other chapters expose flaws in the industry's case for the safety of GMO foods. Ideally, a serious student of genetically modified food should have both of these books in their library; together they make up an incredible source of well documented information.

Here is a convenient itemized list from GMWatch.org that gives 10 reasons why we don't need GMO foods.

If you got this far, you already know the 10 reasons but GM Watch's list can be saved as a neat PDF file for handy reference.

Omitting the commentary, the 10 reasons are:

Wrapping up this section, we will ask, "How can we avoid GMO Foods?”

Step one is to be able to spot genetically modified food. Don't rely on labeling since the FDA is still operating under a 1992 policy directive.

The directive "does not establish special labeling requirements for bioengineered foods (genetically modified food) as a class of foods.

The policy states that FDA has no basis for concluding that bioengineered foods differ from other foods in any meaningful or uniform way, or that, as a class, foods developed by the new techniques present any different or greater safety concern than foods developed by traditional plant breeding".

This statement is an excerpt from the FDA.gov website under their section titled, "Guidance For Industry: Voluntary Labeling Indicating Whether Foods Have or Have Not Been Developed Using Bioengineering; Draft Guidance".

The draft was released for comment in January 2001. Looks like the FDA is really on top of the GMO issue.

Further reading shows that the FDA is still relying on data supplied by the developer or manufacturer of genetically modified food regarding its safety for consumption.

The latest position of the FDA is that they will not require GMO or GD labeling of foods.

OK, so forget the government, no help there. They are too busy policing nutritional supplements that might actually do people some good but might hurt the drug companies business.

So what can we do as consumers to avoid genetically modified food if that is our choice? Here are several suggestions.

First is to become an activist and write your senators and representatives expressing a desire for full disclosure on food labels regarding GMO ingredients.

Second is to get the "Non-GMO shopping Guide" compiled by Jeffery Smith (Seeds of Deception and Genetic Roulette) of the Institute for Responsible Technology. Although it is copyrighted, it can be viewed and printed out for personal use at Non-GMO Shopping Guide. It is invaluable for identifying those companies and brand names that provide GMO-free foods in our supermarkets.

Third, go to Dr. Mercola's blog of October 23, 2010, ...Monsanto Finally Reaping Its Just Desserts.

Here you can read up on what has started coming to light a little over a year ago about Monsanto's operations in the field of genetically modified food and how it may be starting to come unraveled.

Fourth, if you have a few bucks burning a hole in your pocket, consider donating them to the Institute for Responsible Technology.

Fifth is to keep educating yourself on the issue of genetically modified food, stay informed about what the FDA, USDA and FTC are doing in the area of GMO's and make up your own mind.

As a sixth step we can do our research on where to buy non-GMO foods starting with real free range grass fed, humanely raised, hormone free, antibiotic free beef. There are a few out there but one that immediately comes to mind is the beef and meats from Hearst Ranch in the hill country of California.

It's the same Hearst organization that runs the media empire so who would have guessed they are in the ranching business as well. Below is a banner link to check it out for yourself.

None of us are in favor of the government telling us what we can and can't eat. Freedom includes freedom of choice in our nutrition and lifestyle decisions but hopefully, they will be informed choices based on personal research and reliable data.

In that regard, numerous websites and blogs have sprung up with information about genetically engineered food.

As is typical of the internet, some are excellent, some are garbage; again we have to be discerning about information gleaned from the internet.

Several sites, in no particular order, worth a visit are:

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