actionalert GMOs


BE IN THE KNOW ABOUT


Untold Risks, Unanswered Questions and Needed Action


by Melinda Hemmelgarn


Anyone walking into a typical American supermarket finds a dizzying display of more than 40,000 products, the majority of which are processed foods. According to the Grocery Manufacturers Association, at least 75 percent of the processed foods contain one or more genetically modified (GMO) ingredients, most likely from corn, soy and canola. With the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s recent approval of GMO alfalfa and sugar beets, non-GMO choices will grow even narrower. What is a health-conscious consumer to do?


Heads Up


What many people don’t realize is that the majority of GMO crops have been genetically engineered to withstand spraying with herbicides, such as Monsanto’s Roundup. Its active toxic ingredient, glyphosate, is systemically transported throughout the plant and into our environment and food chain. “We’ve never had such extensive use of one herbi- cide,” says Don Huber, Ph.D., a plant pathologist and profes- sor emeritus at Purdue University. Huber is concerned about


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concentrations of glyphosate residues in our food system that are toxic to human organs and hormone systems. According to the American Academy of Environmental Medicine, “There is more than a casual association between GMO foods and adverse health effects.” Scientists familiar with the technology warn about the risk for new allergens, toxins and unpredictable, hard-to-detect side effects. Even the President’s Cancer Panel Report advises against choosing foods grown with pesticides, herbicides and chemical fertilizers. “The main reason for making genetically engineered (GE) crops is to sell more pesticides,” explains Warren Porter, Ph.D., a biologist at the University of Wisconsin–Madison. “We can count on GE foods having higher concentrations of pesticides.”


Most Americans are shocked to learn that for decades now, they’ve been blindly purchasing and feeding their families GE foods, not to mention toxic herbicide residues. Unlike other developed countries, the U.S. government does not require labels on GMO foods, leaving citizens to shop— and eat—in the dark.


Dangerous Developments


Thanks to lobbying by the biotechnology industry, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration has taken the stand that GMOs are “substantially equivalent” to their non-genet- ically modified counterparts. Therefore, labeling a GMO food product would be admitting that the GE products are somehow different.


However, genetically modified crops are different. Huber says that when scientists insert genetic material from one


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