Is Monsanto's Corn Destroying Your Internal Organs?

by Cameron Scott · 2010-01-08 08:12:00 UTC
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Yes, this is another story about Monsanto, the controversy-prone American agricultural giant that, according to Greenpeace, sells 90 percent of the world's genetically modified seeds.

The company's dominance is such that even the U.S. Department of Justice is investigating it for possible antitrust practices.

But the government has been a willing partner in marketing GMO crops, repeatedly refusing to require GMO foods to be labeled (as the E.U. does) and signing off on their alleged safety.

Funny thing about that: There's hardly any research to back it up: The government hasn't funded it and independent researchers can't get a hold of the -- patented -- seeds.

What studies there are don't look good. One Australian report suggests the GMO corn made by Monsanto causes significant fertility problems in mice (and, by implication, possibly humans).

And a new study -- which had to resort to analyzing data sets produced by studies conducted by Monsanto and another biotech firm, Covance Laboratories, and submitted to European governments because researchers couldn't get seeds -- has found that Monsanto corn impairs rats' kidneys and livers. The "data strongly suggests" that after just 90 days of eating GM corn, rats experienced kidney toxicity and showed effects to their hearts, adrenal glands, spleen and blood cells. (The study was published in the International Journal of Biological Sciences.)

The authors explain that their analysis of the data differed from Monsanto's because the company overlooked different reactions in male and female rats. The ag giant continues to maintain that its GMO corn is safe.

So what happens to humans who eat GM corn products as well as animals who've been fed GM corn? That's a darn good question, and one the U.S. government ought to have an answer to before waving these products into the food supply. (And if you think that just because humans and livestock aren't dropping dead on the spot GMOs must be fine, read this very sane analysis.)

Take action and Get the FDA to Suspend Approval for Monsanto's GMO corn.

Photo: Rosana Prada

Cameron Scott writes The Thin Green Line blog at SFGate (San Francisco Chronicle).
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