GMOs ARE GENETICALLY MODIFIED ORGANISMS

 

  • 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]
  • GMOs do not require labeling in North America, preventing potential health liability claims from being traced back to GMO producers and food processors. Without mandatory, legally defined labeling there is no traceability, accountability, or liability.
  • GMO crops are engineered to withstand heavy applications of toxic herbicides like Monsanto’s Roundup, killing weeds and all other plant-life except the crop. These herbicides, in themselves, are harmful to human health and the environment. GMO Bt crops are engineered to produce a toxic insecticide within every cell of the organism in order to kill the bugs that attempt to eat the crops. Monsanto’s unlabeled GMO Bt sweet corn is now sold in stores across North America.
  • Chemical companies claim Bt toxin easily breaks down in the human gut but a Canadian study found Bt toxin in 93 percent of maternal and 80 percent of fetal blood samples, clearly indicating that Bt toxin passes from the gut into the bloodstream and even from placenta to the fetus. [8] [9]
  • GMOs have been linked to increased allergies, gut-related conditions, autism, auto-immune disease, infertility, birth defects, obesity, cancers, and other illnesses in independent scientific studies on lab animals. [10] [11] [12] [13] [14][15]
  • Contrary to popular belief, the pesticides used on GMOs cannot be washed off as they are absorbed into the crops. For Bt crops, this is in addition to the insecticide already present within the crop itself. [16] [17] [18]
  • GMOs have led to massive increases in toxic agricultural chemical use in the USA since their introduction in the mid-1990s, winding up in most of our precious waterways and leading to significant environmental pollution and degradation. This is opposite of what the chemical/biotech industry promised. [19] [20] [21]
  • GMOs and increased pesticide use are a major factor in the increasing death rates of honeybees, monarch butterflies, and bird populations. [22] [23] [24] [25]
  • GMOs do not increase yields and will not feed the world. Today, GMO crops are primarily grown for use in biofuels, animal feed, and clothing (GMO cotton). A small percentage of total GMO acreage is used in processed junk foods like Kellogg’s Froot Loops and Coca Cola’s soda. Sweet corn, Hawaiian Rainbow papaya, yellow crookneck squash and zucchini are the only whole food GMOs on the market. There is not a single study that proves that GMOs have helped to “feed the world.” This is a marketing/propaganda line used by agrichemical companies to sell more patented seeds and chemicals. These companies and their proponents know this but continue the false advertising. [26]
  • GMO coexistence with non-GMO crops is a myth. GMO pollen can travel for miles by wind or via pollinating animals like honeybees. GMO genes then infect non-GMO and organic crops. Allowing the increased use of GMO agriculture could mean the contamination and eventual extinction of natural species. Once contamination happens, a small handful of corporations will, through their patents, own the world’s seeds and food supply. Controlling the world’s food supply is Monsanto’s business plan. [27] [28] [29] [30] [31]

 

GMOs ARE A SCAM.
GMOs are used in all of Kellogg’s products in North America. To begin to heal our food system and environment we have to do more than just buy organic and non-GMO. We have to call on a major food processor to take the lead and reject GMO use in their products. Join us and tell Kellogg’s to remove GMOs!
References

  1. GMO-Free Regions http://www.gmo-free-regions.org/gmo-free-regions.html
  2. Institute for Responsible Technology http://www.responsibletechnology.org/faqs
  3. Ethan Huff for NaturalNews.com. “Monsanto: ‘There is no need for, or value in testing the safety of GM foods in humans’.” Published: January 13, 2012.
  4. Ken Roseboro for Non-GMOReport.com. “FDA Ignored Own Scientists’ Warnings About GM Foods.” Published October 01, 2011.
  5. Steven Druker. “FDA Documents Show They Ignored GMO Safety Warnings From Their Own Scientists.” June 24, 1999.
  6. Ken Roseboro. “Scientist: GM Food Safety Testing is ‘Woefully Inadequate’.” The Organic & Non-GMO Report: Vol. 9, No. 1 Dec./Jan. 2009
  7. NonGMOProject.org http://www.nongmoproject.org/learn-more
  8. Sean Coulter for Daily Mail Online. “ GM Food Toxins Found in the Blood of 93% on Unborn Babies.” Published May 20, 2011.
  9. Aris, A; Leblanc, S. (May 2011) “Maternal and fetal exposure to pesticides associated to genetically modified foods in Eastern Townships of Quebec, Canada.” Reprod Toxicol. 2011 May; 31(4):528-33. doi: 10.1016/j.reprotox.2011.02.004. Epub 2011 Feb 18.
  10. Jeffrey Smith. “Genetically Engineered Foods May Cause Rising Food Allergies – Genetically Engineered Corn.” 2007 IRT Spilling the Beans Newsletter.
  11. Spiroux de Vendômois, J; Roullier, F; Cellier, D; Séralini, G. (2009) “A Comparison of the Effects of Three GM Corn Varieties on Mammalian Health.” Int J Biol Sci 2009; 5(7):706-726. doi:10.7150/ijbs.5.706
  12. Velimirov, A; Binter, C; Zentek, J. (Nov. 2008) “Biological effects of transgenic maize NK603xMON810 fed in long term reproduction studies in mice.”
  13. CRIIGEN http://www.criigen.org/SiteEn/
  14. Louise Sarant for Egypt Independent. “Tests on rats suggest genetically modified foods pose health hazards.” Published December 8, 2012
  15. Leah Zerbie and Emily Main for Rodale.com. “9 Crazy Things Pesticides Are Doing to Your Body.”
  16. Leah Zerbie for Rodale.com. “12 Household Toxins You Should Banish from Your Home.”
  17. Greger, M. (2010) “Can Pesticides Be Rinsed Off?” August 26, 2010
  18. Fritz Kreiss for OccupyMonsanto360.com “OMG, that really happens? The truth about trying to wash pesticides off produce.”
  19. Tom Philpott for Mother Jones. “How GMOs Unleashed a Pesticide Gusher.” Published October 3, 2012.
  20. Benbrook, C. (2012) “Impacts of genetically engineered crops on pesticide use in the U.S.- the first sixteen years.” Environmental Sciences Europe 2012, 24:24 doi:10.1186/2190-4715-24-24
  21. S.D. Wells for NaturalNews.com. “Pesticides…polluting earth for decades to come.” Published January 16, 2013.
  22. Brit Amos for Global Research. “Death of the Bees. Genetically Modified Crops and the Decline of Bee Colonies in North America.” Published August 9, 2011.
  23. Tom Philpott for Mother Jones. “Researchers: GM Crops Are Killing Monarch Butterflies, After All.” Published March 21, 2012
  24. Pleasants, J; Oberhauser, K. (2012) “Milkweed loss in agricultural fields because of herbicide use: effect on the monarch butterfly population.” Insect Conservation and Diversity Volume 6, Issue 2, pages 135–144, March 2013 DOI: 10.1111/j.1752-4598.2012.00196.x
  25. Tom Philpott for Mother Jones. “Not Just the Bees: Bayer’s Pesticide May Harm Birds, Too” Published March 27, 2013.
  26. Gurrian-Sherman, D. (April 2009) “Failure to Yield: Evaluating the Performance of Genetically Engineered Crops.” Union of Concerned Scientists. Published April 2009.
  27. David Gutierrez for NaturalNews.com. “Bayer admits GMO contamination out of control.” Published April 15, 2010.
  28. Carey Gillam for Reuters. “U.S. organic food industry fears GMO contamination.” Published March 12, 2008.
  29. GM Contamination Register http://www.gmcontaminationregister.org/
  30. Ethan Huff for NaturalNews.com. “Biotech industry wants organic farmers to pay for GMO contamination of their own crops.” Published November 29, 2012.
  31. Christopher Cook for The Christian Science Monitor. “Control over your food: Why Monsanto’s GM seeds are undemocratic.” Published February 23, 2011.

from http://www.gmofreeusa.org/education/gmo-intro/

February 8, 2015February 8, 2015
In Articles