Studies Indicate GM Crops Are Safer and Healthier

[Guest guest]

I think it is good to discuss these types of claims. The points

you made are good to be able to question the validity of their assertions.

I sent this note to another list:

The fact of the matter is that we must KNOW what information is

being dispensed to the general public, the legislators, and the bureaucrats

that deal with these issues. If we do not address the points made, the sources,

and the material presented we are Pollyannas living in a dream world. This

type of information is going to negatively impact movement towards clean local

foods and traditional farming.

Rather, we should look, discuss, and refute specific points that

are presented by this type of oppositional format.

Sourcewatch.com presents some good background on the group, but

it does not give refutation to the claims made in the article. We need to be

able to have responses the assertions made, not just defame the one that makes

the assertions. Sourcewatch, in and of itself, has their own political bias. I,

personally, am suspect when the Rockefellers or Ted

are involved in anything. That aside, while we must consider the

source, we also need to address the issues. And these are issues that are

important. With more and more people questioning the widespread usage of GM

products these types of articles will become more prevalent and if not

addressed will give our opponents the opportunity to accuse anti-gm folks as

luddites, fear mongers, and unknowledgeable.

www.MajestyFarm.com

" Giving money and power to government is like giving whiskey and car

keys to teenage boys. " P.J. O'Rourke

From: RawDairy [mailto:RawDairy ] On Behalf Of Laurie

Sent: Thursday, May 10, 2007 9:14

AM

To: RawDairy

Subject: Re: Studies

Indicate GM Crops Are Safer and Healthier

Nice Spin. When you don't like the press you are getting, you just do

up a nice little study of your own and get results that you like. Did

you notice that the headline trumpets " GM Crops are Safer and

Healthier " , but then they only go on to discuss one type of GM Corn.

Guess they didn't want to look to closely at the other corns, rice,

alfalfa, canola, ect..... I wonder why?

I think I will just stick with what God/Mother Nature made, at least

that way if something goes wrong I know exactly who to blame <G>

Laurie

>

> Up for discussion?

>

>

>

> http://www.acsh.org/factsfears/newsID.962/news_detail.asp

>

>

>

>

> May 9, 2007

>

> Studies Indicate GM Crops Are Safer and Healthier

>

> By L. Staehelin, Ph.D., and A. , Ph.D.

>

> Organic foods are often considered the " gold standard " of safety

and

> healthfulness to which all other foods should aspire. This carefully

> crafted perception is used by the organic food industry to justify the

> higher price of organic produce. This industry has also campaigned

against

> genetically-modified crops, using terms like " enfoods "

--

claiming that

> they are unnatural creations of technology, dangerous for human

health and

> bad for the environment.

>

> An increasing number of scientific studies have established that these

> claims have little merit and that GM foods are actually better.

>

> Organic Cancer Risks

>

> For example, Bt-type GM corn, which resists insect infestation, has been

> demonstrated to be safer for people than traditionally and

organically grown

> corn. Bt-corn has been discovered to contain on average 900% less

> cancer-causing mycotoxins than the non-GM corn varieties grown by

organic

> and traditional farmers.

>

> Pathogenic fungi, such as Fusarium molds, make mycotoxins when they

infect

> grain crops. In laboratory experiments, the fungal mycotoxins cause a

> variety of cancers (brain, liver, kidney) and other illnesses. In 1989,

> high levels of mycotoxins in the U.S. corn crop resulted in

large-scale

> field outbreaks of brain tumors in horses and lethal lung edemas in

pigs.

> The most recent research has found truly dangerous levels of

fumonisin-type

> mycotoxins in organic corn products, and fumonisins have now also

been shown

> to produce spina bifida birth defects in humans and liver toxicity

in mice

> and humans. Sadly, most food processing treatments do not reduce

the toxic

> affect. Fusarium-derived mycotoxins have been found in food products as

> diverse as corn flakes and beer.

>

> Three large international studies have reported on the mycotoxin

content of

> hundreds of corn samples collected in eighteen countries. In one

study, the

> average content of just one type of mycotoxin in non-GM corn samples was

> about 12 micrograms per gram of seed, whereas the content in GM corn

samples

> was only 1.3 micrograms per gram of seed.

>

> Why does Bt-corn contain far lower levels of mycotoxins? Fusarium molds

> primarily enter corn plants through holes and tunnels produced by

insects

> known as corn borers. Higher corn borer infection rates lead to greater

> potential for fungal infections. Because Bt-corn is equipped to

fight corn

> borers directly, corn borers that attack Bt-plants are quickly

killed and do

> not replicate and bore significant holes, which means fewer Fusarium

> infections and lower mycotoxin production.

>

> GM Crops Gradually, and Quite Justifiably, Becoming More Common

>

> Close to 6 million farmers around the world plant GM crops and

nearly three

> quarters of them are in developing countries. The advantage of GM

crops

> for resource-poor farmers is illustrated by a study of Bt-cotton-growing

> farmers in the Lang Fang Prefecture

in Hebei, China. During the

five years

> in which they have grown Bt-cotton, their incomes have risen 30% due to

> spending less on pesticides. Their health and the health of their

families

> have improved due to the reduced exposure to pesticides. Finally, the

> quality of their drinking water has improved due to the decreased

> contamination of their wells from pesticide runoff.

>

> Despite highly publicized attacks by anti-GM crop activists, GM

crops are

> being grown at an increasing rate. Over 10 million farmers

worldwide are

> now using GM seeds, and the amount of land that has been planted with GM

> seeds is significantly higher than 1 million acres. GM crops can

produce

> safer and more nutritious foods, can decrease the use of pesticides and

> thereby help the environment, and can help farmers around the world lead

> prosperous and healthier lives.

>

> If consumers truly seek a safer, more nutritious food supply at a

reasonable

> cost, they need to know where the real threats lie. Organic attacks on

> Bt-corn is one threat. Consumers must also become better informed,

demand

> public policy that makes sense, and deny fringe anti-technology

activists

> the opportunity to use misinformation to persuade consumers.

>

> Given the real safety issues, perhaps it is time for the organic food

> industry to begin thinking about growing GM crops on organic farms

and to

> institute policies to allow GM-derived foods to be sold in organic food

> stores.

>

>

> Print References

>

> Bushman, F. (2002) Lateral DNA Transfer -- Mechanisms and

Consequences. Cold

> Spring Harbor

Press, New York.

ISBN 0-87969-621-4.

>

> Dowd, P. F., Pingel, R. L., Ruhl, D., Shasha, B. S., Behel, R. W.,

Penland,

> D. R., McGuire, M. R., Faron, E. J. 2000. Multiacreage evaluation of

> aerially applied adherent malathion granules for selective insect

control

> and indirect reduction of mycotoxigenic fungi in specialty corn.

Journal of

> Economic Entomology 93(5)1424-1428.

>

> Folmer, J. D., Grant R. J., Milton C. T., J.F. Beck. 2000. Effect of

Bt corn

> silage on short-term lactational performance and ruminal fermentation in

> dairy cows. Journal of Dairy Science 83 (5):1182 Abstract 272.

>

> Groves, F. D., Zhang, L., Chang, Y. S.,

Ross, P. F., Casper,

H.,

Norred, W.

> P., You, W. C., Fraumeni J. F. Jr. 1999. Fusarium mycotoxins in corn and

> corn products in a high-risk area for gastric cancer in Shandong

Province,

> China.

Journal of AOAC International 82(3):657-662.

>

> Hendrix, K. S.; Petty, A. T., Lofgren D. L. 2000. Feeding value of whole

> plant silage and crop residues from Bt or normal corns. Journal of

Animal

> Sciences 78(Suppl.1):273 Abstract 1146.

>

> Masoero, F., Moschini, M., Rossi, F., Prandini, A., Pietri, A. 1999.

> Nutritive value, mycotoxin contamination and in vitro rumen

fermentation of

> normal and genetically modified corn (Cry1A9b) grown in northern Italy.

> Maydica 44:205-209.

>

> Minorsky, P. N. 2002. Fumonisin mycotoxins. Plant Physiology

129:929-930.

>

> Munkvold, G. P., Hellmich, R. L., Showers, W. B. 1997. Reduced

fusarium ear

> rot and symptomless infection in kernels of maize genetically

engineered for

> European corn borer resistance. Phytopathology 87:1071-1077.

>

> Munkvold, G. P., Hellmich, R. L., Rice, L. G. 1999. Comparison of

fumonisin

> concentrations in kernels of transgenic Bt maize hybrids and

non-transgenic

> hybrids. Plant Disease 83:130-138.

>

> , J. R., Berryman, R. K., Hersom, M. J., Pugh, A., Barrett,

K. 2000.

> Nutritive value of the crop residues from Bt-corn hybrids and their

effects

> on performance of grazing beef cows. 2000 Beef Research Report -- Iowa

> State University. Pp. 56-61.

>

> Voss, K.A., et al. 2006. Toxic Effects of Fumonisin in Mouse Liver Are

> Independent of the Peroxisome Proliferator-Activated Receptor.

Toxicological

> Sciences 89(1):108-119.

>

>

> Online References

>

> http://www.hoover.org/publications/policyreview/3402146.html

>

> http://www.agbioforum.org/v5n4/v5n4a04-huang.htm

>

> http://www.ca.uky.edu/agc/pubs/id/id121/id121.htm

>

> http://www.uwex.edu/ces/crops/uwforage/Mycotoxins.htm

>

> http://www.healingcancernaturally.com/causes6.html

>

> http://www.foodsafetynetwork.ca/

>

> www.nature.com/nbt/journal/v24/n1/full/nbt1180.html

>

<http://www.acsh.org/factsfears/newsID.962/www.nature.com/nbt/journal/v24/n1

> /full/nbt1180.html>

>

>

> L. Staehelin is a Professor Emeritus of Molecular, Cellular &

> Developmental Biology at University

of Colorado -- Boulder. A.

> is Professor of Molecular Biosciences and Vice-chair of the

> Institutional Biosafety Committee at the University of Hawaii

-- Manoa.

>

> <http://www.acsh.org/factsfears/newsID.962/news_detail.asp>

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