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NaturalWay – Margit Slimáková

care about your health

Genetically modified food in summary

  • A genetically modified organism is the result of a laboratory process. 
  • Any change to the DNA of an organism at any point can have side effects that are impossible to predict or control.
  • No one monitors human health impacts of GM foods.
  • Animal studies have resulted in many serious health problems including damaged immune systems and higher death rates.
  • GMO are cross-pollinating and contaminating all traditional and organic plants; the long-term effects on the environment could be disastrous.
  • Currently commercialized GM crops in the U.S. include soy (91%), sugar beets (90%), cotton (88%), canola (88%), corn (85%), Hawaiian papaya (more than 50%), zucchini and yellow squash. 
  • Today genetically modified food is found in the majority of US processed foods.
  • GM food is not solving word hunger but making world farmers more dependent on biotech companies.
  • The Food and Drug Administration did not evaluate GM foods but merely accepted claims from GM producers.
  • Monsanto, the leading producer of GM seeds, is or was also a maker of plastics, aspartame, DDT, Agent Orange, and the herbicide Roundup. 
  • The American Academy of Environmental Medicine (AAEM) reported that “Several animal studies indicate serious health risks associated with GM food,” including infertility, immune problems, accelerated aging, faulty insulin regulation, and changes in major organs and the gastrointestinal system and the AAEM asked physicians to advise all patients to avoid GM foods.

Genetically modified food

A genetically modified organism (GMO) is the result of a laboratory process of taking genes from one species and inserting them into another. Genetic engineering is completely different from traditional breeding and carries unique risks. Because living organisms have natural barriers to protect themselves against the introduction of DNA from a different species, genetic engineers have to use ways to force the DNA from one organism into another. The technology of genetic engineering now used is very crude and current understanding of the way in which DNA works is extremely limited. Any change to the DNA of an organism at any point can have side effects that are impossible to predict or control. When foreign genes are inserted, dormant genes may be activated or the functioning of genes altered.

Although consumers are persuaded that GM will help to increase nutritional benefits or productivity, the two main traits that have been added to date are herbicide tolerance and the ability of the plant to produce its own herbicide. These traits are just increasing the amount of herbicides used or making plants toxic, and not only for weeds. No one monitors the human health impacts of GM foods. Various feeding studies in animals have resulted in potentially pre-cancerous cell growth, damaged immune systems, smaller brains, livers, and testicles, partial atrophy or increased density of the liver, false pregnancies and higher death rates. The biotech industry claims that the FDA has thoroughly evaluated GM foods and found them safe, but in reality the FDA does not require safety studies; it only accepted the claims from producers that GM foods are safe. According to many surveys the majority of consumers will not choose GM foods and are asking for labeling of GM products. Producers of GMO are strictly fighting against the labeling of GM foods and have even sued companies labeling their own foods as non-GM.

Pollen from GM crops can contaminate nearby crops of the same type, except for soy, which does not cross-pollinate. In fact, virtually all heritage varieties of corn in Mexico have been found to have some contamination. Genetic engineering is endangering organic farming and making developing world farmers using GMO more dependent on biotech corporations.

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