Australian Regulators Urged to Check Poison Threat from GM Food
GMOs, Health & Disease — by Safe Food Foundation January 23, 2013
 Cauliflower Mosaic Virus |
Australian food regulators are being urged to investigate alarming reports from Europe that GM crops worldwide may contain a gene that is potentially poisonous to humans.
A study by the EU’s official food watchdog – the European Food Safety Authority – has revealed that the international approval process for GM crops failed to identify the gene when these food crops were being assessed for safety.
The discovery is the work of independent experts, the EFSA’s Nancy Podevin and Patrick du Jardin of the University of Liege in Belgium.
The findings will come as an embarrassment to pro-GM interests during their current PR blitz in Australia and overseas.
Comments (0)Update on Fugitive GM Canola (Williams, Western Australia)
GMOs — by Safe Food Foundation November 16, 2012
Following a truck fire and spill on 9 August 2011 of 15 tonnes of GM canola in the middle of a self declared GM-free zone in Williams, Western Australia, the Safe Food Foundation has retained Slater & Gordon lawyers to provide legal advice and support to local GM-free grain growers near the site.
The Safe Food Foundation has also offered to provide free GM test kits to local GM-free grain growers who want to test their crops this coming harvest. Scott Kinnear, Director of the Safe Food Foundation said, “This spill highlights the complex network of legal responsibilities that need to be unravelled and understood given the introduction of GM canola into WA, Victoria and NSW. It also highlights that the issue is between GM and GM-free and not just organic versus GM as has been portrayed by some commentators.
Comments (1)Scientists Warn on CSIRO GM Wheat Threat
GMOs, Health & Disease — by Safe Food Foundation September 26, 2012
Expert scientists warn that genetically modified wheat may cause Glycogen Storage Disease IV, resulting in an enlarged liver, cirrhosis of the liver, and failure to thrive. Children born with this disease usually die at about the age of five.
Australia is on track to be the first country in the world to grow GM wheat commercially, and to test this in human feeding trials.
Today in Melbourne molecular biologist and risk assessment researcher Professor Jack Heinemann of the University of Canterbury, NZ, and Associate Professor Judy Carman, a biochemist at Flinders University, will release expert scientific opinions on the safety of CSIRO’s GM wheat. These opinions have been reviewed by Dr Michael Antoniou, reader in molecular genetics at King’s College, London.
Comments (3)Media Release: Rebuttal of GM Study Critics
GMOs, Health & Disease — by Safe Food Foundation
Editor’s Note: In the wake of the recent two-year GM corn and roundup study, Russia has suspended imports of Monsanto’s ‘Roundup Ready’ GM corn.
GM and Roundup linked to tumours in rats
In the podcast below, ABC Rural talks to Mark Tester, Professor of Plant Physiology at the Australian Centre for Plant Functional Genomics, University of Adelaide and Scott Kinear, director of Safe Food Foundation. Click play to hear the interview:
ABC Rural Interview with Mark Tester and Scott KinearConsumers have been urged to make up their own minds as controversy rages over European findings linking tumors in rats with genetically modified corn and the world’s top-selling herbicide, Roundup. The paper, “Long term toxicity of a Roundup herbicide and a Roundup-tolerant genetically modified corn”, published by the scientific journal Food and Chemical Toxicology, reports on a study led by molecular biologist and endocrinologist Professor Gilles-Eric Seralini, of the University of Caen, France.
The first animal feeding trial studying the lifetime effects of exposure to Roundup tolerant GM corn and Roundup shows that levels currently considered safe can cause mammary tumours and severe liver and kidney damage, and can lead to premature death in laboratory rats.
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