GMWatch News Review archive

Scientists' hidden links to the GM food giants

The authors of a report calling for GM crops to be fast-tracked into Britain’s farms and kitchens all have links to the industry - though the Science Media Centre presented it as the work of "independent" scientists and it was published by a government advisory body. The scientist authors included Jonathan Jones, who founded a biotech company that has Monsanto as a major client. GM Watch's Claire Robinson was quoted in the Daily Mail as saying: ‘By no stretch of the imagination can these people be described as independent scientists. Their views should be treated with the same scepticism we would apply to any sales pitch."

Eve Mitchell of the UK Food and Water Watch said the scientists who wrote the report are “dependent on the GM bandwagon for their livelihood.”

The report got further intelligent coverage at farminguk.com

Geoffrey Lean of The Telegraph commented that ministers' obsession with pushing GM crops into the UK ignores the problems and lack of benefits they bring.

Roundup banned in Sri Lanka after being linked to fatal kidney disease

A heretofore inexplicable fatal, chronic kidney disease that has affected poor farming regions around the globe may be linked to the use of Monsanto’s Roundup herbicide in areas with hard water, a new study has found. As a result of the study, Sri Lanka has banned the sale of Roundup to prevent the high occurrence of kidney disease among its farming community.

Massive GMO crop failure in Philippines - video

The film entitled "10 years of failure, farmers deceived by GM corn" shows the dire situation of corn farmers in the Philippines who have adopted GM corn. In the film, GM corn farmers relate how they became indebted because of the rising cost of GM cornseed and increasing cost and quantity of agrochemicals. Farmers also describe the emergence of new pests, soil erosion, corn contamination, and human and animal health impacts. Read more

Former member of FCT editorial board condemns Seralini study retraction

A former member of the editorial board of Food and Chemical Toxicology, the journal that published and then retracted the Séralini study on GM maize and Roundup, has written a letter to the editor of the journal condemning the retraction as potentially influenced by industry interests. Over 160 scientists have signed a statement opposing the retraction of the study. If you're a scientist and agree with the statement, please add your signature. Quotes from scientists condemning the retraction can be read here and on the endsciencecensorship.org website.

Mayans win legal battle to ban GM soya in Mexico’s Campeche region

Following a ban on the cultivation of GM maize in Mexico in 2013, the Campeche region of the country has now prohibited the growing of GM soybeans following a two year court battle. Read more

In historic ruling, Brazilian court bans release of Bayer GM corn

A court ruling has overturned the Brazilian regulator CTNBio's approval of GM Liberty Link corn. The ruling creates a new legal precedent and may serve to force review of all other commercial releases of GMOs in Brazil, since in no case have companies conducted risk assessments in different regions of the country, as required by law. Read more

Brazil's food safety agency warned in 2007 that MON810 maize not proven safe

The approval of GM maize MON810 in Brazil in 2007 was highly controversial, with two Brazilian government ministries opposing commercialisation on the grounds that Monsanto had not proven it safe for human health and the environment. Read more

Terminator is back in Brazilian Congress

A 2007 bill to end Brazil’s ban on Terminator seeds could soon be on the move again in the Brazilian Congress. Sign petition to stop it.

GM crop plantings fall in industrialized nations

GM crop plantings have fallen in industrialized nations for the first time since the technology was commercialized in 1996, with Canada and Australia cutting back. This is why the biotech industry is aggressively targeting so-called developing nations with its proprietary GM seed. Read more

Massive market rejection of new Syngenta GM corn

Syngenta has halted commercial sales in Canada of its GM rootworm resistant corn seed MIR162 (Agrisure Duracade) because China and Europe have not approved it. Corn processor ADM and exporter Cargill have refused to handle this GM corn. China has returned 887,000 tonnes of US corn shipments tainted with the GM strain since October 2013.

US food company dumps GMO oils from its buttery spreads

Boulder-based Smart Balance has announced that it has stopped using GM ingredients in its 15 buttery spreads. Stephen Hughes, chairman and CEO of Smart Balance, said, "Two years ago, non-GMO would not be mentioned by consumers. Today, 40 percent of our consumers want a GMO-free Smart Balance spread." Read more

USDA sued over GM alfalfa approval

The Center for Food Safety (CFS) has filed a lawsuit demanding the release of federal documents which may uncover undue political pressure over USDA’s decision to approve GM alfalfa. The lawsuit seeks documents which may explain why the agency abruptly reversed its precautionary position and granted unrestricted approval for Monsanto to sell Roundup Ready alfalfa. Read more

California takes up bill to label GM foods

A new bill has been introduced in California to label GM foods sold in California. The bill already has support from a broad-based coalition of 17 environmental, consumer, food groups, and small businesses. Read more

Canadian growers say no to GMO apples

Nova Scotia farmers are opposed to growing and selling GMO non-browning apples because of market rejection of GM products. Robert Peill, president of the Nova Scotia Fruit Growers’ Association, said, “Our industry is just not sure that the feature of non-browning is really worth the risk of putting the whole Canadian apple market in question.” Read more

Reality check on GMO by professor of plant agriculture

After 20+ years, governmental advocacy on an unprecedented scale, and billions of dollars of taxpayer funding in Canada alone, commercialized GM today consists almost entirely of just two traits, says retired professor of plant agriculture E. Ann Clark. Read more

USDA admits problems with GMOs

Impacts of GM crops on the environment and food production are mixed and high use of herbicide on GM crops is a cause for concern, according to a report issued by the generally pro-GMO US Dept of Agriculture. Read more

Glyphosate weedkiller found in 75% of air and rain samples

Glyphosate herbicide and its toxic breakdown product AMPA were found in over 75% of the air and rain samples tested from Mississippi in 2007, according to a new study. Read more

New study links glyphosate use with celiac disease and gluten intolerance

Celiac disease and gluten intolerance are on the rise worldwide, and that rise has taken place in parallel with the increased use of glyphosate herbicide, shows a new peer-reviewed paper. Read more

UK GM potato research a waste of money

The John Innes Centre in the UK has spent over GBP3 million of taxpayers' money to produce a deceptive piece of research on GM potatoes that deliberately excluded already available non-GM blight-resistant potatoes. Read more

How GM food is finding its way onto British dinner plates

GM food is flooding into the UK through the back door with many consumers unaware that much of the meat and dairy products they eat may have been made from farm animals fed GM crops. Read more

EU ministers ask Commission to withdraw GMO proposal

Twelve EU ministers have sent an open letter to EU health commissioner Tonio Borg, pressuring the Commission to withdraw its proposal to approve the GM maize Pioneer 1507. The European Parliament’s Greens group has threatened to table a motion of censure against the Commission because of its persistence in authorising the GM maize in spite of the fact that it was rejected by 19 member states and a parliamentary majority. Read more

Industry accused of "massive infiltration" of EFSA pesticides panel

An investigation by PAN Europe reveals that industry-linked experts exerted control over EFSA's pesticide panel for years and prevented the toxicity of chemical mixtures from being considered - in spite of the fact that mixtures are what we are all exposed to. Read more

Rising volumes of GMO-free soy available for Europe - industry groups

Non-GMO soybeans are available in growing volumes, despite claims by German poultry producers that supplies are falling, say three trade associations. A German newspaper reports that the cancellation of GM-free feed by some sectors of the poultry industry is about a price tussle, not a supply shortage.

EU chief science adviser's GMO safety claims are a "lie"

There is abundant and unequivocal evidence of real harm from the growing of GMO crops and the consumption of GMO foods, writes Brian John in an open letter to EU chief science advisor and GMO promoter Anne Glover. Read more

French government moves to reintroduce ban on GM crops

The French government has announced that it intends to maintain a ban on cultivation of GM on French territory, despite the opposition of legislators in the EU. And France’s agricultural ministry has banned the sale, use and cultivation of Monsanto’s GM maize MON 810 in time to prevent planting in the next sowing season.

Russian civil society and experts oppose GMOs

Eighty per cent of Russian people oppose GMOs and Russian scientists warn against health impacts. Read more

Second Chinese ministry bans GMO in own canteens

In China, two government ministries have now banned GM ingredients from their canteens, while the school canteens for the children of citizens have not. Read more

The infanticide advocate promoting golden rice

Peter Singer, an advocate of infanticide for disabled babies, is the latest addition to those claiming the moral high ground over golden rice. Read more

European scientists descend on Africa to promote GM crops

Africa is expected to be the next target of GM food companies, as European scientists and policymakers travel to Ethiopia to boost the prospect of growing more of the controversial crops on the continent. Read more

Bt brinjal release without toxicity testing draws flak

The release of GM Bt brinjal (eggplant) to farmers in Bangladesh has drawn flak from experts and activists who say no toxicity testing has been done. Read more

India's environment minister clears field trials of GM crops

India's environment minister Veerappa Moily has given the go-ahead to field trials of over 200 GM food crops, including rice, maize and wheat. Opposition is expected from the state governments. Filmmaker Mahesh Bhatt called Veerappa Moily a "corporate mole". Vandana Shiva called the move "anti-science, anti-farmer, anti-democracy, and anti-peoples' seed and food sovereignty".

Demand that Minister Moily be sacked - join over 11,000 who've signed the petition.

What do climate denial and promoting GMOs have in common?

Patrick Moore is a denier of manmade climate change and a promoter of GMOs - and both arguments are about defending big corporate interests, writes Jonathan Matthews. Read more

Second Chinese ministry bans GMO in own canteens

In China, two government ministries have now banned GM ingredients from their canteens, while the school canteens for the children of citizens have not. Read more

Promotion of GM crops a trap, say social groups in India

Scaremongering around food security is driving the GM push in India and the rest of the world. But it's a nonsense, say social groups, particularly as India is expecting record food production this year. Read more

US farmers report widespread GM crop contamination

A third of US organic farmers have experienced problems in their fields due to the nearby use of GM crops, and over half of those growers have had loads of grain rejected because of GMO contamination, shows a new report. Read more

Increase in incidents of GM contamination of traded food and feed

GM contamination in traded food and feed is increasing, leading to trade disruptions, says the Food and Agriculture Organisation of the United Nations. Read more

Quotes of the month

On the retraction of the Séralini 2012 study on GMO maize and Roundup

"The retraction was clearly based on political and economical interests and pressure, as it does not have a scientifically sound justification. Science is not built upon ‘definitive’ studies. In fact, within a scientific framework, a hypothesis is never definitive; it can always be re-tested and generate new, more robust knowledge. This is what should be done in this case. The article should be reinstated, and its findings can be confirmed or contested by replication and new studies. It is shameful that, in this day and age, commercial interests still have so much influence in scientific publishing."
– Daniel Ferreira Holderbaum, MSc, PhD student in Plant Genetic Resources, Federal University of Santa Catarina, Brazil.

"The excellent work of Professor Séralini and his colleagues should be published in all the independent scientific journals of the world, as a form of protest and resistance against pressure of transnational corporations."
– Tomás Enrique León Sicard, PhD, Professor of Agrology, Institute of Environmental Studies, National University of Colombia

"Séralini's study underpins the urgent need of carcinogenic risk assessment of GMO crops, and should never have been retracted from FCT."
– Henk A.Tennekes, PhD, consultant toxicologist, member of EUROTOX; Dutch, Swiss and British Societies of Toxicology; Society of Toxicologic Pathology; International Union for the Conservation of Nature (IUCN)/Commission on Ecosystem Management (CEM), Netherlands

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