Most people are now aware of the dangers of genetically modified foods, which include exposure to pesticide, allergies, antibiotic resistance and the unpredictability of the modified foods. Because of these dangers, Americans have the right to know which foods have been altered by reading a label on the foods. These large companies lobby against the labeling of GMOs, afraid people won't buy their products. Here is a closer look at the players and how the public can protect itself.
According to Mother Earth Living, Monsanto, Syngenta, DuPont and Bayer are the top players in the GMO market. These companies have pantented their altered seeds. Farmers are forced to buy their seed from these companies and their pesticides. Other pesticides won't work on the GMO seeds.
Is the FDA looking out for the public's health? They allow the same companies who make the GMOs to monitor themselves. There is no unbiased entity looking for the dangers in our food supply. The FDA set a policy in 1992 that gave the biotech firms the ability to tell the FDA their foods were safe. This is a backward situation.
Mother Earth Living stated that, " Research published in The European Journal of Histochemistry reported that the reproductive organs of mice and rats fed Roundup Ready soybeans showed dramatic changes. In rats, the testicles were dark blue instead of pink. In mice, young sperm cells were altered. At a scientific symposium in Italy in 2006, researchers shared documentation of DNA changes in embryos of GM soy-fed mice. Studies of the first GM crop, the Flavr Savr tomato, which was never released to market, showed significant health risks. Seven out of 20 rats fed the GM tomatoes developed stomach lesions. One of the world’s leading GM food and safety experts, Árpád Pusztai, said the types of lesions linked to the GM tomatoes “could lead to life-endangering hemorrhage.” Studies also showed a high rate of cancer in rats feed GMO food.
The four large companies mentioned have control over the majority of seeds available to farmers. Once the seeds are altered, they can be patented, making it illegal to plant these crops without buying the right from the patent owner. Under technology agreements that farmers were forced to sign, farmers are not allowed to save their seed from one year to the next.
"Most of the corn, cotton and soybeans grown in the United States come from genetically modified (GM) plants, and almost all processed and packaged foods contain corn or soybeans in one form or another," according to Mother Earth Living.
Download Mother Earth Living True Food Shopper's Guide: How to Avoid Foods Made with Genetically Modified Organisms (GMOs).
Many countries refuse to buy corn, soybeans and other genetically modifed foods from the US. This affects our economy as well as our health.
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