Combination image of two pictures featuring rats with tumors after they were fed a diet of genetically modified (GM) maize produced by US chemical giant Monsanto (AFP Photo / Criigen)
French scientists have revealed that rats fed on GMO corn sold by American firm Monsanto, suffered tumors and other complications including kidney and liver damage. When testing the firm’s top brand weed killer the rats showed similar symptoms.
The French government has asked its health and safety agency to assess the study and had also sent it to the European Union’s food safety agency, Reuters reports.
“Based on the conclusion…, the government will ask the European authorities to take all necessary measures to protect human and animal health, measures that could go as far as an emergency suspension of imports of NK603 maize in the European Union,” the French health, environment and farm ministries said in a joint statement.
Researchers from the University of Caen found that rats fed on a diet containing NK603 – a seed variety made tolerant to amounts of Monsanto’s Roundup weedkiller – or given water mixed with the product, at levels permitted in the United States – died earlier than those on a standard diet.
The research conducted by Gilles-Eric Seralini and his colleagues, said the rats suffered mammary tumors, as well as severe liver and kidney damage. The study was published in the journal of Food and Chemical Toxicology and presented at a news conference in London.
Fifty percent of male and 70 percent of female rats died prematurely, compared with only 30 percent and 20 percent in the control group, said the researchers.
Monsanto spokesman, Thomas Helscher, said the company would review the study thoroughly but stated that other scientific studies had proved the biotech crops’ safety.
Some scientists however criticized the French researchers’ statistical methods and the use of a particular type of rat, saying the albino Sprague-Dawley strain of animal had a tendency to develop cancers.
But despite skepticism, the study draws attention to controversy surrounding genetically modified crops and the US biotech giant Monsanto.
Michael Antoniou, a molecular biologist at King’s College London – who acted as an adviser to Seralini’s team – told reporters that the study stresses the “need to test all GMO crops in two-year lifelong studies”.
“I feel this data is strong enough to withdraw the marketing approval for this variety of GMO maize temporarily, until this study is followed up and repeated with larger number of animals to get the full statistical power that we want,” he said as quoted by Reuters.
Last Friday France said it will uphold a ban on genetically modified crops produced by the Monsanto. The move came as President Francois Hollande pushed his plan to put the environment back at the top of the international agenda.
In the wake of the publication, Jose Bove, vice-chairman of the European Parliament’s commission for agriculture, called for an immediate suspension of all EU cultivation and import authorizations of genetically modified crops.
“This study finally shows we are right and that it is urgent to quickly review all GMO evaluation processes,” he said following the announcement of the research.
While being widely used in the United States, GMO crops have been less popular among European consumers, due to concerns about its impact on people’s health and the environment.
In California, opponents of genetically engineered food are fighting to have it removed from the food supply. They are also pushing to pass Proposition 37, a law that would legally require genetically modified foods to be labeled as such. Monsanto stands opposed to such a proposal and has donated over $4.2 million to lobby against it.
Agriculturalists across America have previously tried to take the biotech giant to court over charges stemming from their lab-made corn GMOs. Over 2,000 farmers have petitioned the US government to more thoroughly investigate the impact that genetically modified corn crop from Monsanto will have on the country.
As RT reported before, Monsanto wants to plant a corn variant across America’s Midwest that will be resistant to a powerful pesticide produced with 2,4-D, the same compound crucial to the make-up of the notorious Vietnam War-era killer Agent Orange. If approved, the new corn will be able to thrive as farmers douse their fields in the chemical, killing off unwanted weeds in the process, while at the same time subjecting Americans to a pesticide linked to cancer risks.
Free to Download – Shop GMO Free in the UK App
If you want to find out which foods in British supermarkets contain GM ingredients, you are in exactly the right place. From here, you can ….
download the only phone app …
…to give you full and comprehensive information on the genetically modified status of thousands of foods across hundreds of brands and supermarket own foods on sale in the UK today.
Click on the button below for FREE DOWNLOAD….
Click here for more about the features
Shop GMO-Free in the UK app is available to download for free here for Android phones. If you’re an iPhone user, we’re launching a version for you in a few weeks time. Just scroll down and fire off the quick contact form below if you’d like us to notify you when it’s available. Or keep up with us by joining our Shop GMO-Free in the UK group on Facebook.
Why you need this app
Shop GMO Free in the UK is the first app in Britain today to provide easily searchable, at-a-glance information about the GM-status of tens of thousands of everyday foods across hundreds of brands, like this one:
The app will be updated regularly, so you’ll always have the very latest information regarding GMs in UK supermarkets at your fingertips.
If you’re wondering why you need this information when you thought that GM foods were banned in Britain, please read on…
What they’re not telling you…
You’re probably not aware that GM foods are slowly being introduced into UK supermarkets, some from America. (See Changes to EU legislation mean that GM crops can now be grown in Britain and Another British supermarket now selling GM foods.)
Through a mix of EU legislation and backroom deals with the biotech industries, it’s becoming increasingly clear that the government, which ever party is in power, has sold out to the demands of the big biotech giants. This is despite the fact that many scientifically-controlled tests have proven that GM foods can cause:
- stomach inflammation,
- bowel disease,
- thinning of intestinal walls,
- breast cancer,
- idney and liver disease,
- low sperm count,
- sterility, and
- stillbirths
To read more about the health dangers of GM foods, check out the articles here on GM News.
Weaponised shopping
With our Shop GMO-Free in the UK app on your phone, you will have the power to vote with your shopping basket about what sort of food you and your family will eat.
It worked in Germany, where meat and dairy producers are now being required to feed their cattle with GM-free feed again, when shoppers refused to buy the other kind. (See How to get British supermarkets to return to GM-free meat and dairy).
It’s also been making a difference for shoppers in America, where big food companies are being forced to remove GM ingredients from their products because customers are gradually refusing to buy them. (See Record numbers of US companies switching to non-GMO seeds and GMOs facing downturn on world market).
With huge international trade deals like TTIP being hammered out in private rooms, well away from the democratic process and public accountability, the only leverage we have is in our consumer power. (See The lies behind the EU’s transatlantic trade deal and Secret emails reveal how UK ministers plotted with GM lobbyists to bring GM foods into the UK.)
We hope that our app will make a huge difference… by giving everyone the information they need to make the choices that are best for them and their families.
Please help us to continue supplying you with all the most up-to-date information on health and wellbeing – and also about how it is under attack. A small donation would make a huge difference to our research…Please give here.
vesicapublishing.com 