Mysterious Deaths of Cows Fed GE Corn in Germany

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Misty L. Trepke

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Mysterious Deaths of Cows Fed GE Corn in Germany

 

Cows die mysteriously on farm in Hesse / Germany

Greenpeace Germany

Dec 8, 2003

 

Greenpeace calls for investigation by Robert-Koch Institute, since

cows werefed on GM maize

 

Berlin, 8 Dec. - Fifteen Greenpeace activists are today protesting

with acow's skeleton in front of the Robert-Koch Institute in Berlin.

 

A banner questions the safety of genetically engineered feed. The

protest isbeing made because the institute has not yet clarified the

puzzlingcircumstances, which led to twelve cows dying on a farm in

the state of Hesse, although it is officially the institute's

responsibility to do so.

 

The animals were fed genetically manipulated maize between 1997 and

2001. The Robert-Koch Institute is responsible for authorising the

GM maize and has so far re-fused to instigate further investigations

to clarify what has happened. Greenpeace is calling for a full

investigation into the deaths of the cows and an immediate ban on

the GM maize concerned, the Syngenta company's " bt176 " maize.

 

" The Robert-Koch Institute manages genetic engineering instead of

activelyensuring safety and the scrutiny of its use, " says Henning

Strodthoff, genetic engineering expert at Greenpeace. " The GM maize

should never havebeen approved. Even the US has now taken it off the

market. The incident in Hesse again shows how lightly the risks of

genetic engineering are considered. In this situation no new

licences for GM plants should be issued, " Henning Strodthoff went

on, " and certainly not by this institute. "

 

The investigations made so far for the most part rule out the

possibility of common diseases or errors in feeding the animals as

the cause of the cows dying. Syngenta gave the farmer partial

compensation in 2002 but refused to recognise the GM maize as being

the cause. The farmer called in vain on the authorities and Syngenta

to provide more support in making a full investigation into the

case, and has now made the details of it available to Greenpeace.

 

This GM maize is in Europe only grown commercially in Spain. Studies

on bt176 maize have again and again made surprising findings. The

newly created Bt protein which is in fact supposed to protect the

maize from particular insects that feed on it, for example, becomes

degraded more slowly than had been anticipated. It is found in cows'

stomachs, intestines and excrement. Experiments on mice show that it

may function similarly with mammals, something which had always been

ruled out. The case is particularly explosive because the EU is

discussing a new application for another Syngenta GM maize. This

bt11 maize is intended for human consumption, and forms the same

poisonous protein.

 

There are in Germany only a few companies and chain stores like the

Metro group that want to use genetic engineering in the products

they sell and market. Metro also does not rule out the possibility

that genetic engineering is already present in its own brands. In

Germany genetic engineering gets into consumers' food via animal

feed.

 

more information in German can be found at:

http://www.greenpeace.org/deutschland/fakten/gentechnik/