(Organic Bytes) Weeks Biggest Environment, Consumer and Organic News Tidbits

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Tue, 24 May 2005 14:24:46 -0700

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This Weeks Biggest Environment, Consumer and Organic News

Tidbits (Organic Bytes #58)

 

Organic Consumers Association

 

Food, Consumer and Environment News Tidbits with an Edge!

Organic Bytes #58

5/24/2005

 

 

 

EXPLOSIVE MONSANTO DOCUMENTS REVEAL SERIOUS HAZARDS OF GENETICALLY

ENGINEERED CORN

A May 22 headline news story in the London Independent has rocked

Monsanto and the biotech industry and fueled the controversy over the

safety of genetically engineered food. The story reveals that internal

Monsanto documents, reviewed by EU scientists, show serious health

damage to laboratory animals fed Monsanto's new genetically engineered

" rootworm-resistant " corn. Rats who consumed the mutant corn developed

smaller kidneys and exhibited blood abnormalities. Scientists say

these are " red flags " for immune system damage and/or cancer tumor

promotion. Although the EU will now likely ban Monsanto's new GMO

corn, this same rootworm-resistant corn is already being grown and

consumed on a major scale in the United States. Monsanto has denied

that the corn can harm humans, but nonetheless refuses to turn over

its data to the media, claiming that the lab studies are " Confidential

Business Information. "

Learn more and take action: http://www.organicconsumers.org/monlink.htm

 

 

 

CALIFORNIA MAN'S DEATH MAY BE LINKED TO MAD COW DISEASE

The USDA has recently been accused of been covering up cases of mad

cow disease for over a decade. Now a deceased California man's family

and doctor have announced they believe Patrick Hicks, aged 49, died

late last year from variant Creutzfeldt Jakob disease, or vCJD. The

fatal disease is contracted from eating beef contaminated with mad cow

disease. Dr. Ron Bailey, a neurologist at Riverside Medical Center,

believes this will be the first documented case of vCJD in the U.S.,

and in order to bypass the hand of the USDA, is sending brain samples

overseas for testing in an independent laboratory. Over 150 Europeans

have already died from vCJD, with thousands more believed to be

incubating the disease.

http://www.organicconsumers.org/madcow/CAman051605.cfm

 

 

 

EUROPE DEBATES THE MOST MASSIVE CHEMICAL BAN IN HISTORY

The European Parliament is set to debate new regulations that would

dramatically increase the number of banned chemicals in the EU. The

law would require manufacturers of some 30,000 currently legal

chemicals to provide scientific evidence that their products are safe

for human health and the environment. If the legislation passes, it

would have a major impact on thousands of chemicals and products

manufactured and sold in the U.S. Despite much weaker regulations in

the U.S. many American companies have no choice but to adhere to

European regulations given that the EU, with 25 countries and 460

million people, represents an even larger market than the U.S.

http://www.organicconsumers.org/Politics/strict051805.cfm

 

 

 

AVIAN INFLUENZA DEEMED MOST SERIOUS GLOBAL HEALTH THREAT

World Health Organization Director, General Lee Jong-Wook opened the

58th World Health Assembly last week by saying avian influenza is the

most serious health threat facing the world. " The timing cannot be

predicted, but rapid international spread is certain once the pandemic

virus appears, " Lee said. " This is a grave danger for all people in

all countries. " Lee strongly advised leaders of every nation to

implement, as a top priority, systems for responding to the onset of

the virus. http://www.organicconsumers.org/Politics/avian051805.cfm

 

 

 

CORPORATE DOLLAR OVERPOWERS SCIENCE...AGAIN

The American Diabetic Association (ADA) is suddenly countering decades

of scientific studies that have consistently linked diets high in

sugar to diabetes. In a May 16 interview, Richard Kahn, the chief

scientific and medical officer with the ADA said " What is the evidence

that sugar itself has anything to do with diabetes? There is no

evidence. " Coincidentally, last month, the ADA announced a

" three-year, multi-million dollar alliance " with Cadbury Schweppes,

which is the third largest producer of soft drinks in the world.

http://www.organicconsumers.org/school/diabetes051705.cfm

 

 

 

BILL SAYS SODA POP IN SCHOOLS IS GOOD

The Oregon Senate Education Committee has rewritten a law that would

have banned soft drinks from vending machines in the state's schools.

In a complete turnabout, the new law actually gives the green light to

sugary beverages in schools. Lawmakers instrumental in the rewrite

process claim the change of heart has nothing to do with the fact that

the Oregon Soft Drink Association, a powerful industry lobby group

opposed to banning junk foods in schools, contributed $91,000 to their

election campaigns in 2004.

http://www.organicconsumers.org/school/coke050905.cfm

 

 

 

REMOTE CONTROL HUNTING

Texas entrepreneur John Lockwood, whose new internet business

advertises a " real time on-line hunting and shooting experience, " has

spurred emergency proposed legislation in 14 states. Lockwood's

website charges a monthly fee to rs who can then sit at their

computers, anywhere in the world, watch live web cameras situated on

Lockwood's game farm, and remotely shoot guns at real-life animals

with the click of a mouse. Animal rights groups, the National Rifle

Association and legislators across the U.S. are teaming up to pass

laws that would ban such activity, referencing dangers of the spread

of remotely fired guns, while Lockwood argues that this is a more

ethical way of harvesting food than buying factory farm meats from the

slaughterhouse. http://www.organicconsumers.org/corp/hunt.cfm What do

you think? Share your thoughts on this issue in OCA's web forum:

http://www.organicconsumers.org/chat/index.php

 

 

 

NEW " MONSANTO LAWS " AIM TO MUTE COMMUNITY RIGHTS

Responding to the growing number of localities whose citizens are

voting to regulate or even ban genetically engineered crops, the

biotech industry, led by Monsanto and Syngenta, has brought new

legislation to ten states in the U.S. that would remove the rights of

communities to have any control of agricultural regulations in their

area. On one side of the issue, citizens and farmers in counties that

have banned GE crops, like Mendocino, Calif., say they have a right to

protect their predominantly organic county from contamination by GE

pollen from neighboring crops. On the other side of the issue, the

biotech industry is investing tens of millions of dollars to remove

these local rights, saying anti-GE citizens and farmers " lack the

education to make these kinds of decisions. "

http://www.organicconsumers.org/monsanto/laws052005.cfm

 

 

 

QUICK NEWS TIDBITS

 

The European Union has, once again, rejected Monsanto's genetically

engineered sweet corn. Under pressure from the U.S., the EU lifted its

ban on GE foods last year, but has since only approved two GE products

for import. The U.S. claims the EU's precautionary stance on GE foods

is a violation of free trade agreements.

http://www.organicconsumers.org/monsanto/sweetcorn052305.cfm

 

 

 

In December of 2004, the OCA rallied its supporters in a massive

letter writing campaign to the University of California Berkeley. At

the time, Dr. Igancio Chapela had been denied his tenure for speaking

out on the issue of GE crop contamination. Thanks to everyone who took

action, the University has announced it will reverse its prior

decision and grant Dr. Chapela his well deserved tenure.

http://www.organicconsumers.org/ge/ignacio052305.cfm

 

New Chapter Inc. has become the first company to prove that vitamins

can be made 100% organic, following the guidelines of the USDA

National Organic Program (NOP). The USDA currently refuses to regulate

products such as vitamins and body care, based on their argument that

the NOP should only regulate food, despite the fact that the NOP

regulations specifically oversee how a product is created, not how a

product is consumed.

http://www.organicconsumers.org/organic/supplements051805.cfm

 

Alaska has become the first state to pass a bill that will require the

labeling of genetically engineered fish. Senator Gary Stevens said of

the bill, " The message that Alaska seafood is more natural than

seafood that has been engineered in a lab is a highly important

marketing tool. " There were no discussions as to how that same

regulatory labeling philosophy should apply to other genetically

engineered foods. http://www.organicconsumers.org/ge/alaskabill051105.cfm

 

 

 

WHOOPS

We're a little embarrassed... The OCA would like to apologize for

referencing a non-OCA related document in our last issue of Organic

Bytes that contained an incorrect statistic. The article we cited

claimed that a new study connected high consumption of processed meats

with a 6700% increase in cancer. Woah!!! That shocked the heck out of

us too. But the article we were referencing, along with several other

newspaper articles, were wrong. The actual study put that rate at 67%.

We apologize, for not quadruple checking our sources in that Byte, but

are proud to say this is the first statistical error retraction in 57

issues of this publication, a commendable record for any purely

fact-based publication.

 

 

 

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