Guest guest Posted January 10, 2006 Report Share Posted January 10, 2006 http://news.independent.co.uk/environment/article337253.ece GM: New study shows unborn babies could be harmed Mortality rate for new-born rats six times higher when mother was fed on a diet of modified soya By Geoffrey Lean, Environment Editor Published: 08 January 2006 Women who eat GM foods while pregnant risk endangering their unborn babies, startling new research suggests. The study - carried out by a leading scientist at the Russian Academy of Sciences - found that more than half of the offspring of rats fed on modified soya died in the first three weeks of life, six times as many as those born to mothers with normal diets. Six times as many were also severely underweight. The research - which is being prepared for publication - is just one of a clutch of recent studies that are reviving fears that GM food damages human health. Italian research has found that modified soya affected the liver and pancreas of mice. Australia had to abandon a decade-long attempt to develop modified peas when an official study found they caused lung damage. And last May this newspaper revealed a secret report by the biotech giant Monsanto, which showed that rats fed a diet rich in GM corn had smaller kidneys and higher blood cell counts, suggesting possible damage to their immune systems, than those that ate a similar conventional one. The United Nation's Food and Agriculture Organisation held a workshop on the safety of genetically modified foods at its Rome headquarters late last year. The workshop was addressed by scientists whose research had raised concerns about health dangers. But the World Trade Organisation is expected next month to support a bid by the Bush administration to force European countries to accept GM foods. The Russian research threatens to have an explosive effect on already hostile public opinion. Carried out by Dr Irina Ermakova at the Institute of Higher Nervous Activity and Neurophysiology of the Russian Academy of Sciences, it is believed to be the first to look at the effects of GM food on the unborn. The scientist added flour from a GM soya bean - produced by Monsanto to be resistant to its pesticide, Roundup - to the food of female rats, starting two weeks before they conceived, continuing through pregnancy, birth and nursing. Others were given non-GM soyaand a third group was given no soya at all. She found that 36 per cent of the young of the rats fed the modified soya were severely underweight, compared to 6 per cent of the offspring of the other groups. More alarmingly, a staggering 55.6 per cent of those born to mothers on the GM diet perished within three weeks of birth, compared to 9 per cent of the offspring of those fed normal soya, and 6.8 per cent of the young of those given no soya at all. "The morphology and biochemical structures of rats are very similar to those of humans, and this makes the results very disturbing" said Dr Ermakova. "They point to a risk for mothers and their babies." Environmentalists say that - while the results are preliminary - they are potentially so serious that they must be followed up. The American Academy of Environmental Medicine has asked the US National Institute of Health to sponsor an immediate, independent follow-up. The Monsanto soya is widely eaten by Americans. There is little of it, or any GM crop, in British foods though it is imported to feed animals farmed for meat. Tony Coombes, director of corporate affairs for Monsanto UK, said: "The overwhelming weight of evidence from published, peer-reviewed, independently conducted scientific studies demonstrates that Roundup Ready soy can be safely consumed by rats, as well as all other animal species studied." What the experiment found Russian scientists added flour made from a GM soya to the diet of female rats two weeks before mating them, and continued feeding it to them during pregnancy, birth and nursing. Others were give non-GM soya or none at all. Six times as many of the offspring of those fed the modified soya were severely underweight compared to those born to the rats given normal diets. Within three weeks, 55.6 per cent of the young of the mothers given the modified soya died, against 9 per cent of the offspring of those fed the conventional soya. Doc Shillington727-447-5282Doc Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted January 16, 2006 Report Share Posted January 16, 2006 Hey Doc, I noticed the part about Monsanto soya being widely eaten by Americans. Do you know of a list or something that says what foods have it? I want to stay as far away from these products as possible. Thank you. herbal remedies , " Dr. Ian Shillington " <DocShillington@K...> wrote: > > http://news.independent.co.uk/environment/article337253.ece > GM: New study shows unborn babies could be harmed > Mortality rate for new-born rats six times higher when mother was fed on a diet of modified soya > By Geoffrey Lean, Environment Editor > Published: 08 January 2006 > Women who eat GM foods while pregnant risk endangering their unborn babies, startling new research suggests. > > The study - carried out by a leading scientist at the Russian Academy of Sciences - found that more than half of the offspring of rats fed on modified soya died in the first three weeks of life, six times as many as those born to mothers with normal diets. Six times as many were also severely underweight. > > The research - which is being prepared for publication - is just one of a clutch of recent studies that are reviving fears that GM food damages human health. Italian research has found that modified soya affected the liver and pancreas of mice. Australia had to abandon a decade-long attempt to develop modified peas when an official study found they caused lung damage. > > And last May this newspaper revealed a secret report by the biotech giant Monsanto, which showed that rats fed a diet rich in GM corn had smaller kidneys and higher blood cell counts, suggesting possible damage to their immune systems, than those that ate a similar conventional one. > > The United Nation's Food and Agriculture Organisation held a workshop on the safety of genetically modified foods at its Rome headquarters late last year. The workshop was addressed by scientists whose research had raised concerns about health dangers. But the World Trade Organisation is expected next month to support a bid by the Bush administration to force European countries to accept GM foods. > > The Russian research threatens to have an explosive effect on already hostile public opinion. Carried out by Dr Irina Ermakova at the Institute of Higher Nervous Activity and Neurophysiology of the Russian Academy of Sciences, it is believed to be the first to look at the effects of GM food on the unborn. > > The scientist added flour from a GM soya bean - produced by Monsanto to be resistant to its pesticide, Roundup - to the food of female rats, starting two weeks before they conceived, continuing through pregnancy, birth and nursing. Others were given non-GM soyaand a third group was given no soya at all. > > She found that 36 per cent of the young of the rats fed the modified soya were severely underweight, compared to 6 per cent of the offspring of the other groups. More alarmingly, a staggering 55.6 per cent of those born to mothers on the GM diet perished within three weeks of birth, compared to 9 per cent of the offspring of those fed normal soya, and 6.8 per cent of the young of those given no soya at all. > > " The morphology and biochemical structures of rats are very similar to those of humans, and this makes the results very disturbing " said Dr Ermakova. " They point to a risk for mothers and their babies. " > > Environmentalists say that - while the results are preliminary - they are potentially so serious that they must be followed up. The American Academy of Environmental Medicine has asked the US National Institute of Health to sponsor an immediate, independent follow-up. > > The Monsanto soya is widely eaten by Americans. There is little of it, or any GM crop, in British foods though it is imported to feed animals farmed for meat. > > Tony Coombes, director of corporate affairs for Monsanto UK, said: " The overwhelming weight of evidence from published, peer-reviewed, independently conducted scientific studies demonstrates that Roundup Ready soy can be safely consumed by rats, as well as all other animal species studied. " > > What the experiment found > > Russian scientists added flour made from a GM soya to the diet of female rats two weeks before mating them, and continued feeding it to them during pregnancy, birth and nursing. Others were give non-GM soya or none at all. Six times as many of the offspring of those fed the modified soya were severely underweight compared to those born to the rats given normal diets. Within three weeks, 55.6 per cent of the young of the mothers given the modified soya died, against 9 per cent of the offspring of those fed the conventional soya. > > Doc Shillington > 727-447-5282 > Doc@A... > Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted January 18, 2006 Report Share Posted January 18, 2006 herbal remedies , " Eddie " <bad_azz_mofo> wrote: > > I noticed the part about Monsanto soya being widely eaten by > Americans. Do you know of a list or something that says what foods > have it? I want to stay as far away from these products as possible. > Thank you. > ********* Monsanto's GMO soy isn't the only GMO consumed daily by Americans, nor is it the only GMO that has shown indications leading to ill health. In the U.S.A., GM foods do not have to be labeled or separated (unless certified organic). Most often, GMO's are mixed right in with non-GMO's making their presence in even more foods. Conventional " processed " foods are full of GMO's. So far, the most common GMO's are Corn/Soy/Canola/Cotton and Dairy. If you read labels on foods sold today, they have ingredients that are derived from most of these food groups. Even the mysterious " vegetable " ingredients are usually derived from one or more of the above crops. (IE: " vegetable oil " etc. are made from one or more oils of corn/soy/canola/cottonseed) So, if you see anything on a label that comes from Corn/Soy/Canola/Cotton or Dairy, in " conventional " foods, it most likely contains GMO's. Many of the dairy farmers use Monsanto's GMO hormone drug Posilac (a.k.a. rBGH or rBST) in their dairy herds to force them to make more milk. This milk is usually mixed right in with the milk from other farmers who do not use the GMO drug, contaminating even the non-GMO milk with GMO's. Just like the above mentioned crops, many food ingredients are derived from milk. Aspartame is another ingredient that is genetically engineered...as are some of the food " yeasts " . If you live in the U.S., about the only way to avoid GMO's is to only purchase Organic Foods, which prohibit the use of GMO's and all the ingredients derived from GMO's. I have seen a few companies that do list " GMO-Free " or such on their labels, so that is an option too, if you don't buy organic. These companies make their farmers sign contracts agreeing not to grow GMO crops (or) use Monsanto's GMO growth hormone drug in their dairy herds. There is a website that lists foods that are known to contain GMO's in them. This list is obviously not all-inclusive, but it does show just how prevalent GMO's are in many of the most popular foods sold in the U.S. today. It also lists non-GMO alternatives to them. It is at: http://www.truefoodnow.org/shoppersguide/guide_printable.html They are developing many more GMO type crops all the time too, so pretty soon there won't be many ingredients that are made without them in the " conventional " food market. Hope this helps.... Jan / Michigan Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted January 18, 2006 Report Share Posted January 18, 2006 herbal remedies , " Eddie " <bad_azz_mofo> wrote: > > I noticed the part about Monsanto soya being widely eaten by > Americans. Do you know of a list or something that says what foods > have it? I want to stay as far away from these products as possible. > Thank you. *********** I forgot to mention on my previous post re: GMO's, that..... After 30 years of deceiving the public, the FDA has finally decided to make food mfrs list the amount of Trans-Fats on the labels of their food products, beginning this year. Studies had indicated long ago, that these Trans-Fats (man-made fats) were causing heart disease and diabetis. They are listed on ingredient labels as " hydrogenated " or " partially hydrogenated " oils, and the FDA has finally mandated that the mfrs now also list them under the FAT portions of their labels too. Industry had fought the labeling all those years and succeeded, but now that they do have to list the amount of Trans-Fats in their foods, many have decided to " reformulate " their products, so they have less of these Trans-Fats in them. They don't really want their consumers to know just how much of these Trans-Fats they have been ingesting all of these years from their food products. One of the ways some of the food mfrs have come up with, is to use specific GMO soy for their oils, instead of what they were using before. Monsanto's is called Vistive and Dupont's is called Nutrium. So this too, will increase the amounts of GMO's used in " conventional " foods today. IE: Kellogg's is one of the mfrs taking this approach. In addition to being the world's top cereal producer, they also make stuff like: PopTarts, Keebler cookies, Cheeze-its, etc. Kellogg's is working with both of these GMO soys, to reduce their Trans-Fats on labels. Another project that the Biotech companies are working furiously on, is GMO chickens. Chickens that are genetically engineered to resist Avian Bird Flu. They have developed 3 different techniques already, and they want to include all 3 techniques into each GMO chicken produced. They are hoping that it won't take very many years, before they can REPLACE THE ENTIRE WORLD'S POPULATION (!!) of chickens with their GMO birds (that is their goal). That is their " plan " to eliminate this bird flu in chickens. (YIKES!) Since I forgot to mention these on my previous GMO post here, I just wanted to add these comments about GMO's under this thread, as more " Food for Thought " ....... FWIW Jan / Michigan Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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