WHY SHOULD I AVOID GMOs?
The American Academy of Environmental Medicine (AAEM) recently
released its position paper on Genetically Modified foods stating
that "... GM foods pose a serious health risk". The AAEM called for
a moratorium on GM food, with implementation of immediate long-term
safety testing and labeling of GM food. The AAEM is just one of many
organizations worldwide calling for these steps to be taken.
Read
their position paper on GMOs
Hasn’t research shown GM foods to be safe?
No. The only feeding study done with humans showed that GMOs
survived inside the stomach of the people eating GMO food. No
follow-up studies were done.
Various feeding studies in animals have resulted in potentially
pre-cancerous cell growth, damaged immune systems, smaller brains,
livers, and testicles, partial atrophy or increased density of the
liver, odd shaped cell nuclei and other unexplained anomalies, false
pregnancies and higher death rates.
But aren’t the plants chemically the same,
whether or not they are GM?
Most tests can’t determine the differences at the level of the DNA.
And, even if they appear to be the same, eyewitness reports from all
over North American describe how several types of animals, including
cows, pigs, geese, elk, deer, squirrels, and rats, when given a
choice, avoid eating GM foods.
Haven’t people been eating GM foods
without any ill effect?
The biotech industry says that millions have been eating GM
foods without ill effect. This is misleading. No one monitors human
health impacts of GM foods. If the foods were creating health
problems in the US population, it might take years or decades before
we identified the cause.
What indications are there that GM foods are
causing problems?
Soon after GM soy was introduced to the UK, soy allergies
skyrocketed by 50 percent.
In March 2001, the Center for Disease Control reported that food is
responsible for twice the number of illnesses in the U.S. compared
to estimates just seven years earlier. This increase roughly
corresponds to the period when Americans have been eating GM food.
Without follow-up tests, which neither the industry or government
are doing, we can’t be absolutely sure if genetic engineering was
the cause.
What about GM hormones in milk?
Milk from rbGH-treated cows contains an increased amount of the
hormone IGF-1, which is one of the highest risk factors associated
with breast and prostate cancer, but no one is tracking this in
relation to cancer rates.
Why do genetically engineered foods have antibiotic resistant genes in
them?
The techniques used to transfer genes have a very low success rate,
so the genetic engineers attach "marker genes" that are resistant to
antibiotics to help them to find out which cells have taken up the
new DNA. That way scientist can then douse the experimental GMO in
antibiotics and if it lives, they have successful altered the genes.
The marker genes are resistant to antibiotics that are commonly used
in human and veterinary medicine. Some scientists believe that
eating GE food containing these marker genes could encourage gut
bacteria to develop antibiotic resistance.
But is there any documented instance of
adverse effects of GMOs on people?
One epidemic was rare, serious, and fast acting, and therefore more
easily discovered. Called EMS, it was traced to a GM brand of the
food supplement L-tryptophan. In the 1980's, the contaminated brand
killed about 100 Americans and caused sickness or disability in
about 5,000-10,000 others.
Why are children particularly susceptible to
the effects of GM foods?
Children face the greatest risk from the potential dangers of GM
foods for the same reasons they face the greatest risk from other
hazards like pesticides and radiation, these include:
Young, fast-developing bodies are influenced most.
Children are more susceptible to allergies.
Children are more susceptible to problems with milk.
Children are more susceptible to nutritional problems.
Children are in danger from antibiotic resistant diseases.
How dangerous, or potentially dangerous, are
GM foods relative to other food dangers, e.g., pesticides, irradiation,
additives, preservatives?
Since so little research has been done on the safety of GM foods, it
is not possible to rank its risks. Unlike the others, GM crops
persist in the environment, and may continue to pose risks to health
for centuries.
In addition, transfer of transgenes to gut bacteria may present
long-term chronic exposure, since the foreign protein may continue
to be produced inside of us after we no longer consume the GM food.
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