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Health and GM Foods
G.M Foods Research
What are GM foods and how do they affect our health? There has been a lot about Genetically Modified (GM) foods on television and newspapers but very little about how they affect us. Genetic scientists have long talked of being able to eradicate starvation by creating new high yield, pest resistant versions of existing food crops. Vast amounts of money have been poured into identifying the human gene (the DNA of human life) and genes of other species and “cloning” animals has been carried out. Moral, ethical and health arguments have been brushed aside as unnecessary. If what they are doing is harmless it would not matter too much. But it is definitely NOT harmless. Experimenting with genes can be extremely hazardous as inserting a gene from one living creature to another can cause cancer.
GM foods ResearchGenetic engineering is not something we can safely ignore until it falls out of fashion. Researchers like Dr Vernon Coleman have been writing about the horrors of this “science” for twenty years. He started warning about it when he first realized that scientists were making promises they could not keep over genetic engineering.
When genetic engineering first hit the headlines, the public were promised that there would be strict rules about what could, and could not be done. But the rules designed to protect us have been bent, pushed aside, or ignored.
It was claimed that regulations were slowing down progress, interfering with the competitiveness of the new industry and getting in the way of scientists being able to get on with their plans. The bottom line is: they want to get on with “improving the world” and it is wrong to ban new thinking or new research.
Genetic engineers go further and say that there is no need for caution and that only the narrow minded or reactionary have reservations about this new research. They have also persuaded politicians and administrators to go along with it.
What are the Health Risks?
The health risks associated with genetically modified produce are many. Genes, once they start moving and reproducing, can keep spreading, recombining and affecting new species. The scientists confidently state that genetic material from genetically modified produce is “easily digested by gut enzymes”. Sadly they are wrong about this.
Health research has shown that genetic material can not only survive the acid environment of the stomach and gut enzymes, they can find its way into the bloodstream and into body cells. And then go on to affect other cells. If you eat a genetically engineered tomato, the foreign genes could end up in your cells.
Cancer is an obvious possible consequence of this. Exactly what are the risks to our health? This has not yet been answered and your guess is as good as mine. The genetic engineers responsible for this new line of research don’t exactly know either. So that should give you reason to be skeptical of their claims that this is “safe”.
Genetically modified foods have already been shown to produce allergies – and to be toxic. One major health hazard is that plants which have been genetically modified to be resistant to disease may be more likely to cause allergies.
Are there any cases of illness with GM foods?A Soya bean genetically engineered with a gene from a brazil nut was found to cause an allergic reaction when eaten by people with an allergy to nuts. A strain of yeast, genetically altered to ferment quicker, acquired cancer inducing qualities. Contaminants in an amino acid produced by a Japanese company led to 1,500 people falling ill and 37 deaths.
And yet politicians have done nothing to protect the public. The manufacturers who produce GM foods do not have to identify goods that have been genetically modified. No one tests these foods to see if they are likely to cause allergies or other signs of ill-health.
The new food is tested when it is put on the market. You and I are therefore the “guinea pigs” testing this new food. Whilst drug companies have to do tests to see if they are safe, it seems that food manufacturers and companies do not have these controls.
Politicians and administrators, who we pay to protect us, are allowing the manufacturers to get away with the argument that it would be impossible to separate and identify GM foods. The US government has stated that they don’t see any reason to label these foods separately from others. European politicians are beginning to follow suit.
Dr Coleman states in his book food for thought:
“In my view, this must rank as one of the most hollow and absurd acts of the century since as far as I am aware, no one has done any clinical investigations to find out whether or not GM foods are safe for health, a bit unsafe or completely deadly”
Other Problems with G.M foodsThe problems are only just beginning but already they are frightening. Potatoes and oilseed rape were genetically modified to be resistant to herbicide.
The resistance spread to weeds within one growing season. Thanks to the overuse of pesticides, and the widespread introduction of GM crops engineered to produce “natural” insecticides, more than 1,000 agricultural pests have now acquired so much resistance that they are immune to chemical control.
Crops which have been genetically modified to tolerate herbicides have already begun to make weeds immune to the same herbicides. If the big seed companies and the politicians have their way then within a year or two farmers throughout the world will be growing the same variety of GM Soya, the same variety of GM potatoes and the same variety of GM corn.
It is not difficult to see the outcome of this scenario. If growing these GM crops becomes widespread throughout the world, and is destroyed by an insect or plant disease which is immune to every pesticide known to man, millions could die of starvation.
The argument supporting GM foods is that we have used biological processes successfully for centuries to improve food supplies. This is true, but these processes did not manipulate genes, which is a more dangerous concept So, What can we do?
I strongly suggest that you refuse to buy or eat foods that have had its genetics changed in any way. Buy organically grown foods whenever possible. And don’t trust or listen to manufacturers, politicians or anyone else telling you that GM foods are “safe”. Remember that it has never been proved that they are!
Grow your Own fruit and vegetables It's easier than you think! Anyone with a small plot of land can grown their own - you can grow your own herbs on something as small as a windowsill or shelf outside your back door - and even if you have never tried it before. Imagine having your own organic food on constant supply -I highly recommend it.
This handy book will tell you step by step how to grow your own fruit and vegetables
Further Reading
Find out about the health risks associated with food additives
More about how meat is produced for our table
How drug companies are trying to limit alternative choices and supplements Its happening in the US already - we should be aware of this threat and preserve our rights to take vitamins and minerals for our health.
Doctors and experts are warning about the dangers of too much junk food in our diets |
