GE food/fertility link
A recent study conducted by the University of Vienna and sponsored by the Austrian Ministry of Health, Families, and Youth, and with potentially massive ramifications for the whole GE and agricorp industry, purports to show that mice fed Monsanto GE corn have decreased reproductive fertility.
Female mice fed GE corn were more likely to have either no offspring at all, fewer litters and fewer total offspring than mice fed conventionally grown corn. This affect increased with each successive litter, with the third and fourth litters significantly smaller.
According the the US Center for Food and Safety there is no regulatory requirement for long term food trials on animals before GE food is allowed on the market. While the author of this research, Dr. Jurgen Zentek was cautious about interpreting the results of his study, that may be simply because historically scientists presenting evidence questioning the health impacts of GE food tend to marginalised.
Read original article published 13/11/08
Adapted from the original article for the Byron Body and Soul by Mark O'Brien
Comment
This is yet another of the studies casting doubts upon the safety of GE food. Clearly there is more testing that needs to be done before GE food can be consumed with confidence, even though it is already in many of the food items we buy in our supermarkets.
Unfortunately the GE 'cat' is pretty much out of the 'bag', especially in the US but with governments in Australia being sold on GE food by the vast PR resources of the GE companies it may not be long before Australia follows suit. Even as Japan and Europe increase regulations and demand greater transparency with food labelling, Australia seems to be ready to open its doors to large scale GE farming. Already we export our GE free canola to Europe at a premium price and import US GE canola. Which has greenhouse gas and energy implications as well - how sustainable and intelligent is it to ship thousands of tonnes of canola to Europe and ship an equal amount from the US?
The problem is that once the GE seeds are released into the environment it is impossible to get them back. Given that fact, and ther vast profits that the GE companies are aiming at, it is surely encumbent upon legislators to ensure that Monsanto et al do all necessary research and guarantee the safety of their food.
Monsanto etc and large food corporations have resisted calls for accurate labelling of all ingredients, including even trace amounts of GE ingredients, on food, but surely this is necessary if we are to have choice about what kind of food we serve our kids.
Related to - Health | GE Food | Food and Nutrition
By Mark O'Brien