Monsanto's GMO Corn Linked To Organ Failure, Study Reveals

In a study released by the International Journal of Biological Sciences, analyzing the effects of genetically modified foods on mammalian health, researchers found that agricultural giant Monsanto's GM corn is linked to organ damage in rats.

According to the study, which was summarized by Rady Ananda at Food Freedom, "Three varieties of Monsanto's GM corn - Mon 863, insecticide-producing Mon 810, and Roundup® herbicide-absorbing NK 603 - were approved for consumption by US, European and several other national food safety authorities."

Monsanto gathered its own crude statistical data after conducting a 90-day study, even though chronic problems can rarely be found after 90 days, and concluded that the corn was safe for consumption. The stamp of approval may have been premature, however.

In the conclusion of the IJBS study, researchers wrote:

"Effects were mostly concentrated in kidney and liver function, the two major diet detoxification organs, but in detail differed with each GM type. In addition, some effects on heart, adrenal, spleen and blood cells were also frequently noted. As there normally exists sex differences in liver and kidney metabolism, the highly statistically significant disturbances in the function of these organs, seen between male and female rats, cannot be dismissed as biologically insignificant as has been proposed by others. We therefore conclude that our data strongly suggests that these GM maize varieties induce a state of hepatorenal toxicity....These substances have never before been an integral part of the human or animal diet and therefore their health consequences for those who consume them, especially over long time periods are currently unknown."

Monsanto has immediately responded to the study, stating that the research is "based on faulty analytical methods and reasoning and do not call into question the safety findings for these products."

The IJBS study's author Gilles-Eric Séralini responded to the Monsanto statement on the blog, Food Freedom, "Our study contradicts Monsanto conclusions because Monsanto systematically neglects significant health effects in mammals that are different in males and females eating GMOs, or not proportional to the dose. This is a very serious mistake, dramatic for public health. This is the major conclusion revealed by our work, the only careful reanalysis of Monsanto crude statistical data."

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Comments

[GlenWoodfin]

You won't hear this on the network channels, I'll bet, because of advertising revenue. What's wrong with the leadership in our country. It's seems like they've all been bribed to look the other way.

[rbiederer]

There is an online petition that is going to the FDA Commissioner about GM corn. I read about it and signed it on Friday. I wrote a bit about it on my blog as well to spread the word.

Another question is, what about high fructose corn syrup? If GM corn is used to produce it, just think of how many products that is in and how much damage it could do.

It is ridiculous to even think that the FDA is just letting this product go to market without further testing.

Petition: http://www.thepetitionsite.com/takeaction/755645429?z00m=19825385
My post: http://blog.calorie-help.com/2010/02/12/genetically-modified-corn/

[HibbleKibble]

I am not surprised by this news. Obesity and diabetes are on the rise at the same rate as the heavy use of corn and corn derivitives. I am allergic to corn as well as a number of people I know. Anyone suffering from chronic headaches, sinus problems or swollen ankles should consider corn as a suspect. Practically everything that is in a package has some kind of corn in it. There are many sites with information on corn allergies.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Corn_allergy
http://www.cornallergysymptoms.com/
http://allergies.about.com/od/foodallergies/a/cornallergy.htm
http://www.askdrsears.com/html/4/T041800.asp

I really hope everyone stops buying these products. When we buy them, we are only hurting ourselves.

[Ametista]

Now go watch Food, Inc so you can see how many products have corn by-products in them. Its obscene. We eat almost all organic any more, grow much of our own heirloom veggies, and only my DH eats any meat. It is amazing how much food you can get from an heirloom pumpkin patch (Amish are the best!)

[vosak]

Not good. Monsanto seems unstoppable - they're cornering the market on genetically modified seed and the alarm is still hitting only a narrow sector of the public. Will someone nail these guys, please?

[Dr Kelly Sennholz]

The extent to which corporations participate in the alteration of critical food supplies needs to be equally matched by efforts at safety. The balance is not yet correct.

[VORREI]

So we have to wait until our grandchildren start sprouting tentacles & green polyps? Anyone remember Thialiomide? http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thalidomide - A big, grotesque FDA "Oppsy Daisy" no joke. Just ask those kids! Big-wigs wont eat that toxic mutant food-even Monsanto employees have banned it from their cafeterias. A Clue? Let's share the health! Check this out: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Zo8PRMb-EEc

[chellechicago]

****Whatevah said, "Mum and Clopper, I would advise you to evaluate the quality of your sources of information. In both cases, they've told you things that are the opposite of the truth.

The whole story can be found at the following: www.egeis.org/home/news.php?podlet_id=4&article_id=2"*****

Who exactly is EGEIS? http://www.egeis.org/home/about.html
They make it kind of confusing in the way it's worded, but it looks to me like they're funded by good ol' Monsanto.
Are you asking us to give more credence to their "science" than other studies?
Talk about the need to evaluate the quality of a source.

[cabinetmaniac]

He's a shill and should not be taken seriously.

:-]

[chellechicago]

Whatevah said, ****"You would have to look hard to find a bigger pile of manure than exists in the wildly anti-science comments found below." ****

Follow your nose to the nearest CAFO and I think you'll find a slightly bigger pile there. The Monsanto-fed/fattened cows are wading ankle-deep through the muck on their way to becoming the next quarter pounder. That's if they're still able to walk.

Monsanto's new TV commercial featuring their loving support for the American farmer is right up there with Bush's Clear Skies Initiative when it comes to using pretty images to disguise the ugly and very opposite reality of their actions.

I want to feed the world, too, but I'm just not willing to get sick for good ol' capitalism.

I grew up in a farming community where two of the many farm families I know are still (barely) in business. Those who want to grow beans are compelled to use Monsanto or deal with the consequences that might result from non-GMO beans being pollinated by another's field. When it comes to feeding the world, I'd rather Monsanto and their ilk find a resource other than food to produce in mass quantities in order to make their billions. Leave the poor and starving (and newly diabetic Americans) to someone who actually has a conscience.

I'll sit back now and wait for the belittling to commence. It's a bloody effective conversation starter, after all.

[garymc8]

Be afraid, very afraid.

[Mum]

Watch this:

"The World According to Monsanto"
http://twilightearth.com/environment-archive-2/the-world-according-to-monsanto-full-documentary/

[cabinetmaniac]

Mum's the "word."

:-]

[Rhetorikolas]

Seriously eye opening documentary.

[Whatevah]

For decades, Americans have been told that our educational system is doing a horrible job of educating our kids about science. We've been repeatedly told that we are raising generations of people who are too ignorant to make sensible judgements about scientific issues.

The comments that follow prove that this is true. You would have to look hard to find a bigger pile of manure than exists in the wildly anti-science comments found below.

Read 'em and weep.

[MNmommy]

I don't have to, do I?

;)

[Whatevah]

This is actually a reply to Mum and Clopper:

As promised, I did check out the situation in Denmark.

Mum, you are misinformed. Glyphosate was never banned in Denmark. A ban was proposed, which triggered a government investigation into the topic. The government rejected the proposal after their research showed glyphosate is safe and effective.

Clopper, this link shows that your concerns about groundwater contamination are unfounded. As I've said repeatedly, RoundUp Ready seed requires LESS chemicals, not more. It generates LESS run-off, not more.

Mum and Clopper, I would advise you to evaluate the quality of your sources of information. In both cases, they've told you things that are the opposite of the truth.

The whole story can be found at the following: www.egeis.org/home/news.php?podlet_id=4&article_id=2

[Whatevah]

MNmommy, you obviously have much better judgement than me.

But where were you BEFORE I fell into this swamp!? I'm not going to sleep for a week.

[anyoneoutthere]

Science and proprietary technology are two very different things.
Save your tears for a better occasion.

[Whatevah]

Alas, the ignorance of BOTH is staggering.

[Mum]

Two reports to read that counter the assertions of Monsanto, other GMO touts, and their fans:

The Union of Concerned Scientists “Failure to Yield”
http://www.ucsusa.org/food_and_agriculture/science_and_impacts/science/failure-to-yield.html

“Impacts of Genetically Engineered Crops on Pesticide Use: The First Thirteen Years”
http://www.organic-center.org/science.pest.php?action=view&report_id=159

I'm not sure what "wildly anti-science comments" you might be referring to, but I can tell you that science in the hands of any corporation is no more trustworthy than the "ethics" of that corporation. Science should work in and for the public (as in human and humane) interest, not in the interest of monopolization or pimping for the bottom line.

[Whatevah]

Gee, which "wildly anti-science comments" am I referring to. Gosh, there are so many to choose from . . .

I guess my award for Comment with the Wackiest Bunk goes to the poster who claimed that eating genetically modified food causes autism. That one required cross pollination from TWO (2) fertile fields of pseudoscientific bunk! The result is a stunning hybrid of brain-dead Luddite rhetoric.

I am a professional writer, and I couldn't write something that nutty without the help of bourbon.

[Christy Caudill]

We need to know what foods are GM and what are not! For health's sake, government, if you allow this horrible assault on our food supply, at least make them label foods that are GM!

[anyoneoutthere]

"According to the Watson-led review, the scientific evidence on the claimed benefits of GM suggests they are variable, with increases in yield in some areas but decreases in others, and both greater and lesser pesticide use in different contexts. But crucially it concluded that global hunger is as much to do with power and control of the food system as with growing enough food."

http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/2009/oct/16/too-late-to-stop-gm

[jc13]

I grew up in Postville, IA, home of one of the notorious events of the Bush Administration. It is the place where the NIS, an executive branch vs judicial branch federal agency, herded nearly 700 illegal immigrants into a cattle yard and held court 24/7 for three days and then put them in jail for three months. Separating them from their families and making a wreck of their lives.

I have watched Monsanto and other companies buying up 100's of thousands of mid-west farmlands and small businesses thus changing the landscape of rural communities. Thousands of workers are then brought in from over 50 different countries, often given a false identity, and put to work at minimum wages or less if they can hide it. Thus, the social problems of diverse communities in towns of populations of 10,000 or less are left to recreate their communities on their own.

The cancer rates due to contaminated water systems and the thousands of different chemicals used in industrial farming is off the charts. Obesity, diabetes, and so many other diseases are linked to environmental toxins. My request to Monsanto, FMC, and other agra-businesses -stop manufacturing tens of billions of pounds of chemicals and applicating it on our farmlands. You are poisoning the earth, the water, the air, and our children.

The social and environmental problems left by corporate farming and industry practices are all too often left for the taxpayers, the churches, and people of conscience.