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Mothers for Natural LawInternational News on Genetic Engineering in AgricultureBiweekly News 99/02/01Thanks to Cliff Kinzel and Richard Wolfson for these items.
Articles have been aggressively shortened. ------------------ Copyright 1999 The Financial Times Limited Financial Times (London) January 26, 1999, Tuesday Writers Sign Up Against Modified Foods By Vanessa Houlder Some of the UK's leading food writers will today launch a campaign against genetically modified food, which they describe as "imposing a genetic experiment on the public, which could have unpredictable and irreversible adverse consequences". The food writers' campaign will escalate the public relations battle over GM foods, because of their ability to influence a wide section of the population. It is a further blow to the pioneers of GM crops such as Monsanto, which is reeling from the force of opposition to GM food in the UK. Acting in association with Greenpeace, the pressure group, over 100 food writers and restaurant critics have endorsed a statement that: "As food professionals we object to the introduction of genetically engineered foods into the food chain ... We are deeply concerned that this is the wrong direction for food policy to take." Joanna Blythman, a Guardian food journalist who is spearheading the campaign, said the writers would use every opportunity to oppose GM foods. "Post BSE, we are clear that consumers have had enough of technological tinkering with the food chain and want safe, naturally-produced food they can trust." Monsanto said it was dismayed by the food writers' willingness to endorse Greenpeace's views on genetic engineering. "It is very unfortunate that the food writers have taken this view. They, of all people, should display faith in the regulatory process which ensures that food that comes on to the market goes through a rigorous safety approval process," said Ann Foster, director of government and public affairs. The GM food industry has put substantial effort into trying to overcome public hostility to GM foods in the UK. But its efforts have done little to assuage public concern. ------------------ Friends of the Earth PRESS RELEASE Monday, 25 January 1999 SUPERMARKET LOYALTY CARDS TO TRACK GM FOOD THREAT Public to be guinea pigs in GM food experiment The Government is planning to use supermarket loyalty cards to help investigate the possible health impacts of eating genetically modified (GM) food. Official minutes show that discussions have already taken place with Sainsbury's, Tesco and Safeway who have "agreed in principle". The move will undermine confidence in the claim that there are no health concerns associated with GM food. The plans are outlined in the latest minutes (10 December) of the Government's official Advisory Committee on Novel Foods and Processes (ACNFP). Information on GM foods would be made available "in a form that can be analysed on a product by product basis at postcode level." Using health databases the information would be used to find out whether eating GM foods is linked to illness. The study would specifically look for increases in childhood allergies, cancer, birth defects and hospital admissions. Copyright Friends of the Earth ------------------ GM Crops Enter Food Chain by Back Door INDEPENDENT January 24 1999 Animal feed for cows, pigs and chickens containing genetically modified crops is about to go on the market, raising fears in Whitehall of another BSE-style health crisis... ...Earlier this month, Monsanto, the biotechnology giant, applied for government approval to sell two new GM ingredients to animal feed producers in Britain. Its applications, one for GM cotton and the other for GM corn for specified use in animal fodder, were considered by government advisers. Insiders have told the Independent on Sunday that officials at the Ministry of Agriculture (MAAF) animal feed unit, which dealt with the BSE crisis, were "very worried indeed" when the applications came before the MAAF approval committee. They called for more "toxicology tests" on Monsanto's GM cotton and have privately expressed fears about unknown implications of using it as feed. "MAAF officials wanted full toxicology tests on the cotton," said a source from the meeting. "They were very concerned and agitated. One of them was virtually shaking. They are not happy and they have been saying so privately." Sources close to the committee have confirmed that Monsanto is about to be given the green light to sell GM maize to animal feed producers in Britain. Some scientists, however, say that by the time the meat and milk is consumed by humans, the DNA will have broken down and only infinitesimal quantities will remain. "The truth is that no one has any idea whether the GM organisms fed to animals pose dangers to human health," said Patrick Holden, director of the Soil Association. "But surely the very least the consumer should have is the right to choose whether they consume these products or not." ...A spokesman for the National Farmers Union said: "Farmers are asking what is in the feed; it's a big problem. There is certainly concern among farmers who don't want to use GM crops in their feed." At the same time, the Government is funding new research into genetically modifying the grass that cows and sheep graze on. The scientists in charge admit that there are public concerns about feeding GM products to cattle and say that a vital part of their work is assessing potential risks. ------------------ U.S. to Allow Organic Labels on Meat and Poultry WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Meat and poultry produced by organic farmers will now be able to join fruit, vegetables and other food in carrying special organic labels, U.S. Agriculture Secretary Dan Glickman said Thursday. ``This announcement means more information -- and more choice -- for American consumers,'' Glickman said in a statement. ``It will help organic family farmers and ranchers further expand their already growing markets.'' ...Meat and poultry products are generally considered organic if the animals eat organic feed, are not given antibiotics and are allowed to go outside, the OTA said... Copyright 1998 Reuters Limited. ------------------ 30 January 1999 Gut reaction Debora MacKenzie Fears that genes for antibiotic resistance could jump from genetically modified foods to bacteria in the gut may be fuelled by new research from the Netherlands. The results show that DNA lingers in the intestine, and confirm that genetically modified bacteria can transfer their antibiotic-resistance genes to bacteria in the gut. Using an "artificial gut", the Dutch researchers showed that DNA remains intact for several minutes in the large intestine. "It was a surprise to see that DNA persisted so long in the colon," says Hub Noteborn of the State Institute for Quality Control of Agricultural Products in Wageningen, who helped organise the research... If the modified bacteria were a type normally found in the gut, such as Enterococcus, the experiment showed each had a 1 in 10 million chance of passing DNA containing antibiotic-resistance genes to an indigenous gut bacterium when they came in contact. There are normally around a thousand billion gut bacteria, suggesting many would be transformed. If some normal gut inhabitants were killed off--as in the guts of people or animals on antibiotics--the transfer rate from gut-type bacteria increased tenfold. "This is the first time the rate has been measured," says Noteborn. Bacteria not normally in the gut, such as Lactobacillus, did not transfer antibiotic-resistance genes to a normal population of gut bacteria at a detectable level, according to a TNO internal report. Nor did the Flavr Savr tomato, engineered by the California-based company Calgene to resist rot, although up to 10 per cent of its DNA reached the colon. Copyright New Scientist, RBI Limited 1999 ------------------ New Company Forms to Provide Enhanced Consumer Safeguards For Food January 29, 1999 FAIRFIELD, Iowa, Jan. 28 /PRNewswire/ via NewsEdge Corporation -- The right of consumers to make informed buying choices regarding their food has been strengthened by the merger of two leading certification and testing companies. Genetic ID, the developer of the world's most sophisticated testing technology to detect genetically modified organisms (GMO), has joined forces with International Certification Services (ICS), the operator of longstanding industry pioneer Farm Verified Organic. The new company was formed in response to growing demand by consumers, governments and the food industry for rigorous and ethical third-party certification of food and fiber production. ------------------ GM Products Left Off Labels UK Guardian By John Vidal Friday January 29, 1999 Genetic fingerprinting has found that dozens of food companies are breaking European law by using genetically modified ingredients and not telling the public. An investigation into genetically modified organisms in the British food chain by Worcestershire's Trading Standards Service found that one of three animal feed samples tested contained GM soya or maize, as did two out of six food ingredients, and two of 15 foods on retail sale. The analysis, by Worcester Scientific Services, into more than 150 samples for other local authorities found a third contained modified DNA. Only one such sample was properly labelled. Most companies said they had no way of knowing which foodstuffs contained the ingredients. ------------------ Process counts [GE vs breeding] For years, biotech companies have maintained that the actual process of genetic engineering doesn't affect safety. Only spliced-in traits matter. For example, tomatoes made herbicide-resistant by two different processes, genetic engineering and traditional methods, would be equivalent products and equally safe to eat. Joy Bergelson and colleagues at the University of Chicago recently reported experiments in Nature that challenge that assumption. Their work with wild mustard plants suggests that genetic engineering itself, apart from the new genes added, can cause dramatic changes in a transgenic plant. The scientists obtained two versions of herbicide-resistant mustard plants, both containing the same gene for herbicide resistance but derived by two methods, genetic engineering and traditional breeding. They then compared rates of gene flow to nearby relatives from the two sets of resistant plants. What they found was stunning. Genetically engineered herbicide-resistant plants were 20 times more likely to outcross, that is, interbreed with relatives, than traditionally produced ones. How the engineering process operates to alter outcrossing rates remains a mystery. Source: J. Bergelson et al., "Promiscuity in transgenic plants," Nature 395:25, September 3, 1998. ------------------ Copyright 1999 St. Louis Post-Dispatch, Inc. St. Louis Post-Dispatch January 23, 1999, Saturday, FIVE STAR LIFT EDITION U.S. Reaffirms Safety of Monsanto Milk Drug By Robert Steyer; Of The Post-Dispatch * Shalala rejects Vermont senators' appeals to pull BST from the market. Reaffirming that a Monsanto Co. drug is safe, the nation's top health officer has rejected appeals from critics to pull the genetically engineered product from the market. Donna E. Shalala, secretary of health and human services, said the critics of BST - the drug that increases cows' milk production - have raised "no new scientific concerns" about the drug's safety. That means the Food and Drug Administration, which reports to her, "does not intend to remove the product from the market," Shalala said in a letter sent Thursday to Vermont Sens. Patrick J. Leahy and James M. Jeffords. They had asked her to re-examine the FDA's review of BST based on complains from two Vermont groups that oppose the drug. In addition, anti-biotechnology and consumer groups petitioned the FDA in mid-December to remove BST from the market, alleging that the original testing was flawed... ------------------ In accordance with Title 17 U.S.C. Section 107, this material is compiled for educational use only. |
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