Genetically Modified (GM) Foods Are Unhealthy And Unsafe

A well known pro-GM science author of the Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung (Natur & Wissenschaft) Joachim Müller-Jung is getting somehow a bit nervous as GM Foods are considered now unsafe and unhealthy. He is not really interested in protection of human beings or nature; what he wants is business as usual for regulatory bodies, biotech companies and organisations like ISAAA. We are living now in 21st Century and human beings are free and able to use their mind properly to look into the facts. This is a problem for Joachim Müller-Jung: If people see that GM Food and GMOs are generally unsafe, they don’t want to eat GM-soy, GM-avocados, GM-potatoes, GM-papayas, GM-rice, GM-corn, GM-tomatoes. Thus he wants Biotech industry and regulatory bodies to be protected so that they can carry on selling their unsafe products without panic.*

But we don’t want to join an issue on Joachim Müller-Jung but on Mr. Smith. Jeffrey M. Smith is the executive director of the Institute for Responsible Technology. His first book was Seeds of Deception . His newest book, Genetic Roulette , was recently released by Yes! Books (www.geneticroulette.com ). Smith is the producer of the video Hidden Dangers in Kids' Meals and writes an internationally syndicated column Spilling the Beans . E-mail: info@seedsofdeception.com. Jeffrey M. Smith just looked at the facts and concluded acurately: genetically modified foods are unsafe. He recently wrote an article in a biotech magazine: „Here is an article I wrote for the current issue of Genetic Engineering News . This was certainly a controversial article for this biotech magazine to publish. They are soliciting opinions on the article at    http://www.genengnews.com/blog/item.aspx?id=93 . In fact, some pro-GM advocates are trying to out do each other in their condemnation of anything that suggests GM foods are unhealthy. I encourage you to visit the site after reading this article, to enter a more intelligent comment.

Genetically modified (GM) foods are inherently unsafe, and current safety assessments are not competent to protect us from or even identify most dangers. Overwhelming evidence to support this conclusion is now compiled in the book Genetic Roulette: The documented health risks of genetically engineered foods, which presents an abundance of adverse findings and theoretical risks associated with GM foods.1

The book documents lab animals with damage to virtually every system studied; thousands of sick, sterile, or dead livestock; and people around the world who have traced toxic or allergic reactions to eating GM products, breathing GM pollen, or touching GM crops at harvest. It also exposes many incorrect assumptions that were used to support GM approvals. This article, excerpted from the book Genetic Roulette: The documented health risks of genetically engineered foods by Jeffrey M. Smith, summarizes some of the findings related to allergic and immune responses.
 

GM Soy and Allergies

Soy allergies jumped 50% in the U.K. just after GM soy was introduced.2 If GM soy was the cause, it may be due to several things. The GM protein that makes Roundup Ready Soy resistant to the herbicide does not have a history of safe use in humans and may be an allergen. In fact, sections of its amino acid sequence are identical to known allergens.3  A portion of the transgene from ingested GM soybeans, along with the promoter that switches it on, transfers into human gut bacteria during ingestion.4 The fact that the transformed bacteria survives applications of Roundup's active ingredient, glyphosate, suggests that the transgene continues to produce the Roundup Ready protein. If true, then long after people stop eating GM soy they may be constantly exposed to its potentially allergenic protein, which is being created within their gut. (This protein may be made more allergenic due to misfolding, attached molecular chains, or rearrangement of unstable transgenes, but there is insufficient data to support or rule out these possibilities.1 ) Studies suggest that the GM transformation process may have increased natural allergens in soybeans. The level of one known allergen, trypsin inhibitor, was 27% higher in raw GM soy varieties. More worrisome, it was as much as sevenfold higher in cooked GM soy compared to cooked non-GM soy.5 Not only is this higher amount potentially harmful, the finding also suggests that the trypsin inhibitor in GM soy might be more heat stable and, therefore, even more allergenic than the natural variety.6 It is also possible that changes in GM soy DNA may produce new allergens. Although there has never been an exhaustive analysis of the proteins or natural products in GM soy, unpredicted changes in the DNA were discovered. A mutated section of soy DNA was found near the transgene, which may contribute to some unpredicted effects. Moreover, between this scrambled DNA and the transgene is an extra transgene fragment, not discovered until years after soy was on the market.7 The RNA produced is completely unexpected. It combines material from all three sections: the full-length transgene, the transgene fragment, and the mutated DNA  sequence. This RNA is then further processed into four different variations,8 which might lead to the production of some unknown allergen. Another study verified that GM soybeans contain an IgE-binding allergenic protein not found in nonGM soy controls, and that one of eight subjects who showed a skin-prick allergic reaction to GM soy had no reaction to nonGM soy.9 Although the sample size is small, the implication that certain people react only to GM soy is huge. The increased residue of Roundup herbicide in GM soy might contribute to increased allergies.10 In fact, the symptoms identified in the U.K. soy allergy study are among those related to glyphosate exposure. The allergy study identified irritable bowel syndrome, digestion problems, chronic fatigue, headaches, lethargy, and skin complaints including acne and eczema.2 Symptoms of glyphosate exposure include nausea, headaches, lethargy, skin rashes, and burning or itchy skin.11 It is also possible that glyphosate's breakdown product, AMPA, which accumulates in GM soybeans,12 ,13 might contribute to allergies. Finally, mice fed GM soy had reduced levels of pancreatic enzymes.14 ,15 When protein-digesting enzymes are suppressed, proteins may last longer in the gut, allowing more time for an allergic reaction to take place. Any reduction in protein digestion could therefore promote allergic reactions to a wide range of proteins, not just to the GM soy.
 

Bt Toxin Triggers Immune Response

Indian farm workers exposed to Bt cotton developed moderate or severe allergic reactions.28

Bt toxin fed to mice induced a significant immune response and an increased reactivity to other substances.29 -31

Male rats fed MON 863 Bt corn had a significant increase in three types of blood cells related to the immune system: basophils, lymphocytes, and total white cell counts.32

Thousands of consumers complained to food manufacturers about possible reactions to StarLink corn,33 and an expert panel determined that its Bt protein had a "medium likelihood" of being a human allergen.34 The consistency between the reactions related to Bt sprays and those reported by Bt-cotton workers is astounding. The Bt spray was associated with sneezing, runny nose, watery eyes, skin inflammation and irritation, rashes, itching and burning, swelling, red skin and eyes, exacerbations of asthma, facial swelling, and fever. Some people required hospitalization.23 ,24 Bt-cotton workers in India reported sneezing, runny nose, watery eyes, skin eruptions, itching and burning, red skin and eyes, facial swelling, and fever. Some people required hospitalization.28 The two lists are nearly identical-only "exacerbations of asthma" was on the spray list and not the other. Asthma and breathing difficulties were reported by Filipinos who inhaled Bt-corn pollen.35 They also described swollen faces, flu-like symptoms, fever, and sneezing. Some individuals in both India and the Philippines also reported long-term effects after exposure. The list of symptoms in the Philippines, however, did contain items not reported by the other two groups. These included coughs, headache, stomach ache, dizziness, diarrhea, vomiting, weakness, and numbness.36
 

Toxicity and Reproductive Problems

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2. Townsend, M. Why soya is a hidden destroyer. Daily Express, Mar 12, 1999.
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4. Netherwood et al. Assessing the survival of transgenic plant DNA in the human gastrointestinal tract. Nature Biotech. 22 (2004): 2.
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23. Washington State Dept. of Health. "Report of health surveillance activities: asian gypsy moth control program (Washington State Dept. of Health, Olympia, WA, 1993).
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25. Noble, M.A., Riben, P.D., & Cook, G.J. Microbiological and epidemiological surveillance program to monitor the health effects of Foray 48B BTK spray (Ministry of Forests, Vancouver, B.C., Sept 30, 1992).
26. Swadener, C. Bacillus thuringiensis. J. of Pest. Reform 14, no. 3 (Fall 1994).
27. Samples, J.R. & Buettner, H. Ocular infection caused by a biological insecticide. J. Infectious Dis. 148, no. 3 (1983): 614.
28. Gupta, A. et al. "Impact of Bt cotton on farmers' health (in Barwani and Dhar district of Madhya Pradesh)" (Investigation Report, Oct-Dec 2005).
29. Vazquez et al. Intragastric and Intraperitoneal Administration of Cry1Ac protoxin from Bacillus thuringiensis induces systemic and mucosal antibody responses in mice. Life Sci. 64, no. 21 (1999): 1897-1912.
30. Vazquez et al. Characterization of the mucosal and systemic immune response induced by Cry1Ac protein from Bacillus thuringiensis HD 73 in mice. Brazilian J. of Med. and Biol. Research 33 (2000): 147-155.
31. Vazquez et al. Bacillus thuringiensis Cry1Ac protoxin is a potent systemic and mucosal adjuvant. Scandanavian J. of Immunology 49 (1999): 578-584.
32. Burns, J.M. 13-week dietary subchronic comparison study with MON 863 corn in rats preceded by a 1-week baseline food consumption determination with PMI certified rodent diet #5002. (Monsanto Co. report, Dec 17, 2002).
33. Freese, B. The StarLink affair. Submission by Friends of the Earth to the FIFRA scientific advisory panel considering assessment of additional scientific information concerning StarLink corn (Jul 17-19, 2001).
34. Assessment of additional scientific information concerning StarLink corn (FIFRA scientific advisory panel report, No. 2001-09, Jul 2001).
35. Smith, J.M. Bt-maize (corn) during pollination, may trigger disease in people living near the cornfield (Press release, Feb 2004).
36. Ho, M. GM ban long overdue, dozens ill & five deaths in the Philippines (ISIS press release, Jun 2, 2006).
37. Mortality in sheep flocks after grazing on Bt cotton fields-Warangal district (Andhra Pradesh report of the preliminary assessment, Apr 2006).
38. Seralini, G., Cellier, D., & Spiroux de Vendomois, J. New analysis of a rat feeding study with a genetically modified maize reveals signs of hepatorenal toxicity. J. archives of Env. Contam. and Toxicology (Springer, New York).
39. Strodthoff, H. & Then, C. Is GM maize responsible for deaths of cows in Hesse? Greenpeace e.V. 22745 (Greenpeace, Hamburg, Germany, Dec 2003).
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41. Vecchio, L. et al. Ultrastructural analysis of testes from mice fed on genetically modified soybean. Eur. J. of Histochem. 48, no. 4 (Oct-Dec 2004):449-454.
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43. Ermakova, I. Genetically modified soy leads to the decrease of weight and high mortality of rat pups of the first generation. Preliminary studies. Ecosinform 1 (2006): 4-9.