US to UK citizens: Dont be drawn into GMO experiment A coalition of 57 million Americans have signed an open letter to British consumers highlighting potential harm to human health and the environment caused by GM crops EXCERPT: Signatories include health, consumer and farming groups as well as Susan Sarandon, Daryl Hannah and Robert Kennedy Jnr. --- Dont be drawn into Frankenstein food experiments: Hollywood stars, academics and activists sign open letter to British public warning against GM foods Sean Poulter Daily Mail, 12 Nov 2014 dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2830518/Hollywood-stars-sign-letter-warning-British-people-against-GM-foods.html * Coalition of 57 million people have signed open letter to British consumers * Letter highlights potential harm to human health and environment caused by GM crops - and was delivered to Number 10 yesterday by delegation * Signatories include Susan Sarandon, Daryl Hannah and Jeremy Irons * Designed to counter the pro-GM campaign mounted by the Government Millions of Americans, including academics, activists and celebrities, have warned British families not to be drawn into a ‘Frankenstein Food’ experiment. A coalition of 57 million people have signed an open letter to British consumers highlighting potential harm to human health and the environment caused by genetically modified crops. Signatories include health, consumer and farming groups as well as Susan Sarandon, Daryl Hannah and Robert Kennedy Jnr. The campaign is designed to counter the pro-GM campaign that has been mounted by the Government and the biotech industry, which is intended to open up Britain to GM crops and food. The US government and the European Commission are negotiating a free trade treaty – known as TTIP – which would increase the flow of American GM food into Britain and Europe. Already, more American foods containing GM ingredients are being found in British stores, despite the fact that most have pledged not to use them in own-label products. The Daily Mail revealed over the weekend how Marks & Spencer is selling six imported foods, including cookies and sauces, containing GM. Others are selling big brand American products, such as Reese and some Oreo lines, containing GM. Separately, the government has been pressing the EU to allow Britain to grow GM crops even if other nations chose to ban them. This could allow commercial planting to in six to 18 months. The letter was delivered to Downing Street yesterday by a delegation including campaigners, the designer Vivienne Westwood, the chef Valentine Warner and former Labour environment secretary, Michael Meacher. It argues that health concerns remain over the safety of GM crops, most of which are grown in partnership with the powerful weedkiller glyphosate, also known as Roundup. Some animal studies have linked GM and glyphosate to damage to the liver and kidneys, reproductive abnormalities, and even tumours. These findings have been rejected by the industry and the European Food Safety Authority. GM ingredients are now in 70 per cent of processed foods in the US. Critics point out that traces of glyphosate have been found in drinking water and the breast milk and urine of American mothers. Levels in the breast milk were claimed to be around 1,600 times higher than is currently allowed in European drinking water. The letter argues that GM crops have never delivered on promises to increase yields and profits or to decrease pesticide use. Pesticide use can be 24 per cent higher amongst GM farmers, which has harmed insects and bees. The population of the Monarch butterfly, for example, has dropped by over 80 per cent in some parts of the US. This is because Roundup kills milkweed, which is the Monarch’s key food source. There is also evidence that weeds have evolved to become immune to glyphosate, making them difficult and expensive to remove. Raj Patel, Research Professor at the University of Texas, said: ‘We have superweeds, and farmers are suffering. The public health cost is unknowable, not least because scientists themselves are afraid to criticise the industry. ‘Far too little is known about about GMOs, and what little weve been able to glean demonstrates it has little to offer, beyond profits for chemical companies.’ Susan Sarandon said: ‘Instead of bringing certainty and security, GM organisms have raised more and more worrying questions about their effectiveness, their necessity, and even their safety. Polls show that the majority of US citizens – and in fact citizens everywhere – either want them labelled or taken out of the food system altogether.’ Actor Jeremy Irons said: ‘I believe the biotech companies who produce the seeds and herbicides have not proved the safety of their food production methods, and are concerned in cornering the food market while showing no concern for the long term effects of their production methods. ‘They are immensely wealthy and influential, and I believe we must stand up to the enormous pressure they are putting on Governments and farmers in the UK and around the world to commercialise the growing of seeds.’ Pat Thomas, the campaign director for British group, Beyond GM, said: ‘The American experience of GM shines a light on how our own food future will unfold if we continue to race pell-mell down the road to a genetically modified Britain. ‘It’s time the public was brought back into the debate about what they eat, and what they feed their children, and it’s time politicians and regulators started listening.’ The biotech industry said GM crops and food have been proven safe, while offering benefits to farmers. Dr Julian Little, chairman of the industry’s Agricultural Biotechnology Council, said: ‘The plant biotechnology industry takes product safety regarding biotech food and feed very seriously and is committed to the highest standards of testing for its products.’ He said a European Commission report published in 2011, which looked at 130 research projects, concluded ‘there is, as of today, no scientific evidence associating GMOs with higher risks for the environment or for food and feed safety than conventional plants and organisms. He added: ‘An estimated three trillion meals containing GM ingredients have been eaten around the world over the last 17 years without a single substantiated case of ill-health. ‘The World Health Organisation has said that: ‘No effects on human health have been shown as a result of the consumption of such foods.
Posted on: Wed, 12 Nov 2014 15:09:11 +0000