Study on Monsanto GM corn concerns draws skepticism

[Unknown Beatle]

(Reuters) - In a study that prompted sharp criticism from other experts, French scientists said on Wednesday that rats fed on Monsanto's genetically modified corn or exposed to its top-selling weedkiller suffered tumors and multiple organ damage.

The French government asked the country's health watchdog to investigate the findings further, although a number of scientists questioned the study's basic methods and Monsanto said it felt confident its products had been proven safe.

Gilles-Eric Seralini of the University of Caen and colleagues said rats fed on a diet containing NK603 - a seed variety made tolerant to dousings of Monsanto's Roundup weedkiller - or given water with Roundup at levels permitted in the United States, died earlier than those on a standard diet.

Experts not involved in the study were skeptical, with one accusing the French scientists of going on a "statistical fishing trip" and others describing its methods as well below standard.

The animals on the genetically modified (GM) diet suffered mammary tumors, as well as severe liver and kidney damage, according to the peer-reviewed study which was published in the journal Food and Chemical Toxicology and presented at a news conference in London.

The researchers said 50 percent of male and 70 percent of female rats died prematurely, compared with only 30 percent and 20 percent in the control group.

Monsanto spokesman Thomas Helscher said the company would review the study thoroughly. However, he added: "Numerous peer-reviewed scientific studies performed on biotech crops to date, including more than a hundred feeding studies, have continuously confirmed their safety, as reflected in the respective safety assessments by regulatory authorities around the world."

Continue reading:
http://www.reuters.com/article/2012/09/19/us-gmcrops-safety-idUSBRE88I0L020120919

[Nihil]

1. Hah!

> Monsanto spokesman Thomas Helscher said the company would review the study thoroughly.
> However, he added: "Numerous peer-reviewed scientific studies performed on biotech crops
> to date, including more than a hundred feeding studies, have continuously confirmed their
> safety, as reflected in the respective safety assessments by regulatory authorities around the world."

That'll be why they are basically banned in Europe, rejected by many African nations and
only primarily fed to the people in countries where the propaganda networks manage to
out-shout those damn pesky facts ...

[booksenkatz]

2. "It's safe," said the paid shill. NT

[djean111]

3. I just skip corn and soy and anything else that might be GM.

Better safe than sorry.
Yeah it includes a lot of stuff, but I don't need all that processed stuff anyway.
What I don't get (aside from shilling for Monsanto, of course) is why some get all angry and contemptuous about the choice to eat organic food. Why should they care? Why get angry just because I want to know what is in my food and want to avoid things that may be risky?
It is not like I am a diabetic refusing to take insulin.

Getting upset about labeling GM food? If it is sooooo good for people, mightn't they expect increased sales of GM foods?

Thanks for the link to the article. As always, the comments are just as interesting as the article. Someone actually said that since all the good French scientists left France years ago, the scientists remaining are just Peugeots, or whatever. That is how I suspect that a study has hit home - broad-brush denigration of the people who conducted it.
Hilariously, when Monsanto presents their own "unbiased" tests to the government, they are of course completely neutral and aboveboard.
I expect that if Romney "wins", there won't even be any more testing.

[GliderGuider]

4. Same here. Corn, soy and canola are off our shopping list.

Pretty much everything else has to have a "Certified Organic' label unless there are no other options. It's a pricey way to eat, but it's the only way for a consumer to protect themselves these days.