The Risk of Genetically Modified Foods

In a study recently published in the Archives of Environmental Contamination and Toxicology,
researchers re-analyzed data from Monsanto-sponsored experiments in which a type of genetically modified corn (MON863) was fed to laboratory rats for three months. The data had been company confidential until a German court ruled that thepublic could have access to the data for 90 days.

Using this data, French researchers found that consumption of the genetically modified corn led to disturbing changes in the laboratory rats. Male rats lost an average of 3.3 percent of body weight, while female rats gained 3.7 percent weight compared with controls. The animals showed signs of liver and kidney toxicity. Blood sugar levels rose, and the animals had a 24 to 40 percent increase in triglyceride levels, which would point to a greater risk of diabetes and heart disease.

The MON863 produces an insecticide that kills the corn roundworm, but like other synthetic pesticides, it appears to have broader deleterious effects. The genetic modification of food tampers with the normal biological evolution of plants in ways that would not likely occur in nature. By consequence, these changes can affect the genetic programming of species that consume them. The specific mechanisms may be subtle and as yet undetermined, but it's clear
that genetically modified foods can have unwanted health consequences.

Our genes are particularly sensitive to toxins and to low levels of nutrients and toxins, with the
consequence being an increased risk of cancer and other diseases, and risk may be passed to offspring.

A single toxin might not have much of an effect on our health. But when you add it to the thousands of other toxic chemicals in our food and environment, we move closer to our individual tipping points – the threshold at which our innate ability to defend ourselves and repair genetic damage falters. We may not be able to control all of the hazards in our foods
and environment, but it is irrational to unnecessarily expose ourselves to any more than we must.

Monsanto has promoted genetically modified foods as a way of increasing crop yields and reducing worldwide hunger. Such statements are more selfserving media spin than altruism. No decrease in world hunger can be attributed to the use of genetically modified foods. Rather, Monsanto and other companies have created a “need” and new agricultural markets for unnecessary and harmful products. We may actually be better off with less than more
corn, one of the most common food allergens.