GMO News

Up to date news and comment about GMO issues.

February 13, 2012

Monsanto found guilty of chemical poisoning in France
French farmer Paul Francois says he suffered neurological problems after inhaling Monsanto's Lasso weedkiller
A French court has declared the US biotech giant Monsanto guilty of chemical poisoning of a French farmer, a judgment that could lend weight to other health claims against pesticides. In the first such case heard in court in France, the grain grower Paul Francois, 47, said he suffered neurological problems including memory loss, headaches and stammering after inhaling Monsanto's Lasso weedkiller in 2004.
Read article in The Guardian (UK)

February 10, 2012

GM crops: Follow the money
Supposedly objective scientific and economic assessments of the benefits of genetically modified crops are often biased by the fact they are funded by the very organisations they analyse, argues Wenonah Hauter.
The International Service for the Acquisition of Agri-biotech Applications (ISAAA) has done it again. Their annual 'state of play' report on genetically-modified (GM) agriculture, paid for by a host of vested interests including Monsanto, Bayer CropScience and CropLife International, uses inflated claims and sleight of hand to 'demonstrate' the alleged popularity of GM crops.
Read article at euractiv.com

February 8, 2012

GMOs in Europe - The Anglerfish deception...
Consumers in Europe have been vocal in rejecting genetically modified foods. This opposition has led to member states adopting similar positions, in defiance of the EU Commission, which sees genetic modification as a triumph of industry and a potential way of increasing crop yields and agricultural profits.
Read article on the La Leva di Archimede website (Italy)

February 8, 2012

Bayer Crop Science told to compensate Maharashtra farmers for poor BT cotton yields
PUNE: The Maharashtra government has ordered the Indian unit of Bayer Crop Science, the world's largest agrochemicals company, to pay 45 lakh as compensation to 164 farmers as one of its BT cotton hybrids did not deliver the promised yield, the first instance of a seed company being asked to make good farmers' losses.
Read article on the Economic Times website

February 8, 2012

Food Herbicide Residues Set to Rise As Much As 150 Times
Monsanto has applied to increase the EU’s permitted Maximum Residue Level (MRL) for its best-selling herbicide glyphosate in lentils. Proposals before the EU would mean increasing the current legal residue level by 100-150 times. The chemical is widely used on GM crops and elsewhere for weed control and to dry crops prior to harvest. The current EU MRL for glyphosate in lentils is 0.1 mg/kg. The proposal aims to raise this level to 10 mg/kg, or even 15mg/kg.
Read press release at gmfreeze.org

February 7, 2012

Organic farming dwarfs GM crops in Europe as public rejection hits biotech firms
Public resistance to genetically modified crops has ensured that the area grown in Europe in 2011 remained at 0.1 per cent of all arable land, shows figures released today by Friends of the Earth Europe. In comparison, organic farming accounted for 3.7 per cent. The figures follow recent announcements of the biotech industry retreating from parts of Europe.
Read press release on the Friends of the Earth website

February 7, 2012

Modified Crops Tap a Wellspring of Protest
Silent in flannel shirts and ponytails, farmers from Saskatchewan and South Dakota, Mississippi and Massachusetts lined the walls of a packed federal courtroom in Manhattan last week, as their lawyers told a judge that they were no longer able to keep genetically modified crops from their fields.
Read article in the New York Times (USA)

February 1, 2012

Monsanto scraps GM maize in France
Agriculture and biotechnology giant Monsanto has announced it will scrap plans to sell genetically modified maize in France this year, or anytime in the future.
Read article at foodnavigator.com

January 31, 2012

China says 'no' to genetically engineered rice
It took seven years, teams of young campaigners and hordes of devoted supporters, but September 2011 the Chinese government finally said it was suspending the commercialisation of genetically-engineered (GE) rice.
Read article on the Greenpeace International website

January 25, 2012

Genetically Engineered Crops Will Not Feed The World
The Center for Food Safety Pushes Back Against Gates Foundation “Feed the World” Propaganda
The Center for Food Safety (CFS) pushed back today against longtime biotech crop supporter, the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, over its announcement that it has invested nearly $2 billion in a campaign to fund the development of genetically engineered (GE) crops in an attempt to address global hunger. The Gates Foundation has been widely criticized by food security and public interest groups for promoting GE crops in developing countries rather than investing in organic and sustainable local models of agriculture. “The biotech industry has exploited the image of the world’s poor and hungry to advance a form of agriculture that is expensive, input-intensive, and of little or no relevance to developing country farmers,” said Andrew Kimbrell Executive Director for the Center for Food Safety.
Read article at truefoodnow.org (USA)

January 18, 2012

Pesticide Illnesses and GM Soybeans
Ban on Aerial Spraying Demanded in Argentina
A network of 160 physicians, health workers and researchers in Argentina are demanding a ban on aerial spraying of pesticides based on increases in cancer and a range of pesticide-related illnesses since the introduction of genetically modified (GM) soybeans. These illnesses affect development, reproduction, the skin, as well as the immune, respiratory, neurological, and endocrine systems.
Read article on the Institute of Science in Society (ISIS) website (UK)

January 17, 2012

BASF stops GM crop development in Europe
German chemical giant BASF is ceasing all its genetically modified plant development in Europe and moving it to the US. The relocation is a result of widespread political and popular opposition to GM foods in Europe.
Read article on the Deutsche Welle website (Germany)

January 13, 2012

Study: GM mozzies survive even in a lab
Manufacturer of genetically modified mosquitoes are accused of not coming clean with information on the survival rate of the insects.
PETALING JAYA: Oxitec, the manufacturer of genetically modified (GM) mosquitoes, withheld crucial information with regard to the survival rate of the insects, claimed several environmental groups. In a joint press statement, the groups revealed results of a study that showed the GM mosquitoes had a three percent survival rate even in a controlled laboratory setting. “In the open field where thousands of these mosquitoes are released continuously, the number of the surviving insects would be high,” the statement said.
Read article at freemalaysiatoday.com (Malaysia)

January 9, 2012

USDA Scientist Reveals All
Glyphosate Hazards to Crops, Soils, Animals, and Consumers In less than an hour, Don Huber, professor emeritus at Purdue University and USDA senior scientist delivered to the UK Houses of Parliament a damning indictment of glyphosate agriculture as a most serious threat to the environment, livestock, and human health.
Read article on the Institute of Science in Society (ISIS) website (UK)

January 6, 2012

Zimbabwe Government Defends Decision To Ban GMOs
HARARE – Although food security is a topic of concern in Zimbabwe, the government will not allow the production of Genetically Modified Organisms (GMOs) as a way of ensuring sufficiency, says Minister of Agriculture Mechanisation and Irrigation Development Dr Joseph Made. The government will instead concentrate on making unfilled fertilizer, seeds, irrigation and other essential farm inputs to boost food production rather than use cheaper but unsustainable means which have a detrimental impact on the environment, he adds. “Methodical research shows that GMOs contain toxic substances, are less nutritious than non-GMOs and have negative effects on humans and the environment,” he said here Thursday.
Read article on the Zimbabwe Guardian website