Biotech News Briefs!

Biotech News Briefs!

(1) The EPA has ignored an EPA-funded study that shows that Bt toxins have induced signs of allergenicity in agricultural field workers, as well as an additional study indicating allergenicity in lab rats;

(2) the EPA has failed to require tests of all Bt crops for allergenicity using the blood serum and chemical reagents from these earlier studies — even though these tests could be done quickly with little expense;

(3) the EPA have failed to carry out adequate safety tests for StarLink or any of the other Bt crops which they have approved;

(4) government "acute toxicity" protocols are based on the erroneous scientific assumption that Bt toxins generated by gene-spliced plants in the field are identical to Bt toxins produced by bacteria in the laboratory; and

(5) the government continues to downplay the potential hazards of antibiotic resistant marker (ARM) genesfound in Bt crops and all genetically engineered foods — even though recent studies underline that ARM genes have the ability to transfer antibiotic resistance to soil bacteria, bees, mammals, and other organisms, including humans.

As Hansen reminded the EPA in May 1999, the British Medical Association, which represents some 85% of the doctors in Britain, released a report calling, in part, for a prohibition on the use of antibiotic resistance marker genes in genetically-engineered plants.

For Dr. Hansen's full testimony see:

• On another scientific note, even the pro-biotech New Scientist magazine, Oct. 7 (UK) pointed out what has now become painfully obvious:

if biotech companies and the FDA are unable to keep an unapproved variety like StarLink out of the human food chain and contained in restricted farm plots, what are they going to do once the next generation of biopharm plants begin to be commercialized, plants containing vaccines and pharmaceutical drugs, crops that could harm and poison unsuspecting consumers?

 

As the magazine concluded, "We can't ignore the taco fiasco… Why was it left to Friends of the Earth to commission the tests that found StarLink in taco shells?

The food industry needs to get its act together before the new generation of modified plants arrives.

Next time, the consequences could be serious."

 

• Meanwhile, new human health fears over antibiotic resistance genes in GE cattle feeds are prompting Europe's leading food producers and supermarket chains to ban GE animal feeds in their meat and dairy production.

Recently a government advisory board in Britain, the Advisory Committee on Animal Feeding Stuffs, admitted that antibiotic resistant marker genes found in genetically-engineered foods and animal feeds may be able to transfer antibiotic resistance to the bacteria in animals' guts, giving rise to dangerous pathogens in humans that can't be killed by traditional antibiotics.

 

German scientists earlier this year — in a story widely reported across Europe-found that antibiotic resistant genes from GE rapeseed plants were combining with bacteria in the stomachs and intestines of bees.

BBC reported on Oct. 6 that the U.K.'s major grocery chains, Iceland, Sainsbury, Waitrose, Marks & Spencer's, and Asda are all removing GE ingredients from animal feed.

 

A recent U.K. poll commissioned by Friends of the Earth found 63% of British shoppers wanting supermarkets to drop GM ingredients from animal feeds.

• Cargill, the world's largest grain company, announced in September that they are expanding their contract production and marketing of non-genetically engineered corn, and will strictly segregate these varieties at their processing plants in Paris, Illinois, Indianapolis, Indiana, and Liverpool, England.

 

As Cropchoice News, <> reported Sept. 29, "Cargill's latest parlay into non-GMO comes at time when it and other big grain processors continue to downplay the demand for non-biotech grain. But like ADM and ConAgra, Cargill is making moves into the non-GMO market even as they suggest it is unimportant."

Cargill's shift reaffirms the conclusion of a recent study carried out by professor David Bullock at the University of Illinois which found that U.S. grain handlers can efficiently and economically segregate GE and non-GE grain varieties by simply designating specific grain elevators, grain processing plants, and transportation facilities as either GE or non-GE.