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True Food Shopping List
http://www.greenpeace.org/usa/news/true-food-shopping-list

A major reason why consumers shop for products that are certified organic is to avoid the hazardous and unlabeled Genetically Modified Organisms (GMOs), toxic chemicals, and now the most recent, and likely most dangerous hi-tech poison of them all: nanotechnology. Nanotechnology is now a multi-billion dollar Frankenstein monster industry churning out a vast menu of untested and unlabeled products containing tiny nanoparticles including non-organic vitamin supplements, food packaging, processed food, cosmetics and sunscreens.

Over the objections of the OCA and thousands of our members, on November 5, 2009, the National Organic Standards Board decided to table the recommendation to prohibit nanotechnology in organic. The NOSB member who fills the scientist slot, Katrina Heinze of General Mills, delayed the process by insisting that the Board consider a compromise position that wouldn't exclude nanotechnology from organic altogether, but would classify it as a "synthetic" that could be petitioned for use in specific instances. Please write to the NOSB and tell them to ban untested, unlabeled and hazardous nanotechnology products and ingredients in organic.

Nanotechnology is inherently dangerous. Mounting scientific evidence indicates that nanomaterials produce dangerous "free radicals" which can destroy or mutate DNA and can cause damage to the liver and kidneys. Nanotech particles not only injure and kill lab animals--they can kill you as well.

Every day, new evidence of the dangers of nanotechnology emerges:

* Workplace nanoparticle exposure was linked to seven cases of serious and progressive lung disease in China – including two deaths.

* Nanoparticles present in a chemical found in sunscreens - titanium dioxide - are being examined as possibly causing Alzheimer's and Parkinson's diseases.

http://capwiz.com/grassrootsnetroots/issues/alert/?alertid=13948781

Scientists Warn of Hazards of GMOs
http://www.organicconsumers.org/articles/article_18515.cfm

NOTE: Translated from French original by Claire Robinson for GMWatch. Please click here to read the study results.

EXTRACT: [the study] brings to light "a significant underestimation of the initial signs of diseases like cancer and diseases of the hormonal, immune, nervous and reproductive systems, among others. We demand the systematic publication of the results of these tests, which we could only obtain on a case by case basis by taking legal action."

Study criticises testing conducted by Brussels on GMOs
Agence France-Presse, 8 July 2009
http://actu.orange.fr/articles/sciences/Une-etude-met-en-cause-les-tests-men es-par-Bruxelles-sur-les-OGM.html

AFP, Caen - A study conducted by eight international researchers calls into question the reliability of tests of the European Food Safety (EFSA) and the US FDA to assess the health risks of GMOs and pesticides, it was learned Wednesday.

The article, signed by French, Italian, New Zealand, British and American experts, is published by the website of the International Journal of Biological Science, according to a press release from the Research Committee of Independent Information on Genetic Engineering (CRIIGEN), chaired by former environment minister Corinne Lepage and based in Caen.

"Agricultural GM companies and evaluation committees systematically overlook the side effects of GMOs and pesticides. This is clearly illustrated by the EFSA and the US FDA, which evaluated the controversial GM maize varieties MON 863 and MON 810," said CRIIGEN.

It [the study] brings to light "a significant underestimation of the initial signs of diseases like cancer and diseases of the hormonal, immune, nervous and reproductive systems, among others," said CRIIGEN.

"We demand the systematic publication of the results of these tests, which we could only obtain on a case by case basis by taking legal action," Gilles-Eric Seralini, one of eight authors of the article, who teaches at the University of Caen and chairs the scientific board of CRIIGEN, told Agence France Presse. "The health crises may be more important than the international financial crisis because of the lack of transparency of the regulators," concludes CRIIGEN.

On Friday, France rejected the findings of the EFSA which judged that MON810 does not pose risks.

Click here to read the study results.

http://www.organicconsumers.org/articles/article_18515.cfm

( See Google Translate for Browser Translation buttons )

Trade with Canada
http://www.cban.ca/Press/Press-Releases/Trade-with-Canada
An alliance of Canadian groups is warning European consumers that an economic partnership agreement with Canada could threaten Europe’s regulations of genetically modified (GM) foods and crops. The Canadian groups, under the umbrella of the Canadian Biotechnology Action Network, are highlighting dangers if the European Union gives in to the biotech industry by recognizing Canada’s substantially weaker GM regulations.
“Canada-EU trade negotiations have started at the very time that European companies are pulling products off the shelves because of illegal GM flax contamination from Canada,” said Lucy Sharratt, Coordinator of the Canadian Biotechnology Action Network.
On Monday, week-long negotiations began in Ottawa towards an EU-Canada Comprehensive Economic and Trade Agreement (CETA). Negotiations will continue over the next 12 months with the goal of a deal by 2011.
“European consumers should know that Canadian regulations of GM foods and crops are not to be trusted. There are irreconcilable differences between Canadian and EU regulation of GMOs,” said Sharratt. “This summer alone, Canada has managed to contaminate Europe’s food with an illegal GM flax as well as authorize Monsanto’s new eight-trait GM corn called ‘SmartStax’ in a way that does not meet European regulations or even UN food safety guidelines.”
“Canada approves GM crops and foods regardless of export market realities. Rather than preventing GM contamination, Canada is using GM contamination to try to force open European regulations,” said Sharratt. “The Canadian government’s acceptance of GM contamination means that Canadian farmers are loosing money and export markets.” Other major GM producing countries such as Argentina and Brazil check export market requirements as part of their GMO authorization process.
“Recent statements show that the EU’s Agriculture chief, Commissioner Mariann Fischer Boel, is on a personal crusade to weaken EU GM rules for no good reason,” said Helen Holder from Friends of the Earth Europe, “She and her other colleagues at the Commission should instead be supporting European farmers and food producers to access uncontaminated products. Europe has a responsibility here to insist that the Canadian government strengthen its strategy against illegal contamination.”
24 EU countries have reported contamination from a Canadian GM flax that is not approved for eating or growing in Europe and that has actually been illegal to sell as seed in Canada since 2001. Opposition to GM food and crops remains high in the EU. Six member countries have banned the only GM crop approved for growing in Europe and just this month Ireland declared itself a “GM-Free Zone”. Canada will almost certainly pressure the EC to force Member States to weaken Europe’s GMO laws.
Canadian companies, including subsidiaries of US multinationals such as Monsanto, would like Europe and Canada to mutually recognize each other’s national standards and regulations rather than each jurisdiction harmonizing upwards to stricter rules. This position was outlined by the Canada Europe Roundtable for Business in March 2009.
"The Canada-EU trade negotiations are designed to pick up where the WTO has stalled, in removing EU state-level policies that protect health and safety but interfere with trade flows, including food and agriculture,” said Stuart Trew, trade campaigner with the Council of Canadians, Canada’s largest grassroots advocacy organization. “Canadians are fighting for stronger regulations and we don't want to be locked into a bilateral agreement that dictates our regulations either. These negotiations are all about facilitating business and this is not the proper forum for addressing food safety policy.”
Click here for background information on trade and GMOs.
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In the waning days of fall, prairie flaxseed farmers should be hopping onto their tractors and harvesting their crops of the trendy health food, but instead they're in the midst of a major whodunit, with echoes of a long-forgotten movie thriller.
Somebody has contaminated Canada's flax crop with trace amounts of a genetically modified variety, whimsically called Triffid after a 1960s horror flick that starred a villainous breed of plants replete with legs, intelligence and a venom-filled stinger.
To keep the Triffids at bay, Europe, which is hypersensitive to all things genetically modified, has slammed the doors on further imports of flaxseed from Canada, threatening a lucrative $320-million annual market for farmers. Already prices for flax have plunged by $2 to $3 a bushel from around $11 before reports of the contamination.
Farmers are mystified about why the Triffids are showing up now. The seeds, developed at the University of Saskatchewan in the 1990s, were never sold commercially in Canada and were all supposed to have been destroyed in 2001. But seeds derived from the university's plant engineering program are being found all over Europe.
The genetic contamination also undermines the image of a product widely extolled for its health benefits as a rich source of artery-friendly omega-3 fatty acids and often grown organically to further its cachet. In organic farming, using genetically modified organisms is a big no-no.

http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/national/attack-of-the-triffids-has-flax-farmers-baffled/article1340838

Beware: Genetically modified omega 3 oils to appear in foods
http://www.examiner.com/x-3011-Atlanta-Wellness-Examiner~y2009m10d30-Beware-Genetically-modified-omega-3-oils-to-appear-in-foods

Monsanto, the company which spent an astounding eight million dollars last year on lobbying, is planning to flood the food market with poor quality omega 3 oils from its genetically modified (GM) soy beans.

Monsanto, which is trying to control the world's farming market and infect nature with its genetically modified seeds, plans to sell its omega 3 frankenfood to processed food companies. The food companies will then claim that their frozen dinners and microwave meals are healthy because they contain omega 3 oils.

Yet you can bet your bottom dollar that the packaging on these TV dinners won't reveal that the omega 3 oils are from GM soy. If you've missed the headlines, you can learn why GM-food has a suspicious history and why these food ingredients are considered unhealthy.

More astoundingly, is the timing of this press release from Monsanto. Just last week, a poorly designed study doubting the benefits of omega 3 oils from fish somehow passed the peer review process and was published in the Journal of the American Medical Association. What's the connection?

One of the authors involved in that study denouncing the effectiveness of omega 3 oils from fish was Dr. William Harris, who is a scientific advisor for Monsanto. So here we have someone who is represented as a scientist, and is an advisor for a:

GM-food producing company (Monsanto);
GlaxoSmithKline (pharmaceutical company);
The processed food company Unilever who sells GM food;
his own business which analyzes the quality of omega 3 oils.

This information comes from the rear page of the study released last week which you'll see on the above graphic and is damning evidence of a conflict of interest in terms of violating scientific impartiality. It is also a clear instance of how science, medical journals, pharmaceutical companies and the food companies are working together, and not for the good of humanity - but for profit because GM-soy is very cheap.

If Monsanto can buy enough studies and lobbyists to create (unfounded) doubt on the effectiveness for fish oils, they can create a market for their GM franken oils from soy and make a huge profit.

Will our views on gm food be 'modified?'
http://current.com/items/91453680_will-our-views-on-gm-food-be-modified.htm
Comment by Karen S. | Care 2
The Food Standards Agency - the same quango that constantly condemns the organic produce that people really do want - is about to organise, at ministers' request, a "dialogue project" to see how consumers “can be helped to make informed choices about the food they eat”.

Tomorrow, the agency will announce the members of a steering group for the dialogue, which it says will "include stakeholders… with different views of GM". In fact, it seems that only two of the 11 to be named are known to oppose the technology.

It brings back memories of the last time the Government tried this tactic, six years ago. Again, it held a public "debate", whose purpose – one senior official told me - was to "dispel the myths" put about by "extremists in environmental groups".

The exercise sought to overturn public opinion that was running at three-to-one against GM, in preparation for starting planting modified crops in Britain. But by the time it had finished, opposition among those who participated had soared to 90 per cent, with the uncommitted becoming increasingly hostile the more they learned about GM.

Many of those who took part ended up seeing the debate as "window dressing used to cover secret decisions to go ahead with GM crop development".

Biotech Crops Cause Big Jump in Pesticide Use
http://www.organicconsumers.org/articles/article_19626.cfm
The rapid adoption by U.S. farmers of genetically engineered corn, soybeans and cotton has promoted increased use of pesticides, an epidemic of herbicide-resistant weeds and more chemical residues in foods, according to a report issued Tuesday by health and environmental protection groups.

The groups said research showed that herbicide use grew by 383 million pounds from 1996 to 2008, with 46 percent of the total increase occurring in 2007 and 2008.

The report was released by nonprofits The Organic Center (TOC), the Union for Concerned Scientists (UCS) and the Center for Food Safety (CFS).

The groups said that while herbicide use has climbed, insecticide use has dropped because of biotech crops. They said adoption of genetically engineered corn and cotton that carry traits resistant to insects has led to a reduction in insecticide use by 64 million pounds since 1996.

Still, that leaves a net overall increase on U.S. farm fields of 318 million pounds of pesticides, which includes insecticides and herbicides, over the first 13 years of commercial use.

Monsanto's Pesticide Kills Human Cells - Debate Intensifies Over So-Called 'Inert' Ingredients
http://www.organicconsumers.org/articles/article_18366.cfm
Used in yards, farms and parks throughout the world, Roundup has long been a top-selling weed killer. But now researchers have found that one of Roundup's inert ingredients can kill human cells, particularly embryonic, placental and umbilical cord cells.

The new findings intensify a debate about so-called "inerts" - the solvents, preservatives, surfactants and other substances that manufacturers add to pesticides. Nearly 4,000 inert ingredients are approved for use by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency.

Glyphosate, Roundup's active ingredient, is the most widely used herbicide in the United States. About 100 million pounds are applied to U.S. farms and lawns every year, according to the EPA.

Until now, most health studies have focused on the safety of glyphosate, rather than the mixture of ingredients found in Roundup. But in the new study, scientists found that Roundup's inert ingredients amplified the toxic effect on human cells-even at concentrations much more diluted than those used on farms and lawns.

One specific inert ingredient, polyethoxylated tallowamine, or POEA, was more deadly to human embryonic, placental and umbilical cord cells than the herbicide itself - a finding the researchers call "astonishing."

Chickens Not Fooled by GM Crops
http://www.foodconsumer.org/newsite/Safety/biotech/050920090819_chickens_not_fooled_by_gm_crops.html
Chickens refusing to eat the maize they had been fed has led to the discovery that their feed had been genetically modified to include a well-known weed and insect killer.

Strilli Oppenheimer’s indigenous African chickens were refusing to eat the mealies in the chicken feed bought from a large supplier. Concerned that the birds may be ingesting genetically modified maize, she had the maize tested.

The results confirmed Oppenheimer's initial suspicion -- the maize had been genetically engineered to produce proteins that are toxic to certain insects and weeds.

About her chickens' refusal to eat their maize, Oppenheimer said: "They're smart."

Jeffrey Smith, author of Seeds of Deception and Genetic Roulette, has documented 65 serious health risks from GM products of all kinds.

Judge Rules GMOs Violate Environmental Law
http://www.naturalnews.com/027177_food_GMOs_GMO.html
A San Francisco judge, the very honorable, Judge Jeffrey White just ruled that the U.S. Department of Agriculture`s Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service violated environmental law because of inadequate environmental testing of genetically modified sugar beets. He ruled that the agency failed to see if the genetically altered beets would eventually share their funky pesticide proof genes with other crops. Judge White noted that pollen from sugar beets can be blown long distances and pollinate other crops, including table beets and chard.

White wrote, "The potential elimination of farmers` choice to grow nongenetically engineered crops, or consumers` choice to eat nongenetically engineered food ... has a significant effect on the human environment."
If you haven`t been already, it`s wise to avoid sugar for a while to make sure you`re not consuming genetically modified sugar beets.

Genetically modified foods have been linked to smaller, less developed brains, livers and testicles. GMOs have been found to enlarge other tissues, including the pancreas and intestines. They`ve been known to atrophy the liver, while causing structural changes in the stomach and intestines. GMOs have additionally been linked to infertility and allergies. Here`s more: http://www.saynotogmos.org/paper.pdf.
Genetically modified ingredients are available in the large majority of processed foods, and in the U.S. it`s actually illegal for manufacturers to label GMO products, as GMO products.

Monsanto, Dole to collaborate on veggies
http://uk.reuters.com/article/idUKTRE55N2IL20090624
Monsanto Co and Dole Fresh Vegetables Inc are formalizing a partnership to breed vegetables that are more attractive to consumers.
The five-year collaboration will focus on creating variations of broccoli, cauliflower, lettuce and spinach, the companies said on Tuesday.
The results could include vegetables that are more colorful, tastier, less susceptible to bruising and have a longer shelf-life.
"If I buy broccoli on Saturday or Sunday and try to cook it on Wednesday, it'll get wilty," said Monsanto spokeswoman Riddhi Trivedi-St. Clair.
She also stressed that these new variants will not be genetically modified like the company's much larger corn seed and soybean products.
Also known for its herbicide business, Monsanto has been aggressively growing its vegetable business with recent moves such as the 2005 acquisition of Seminis, which gave Monsanto control over more than 30 percent of the North American vegetable seed market.
In 2008, Monsanto acquired Netherlands-based De Ruiter Seeds, whose focus is in greenhouse vegetable growers as opposed to the open-field expertise of Seminis.
Dole had been Monsanto's customer for decades before announcing the partnership on Tuesday, said Dole spokesman Marty Ordman. Continued...

South Africa: Government Rejects 'Super Spuds'
http://allafrica.com/stories/200910200810.html
The government has rejected the Agriculture Research Council's (ARC's) application to provide genetically modified potatoes to local farmers, saying it was concerned about its safety and economic effect.

The development has been welcomed by lobbyists campaigning against genetically modified crops and local food retailers worried about consumer resistance to "super-spuds".

"This is probably the most significant victory of my career. For a pro-genetically modified government to refuse a commercial application on safety grounds is quite ground breaking," said the African Centre for Biosafety's director Mariam Mayet.

The centre spearheaded a campaign against the ARC's application for commercial release of its SpuntaG2 potato, which has been engineered to kill the tuber moth, a common pest that damages crops in the field and in storage.

The potato contains a gene from a common soil bacteria called Bacillus thurengensis, which interferes with the moths' digestive system, and effectively gives the crop a built-in pesticide.

Transgenic aubergines put on ice

Indian minister delays approval of GM crop.

K.S. Jayaraman

Article behind subscription wall

Stiff opposition from activists has persuaded the Indian government to put off commercial release of the country's first genetically modified (GM) food crop, despite clearance from the nation's top biotechnology regulator.
The 14 October ruling by the Genetic Engineering Approval Committee (GEAC) granted permission for Indian farmers to grow a transgenic version of aubergine, or brinjal, that is insect-resistant.

http://www.nature.com/news/2009/091019/full/4611041a.html

Biodiversity loss is Earth's 'immense and hidden' tragedy, Darwin's 'natural heir' warns
http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/2009/nov/20/biodiversity-loss-darwin-edward-wilson
The diversity of life on Earth is undergoing an "immense and hidden" tragedy that requires the scale of global response now being deployed to tackle climate change, according to one of the world's most eminent biologists.

Prof Edward Wilson, an ecologist who has been described as "Darwin's natural heir" and hailed by novelist Ian McEwan as an "intellectual hero" and "inspirational" writer, told the Guardian that the threat was so grave he is pushing for the creation of an international body of experts modelled on the UN's Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC).

The IPCC, which is credited with convincing world leaders that the threat from climate change is real, includes about 2,500 scientific expert reviewers from more than 130 countries and was awarded the Nobel peace prize in 2007 along with Al Gore. Wilson's proposed organisation – which he names the Barometer of Life – would report to governments on the threats posed to species around the world.

Wilson said the problem of biodiversity loss had been "eased off centre stage" because of the focus on climate change.

"We don't hear as much public concern, protestation and plans by political leaders to save the living environment. It doesn't get anything like the attention the physical environment has," he said.

Since the beginning of the last century, 183 species are known to have become extinct, including the Tasmanian tiger, the Caribbean monk seal and the toolache wallaby. But this number is a gross underestimate of the true number of extinctions, according to the International Union for Conservation of Nature species programme.

Wilson was speaking ahead of the 150th anniversary of the publication of the Origin of Species on Tuesday. The 80-year-old scientist will deliver a lecture via video link to an audience at London's Royal Institution on Darwin's legacy and "the future of biology".

The extent of scientific ignorance about the diversity of life on Earth is vast. Scientists have catalogued about 1.9 m species, but estimate there are about 20m-30m in total (excluding microbes).

Wilson said the scale of the mass extinction now under way was even harder to comprehend.

At the start of the Neolithic period – about 9500BC – scientists estimate that species were becoming extinct at a rate of 20-30 per year. Since the population explosion of modern humans, that is estimated to have increased to 20,000-30,000. Most have never been documented by scientists. And in a couple of decades, Wilson reckons this will have increased to 200,000-300,000. Wilson's proposed international initiative, which he has developed with Simon Stuart, the chairman of the Species Survival Commission, would document this species loss and work out how to tackle it.

"Darwin would be simply appalled by what humanity had done to the richness and diversity of natural life," said Randal Keynes, one of Darwin's great-great-grandsons, who is helping to coordinate the 150th anniversary with the British Council. "He would be in the lead of campaigning on the preservation of biodiversity."

Some of the species that played a central role in the formulation of Darwin's theoryof evolution by natural selection are now either extinct or severely threatened. The Floreana mockingbird, that lives on the island of the same name in the Galapagos, was one of a handful of related species that first gave Darwin the idea that species could change (it is a myth that finches were the crucial group).
Article continues

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Tell the Minister of Health: Its unacceptable that Health Canada did not assess the safety of 'SmartStax' before it was approved. Click here to send an instant letter.
Click here for more information.
Summary: Health Canada did not assess the safety of “SmartStax” GM corn. Health Canada does not classify “SmartStax” as a “Novel Food” because it has already approved the eight single GM traits that are in “SmartStax” individually in earlier crops. Health Canada says that combining eight GM traits together in one food does not create any new risks and does not need any safety evaluation. Health Canada did not even bother to rubber-stamp “SmartStax” – it was approved for release by the Canadian Food Inspection Agency, without Health Canada.

Illegal GM Flax Contaminates Canadian Exports

October 2009: Contamination crisis deepens as reported GM flax contamination from Canada continues to be found. Canadian flax farmers face depressed prices and their European market is closed. Click here for information.

New on the Website

November 18, 2009

Minister of Agriculture makes incorrect and alarming statements on Terminator – Tells Chinese officials Terminator seeds are used in Canada!

November 6, 2009

CBAN vs Monsanto on SmartStax GM corn – Monsanto responds to CBAN in the Western Producer

October 22, 2009

Canadian Groups Warn European Consumers – Trade deal with Canada could be used to weaken Europe's GMO regulations

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Thomas Paine

Tuesday, November 24, 2009

24 Nov - GM 'Foods'

Transgenic aubergines put on ice