December 17, 2009

Latest French study raises health risks on GM corn

A new research discovered that three GM corn varieties show clear evidence of health risks, with lab results reporting severe damage of internal organs in tested rats.

The study analysed data from 90-day rat feeding trials of Mon810 and Mon863 GM corn, and Roundup herbicide-tolerant NK603 GM corn.

Adverse impacts were found on the kidneys, livers and the dietary detoxifying organs of experimental rats, and also some damage to heart, adrenal glands, spleen and the haematopoietic system.

The research was conducted by French scientists from the universities of Caen and Rouen and is published in the International Journal of Biological Sciences.

Anti-GM lobby group Gene Ethics said the report shows that GM corn products contain novel pesticide residues that will also be present in human food and animal feed where they may pose grave health risks.

As a result of the findings, the scientists are calling for an immediate prohibition on the import and cultivation of this GM corn and have recommended more long-term and multi-generational animal feeding studies.

The analysis was conducted on Monsanto's data from animal feeding tests but the scientists found the design and execution of the seed and trials to be flawed.

Gene Ethics said that once the data was analysed using improved statistical methods, it emerged clearly that male and female rats responded differently to being fed the GM corn.

The Australian food regulator, Food Standards Australia New Zealand (FSANZ) has cleared the three corn varieties as safe for human consumption and they are allowed in the food supply.

Gene Ethics director Bob Phelps said the applicants must submit peer reviewed data to prove that new GM varieties are 100% safe, as this study is the latest of many independent research findings consistently ignored by FSANZ that show some GM foods are not safe to eat.