GM soy and allergic reactions

• Soy allergies skyrocketed by 50% in the UK, soon after GM soy was introduced.
• A human subject showed a skin prick allergic-type reaction to GM soy, but not to natural soy.
• The level of one known soy allergen is as much as 7-times higher in cooked GM soy compared to non-GM soy.
• GM soy also contains an unexpected allergen-type protein not found in natural soy.

GM corn and cotton linked to allergies

The biotech industry claims that Bt-toxin (a type of genetically modified organism) is harmless to humans and mammals because the natural bacteria version has been used as a spray by farmers for years.

In reality, hundreds of people exposed to Bt spray had allergic-type symptoms, and mice fed Bt had powerful immune responses and damaged intestines. Moreover, Bt in GM crops is designed to be more toxic than the natural spray and is thousands of times more concentrated.

Hundreds of laborers in India report allergic reactions from handling Bt cotton. Their symptoms are identical to those exposed to Bt spray.

GMOs fail allergy tests

No tests can guarantee that a GMO will not cause allergies. Although the World Health Organization recommends a protein screening protocol, the GM soy, corn, and papaya in our food supply fail those tests— because they have properties of known allergens.

GMOs cause immune reactions to non-GM foods

* If proteins “digest” slowly, there is more time for allergic reactions. Because GM soy reduces digestive enzymes in mice, it may slow protein digestion and promote allergies to many foods.

* Mice not only reacted to Bt -toxin, they had immune responses to formerly harmless compounds.

* Similarly, a mouse test indicated that people eating GM peas could develop allergies both to the peas and to a range of other foods. The peas had already passed all the allergy tests normally used to get GMOs on the market. It took this advanced mouse test, which was never used on the GMOs we eat, to discover that the peas could be deadly.

“The stomach lining of rats fed GM potatoes showed excessive cell growth, a condition that may be a precursor to cancer. Rats also had damaged organs and immune systems.”

GMOs and liver problems

* Rats fed GM potatoes had smaller, partially atrophied livers.
* The livers of rats fed GM canola were 12-16% heavier.
* GM soy altered mouse liver cells in ways that suggest a toxic insult. The changes reversed after their diet switched to non-GM soy.

GM soy, reproductive problems, and infant mortality

* More than half the offspring of mother rats fed GM soy died within three weeks.
* Male rats and mice fed GM soy showed changes in their testicles; the mice had altered young sperm cells.
* The DNA of mouse embryos whose parents ate GM soy functioned differently than those whose parents ate non-GM soy.

Many offspring of female rats fed GM soy were considerably smaller, and more than half died within three weeks (compared to 10% of the non-GM soy controls).
“Animal studies show that DNA in food can travel into organs throughout the body, even into the fetus.”

Bt crops linked to sterility, disease, and death

* When sheep grazed on Bt cotton plants after harvest, within a week 1 in 4 died. Shepherds estimate 10,000 sheep deaths in one region of India.
* Farmers in Europe and Asia say that cows, water buffaloes, chickens, and horses died from eating Bt corn varieties.
* About two dozen US farmers report that Bt corn varieties caused widespread sterility in pigs or cows.
* Filipinos in at least five villages fell sick when a nearby Bt corn variety was pollinating.

The stomach lining of rats fed GM potatoes showed excessive cell growth, a condition that may be a precursor to cancer. Rats also had damaged organs and immune systems.

Functioning GM genes remain inside you

Unlike safety evaluations for drugs, there are no human clinical trials of GM foods. The only published human feeding experiment verified that genetic material inserted into GM soy transfers into the DNA of intestinal bacteria and continues to function. This means that long after we stop eating GM foods, we may still have their GM proteins produced continuously inside us.

* If the antibiotic gene inserted into most GM crops were to transfer, it could create super diseases, resistant to antibiotics.
* If the gene that creates Bt -toxin in GM corn were to transfer, it might turn our intestinal flora into living pesticide factories.
* Animal studies show that DNA in food can travel into organs throughout the body, even into the fetus.

GM food supplement caused deadly epidemic

In the 1980s, a contaminated brand of a food supplement called L-tryptophan killed about 100 Americans and caused sickness and disability in another 5,000-10,000 people. The source of contaminants was almost certainly the genetic engineering process used in its production. The disease took years to find and was almost overlooked. It was only identified because the symptoms were unique, acute, and fast-acting. If all three characteristics were not in place, the deadly GM supplement might never have been identified or removed.
“Europe reached the tipping point in April 1999 and within a single week, virtually all major manufacturers publicly committed to stop using GM ingredients in their European brands.”

If GM foods on the market are causing common diseases or if their effects appear only after long-term exposure, we may not be able to identify the source of the problem for decades, if at all. There is no monitoring of GMO-related problems and no long-term animal studies. Heavily invested biotech corporations are gambling away the health of our nation for profit.

Just found this interesting news today:

“The European Union (EU) is again challenging France’s decision to ban a genetically modified (GM) maize developed by the U.S.-based biotech giant Monsanto. The European Food Safety Authority (EFSA) is angry that France has refused to allow the cultivation of MON 810, the only GM crop being grown in the European Union.”

from http://www.gmoafrica.org/2008/11/eu-challenges-france-on-gm-maize.html