There are a few pieces of jargon in this post that even I had to look up so they’re marked and their definitions are noted in an endnote.

Genetically Modified (GM) Health Risk week began yesterday in Edinburgh with an aim to raise awareness of the possible side effects of genetically modified produce on both the environment and humans. I attended the first event of a series travelling from Edinburgh through to London, Manchester and Newport; covering the scope of whether it could be the “future of farming” to what you are not told “about GM animal feed”.

“It [GM produce] contain more risks than benefits”

The panel consisted of a range of speakers; all opposed to Genetically Modified Organisms (GMOs) and was chaired by well-known investigative food reporter Joanna Blythman.

“They [pollutants including pesticides] could also be involved in breast cancer.”

The speaker who began the debate was Professor Gilles-Eric Séralini, who last year published a report on the effects of Roundup herbicides and Roundup-tolerant GM crops on rats with startling results. Before his recent report he explained to the audience that from previous testing on human cells from placenta and umbilical cords, including those from unborn babies, that they discovered over 400 pollutants stuck on the DNA of each cell. Many of these pollutants were also pesticides. These pollutants were “also present in the mothers’ breast, so they could also be involved in breast cancer.” His spent his half-hour reciting his findings, which had largely been ignored by the international community.

Prof Gilles-Eric Séralini

The experiment, which his latest report covered, took place over 15 years on 200 rats – that’s the longest experiment to date on GM! His results showed that rats that were given tiny amounts of Roundup in water and also Roundup-tolerant GM maize died earlier than a control group that was not exposed in that manner. Female rats exposed grew more tumours and males had liver congestions[i] and necrosis[ii]; and both sexes many had chronic kidney deficiencies. Séralini went on to say, “this was not a new result” but his results has been denounced by critics who stated that his rats were predisposed to get more tumour. Their evidence – they compared Séralini’s rats with historical data on the strain of rat he used that had a diet “contaminated with GMOs and pesticides.”

Prof Gilles-Eric Séralini presenting his findings.

“All GMOs[iii] are pesticide plants”

The most worrying point the professor mentioned was that the amount the rats were exposed to are the same as for tap water in agricultural areas. He called “all GMOs are pesticide plants”. For those desperate to find out more he said he will be publishing more results in 2014.

His statements did not go unnoticed when it came to questions – Andrew Millar, Professor of Systems Biology at Edinburgh University, said that “250million Americans have been eating GM food for 15 years” to which Séralini replied that a study of that group would not be scientific as GM products in the states are not labelled and there would be a lack of controls.

I got back to Prof Millar after the meeting and he went on to explain to me that Séralini mainly only talked about Roundup and did not concentrate only on GMs which makes it hard to pin point GM crops as the main contributor. Not only that but apparently when asked for the raw data and his methods so as the experiment could be replicated Prof Séralini did not provide them. Millar condemned the mixing up of debates on GM produce and Monsanto, a company that has a lot of controversy surrounding it.

Let’s just say the debate got a bit heated.

The next speaker against GM was Danish pig farmer Ib Borup Pederson who found that GM feed and glyphosate[iv] caused horrific digestive and reproductive problems in his pigs including stomach bleeding and piglets born without heads, missing limbs and deformed spines and tails. All of which he conveyed in a frankly disgusting video (his aim was to show the public the brutal reality) that should placed right next to Earthlings. When the Dane switched to non-GM feed there were no sows dying due to bloating or to ulcers.[v] Also there were larger litters and less medicine needed. He said the results were “immediate”. Not only did the GM soya cause diarrhoea but also it “killed up to 30% of our young-born.”

When I caught up with Ib after the event he told me that Roundup kills the good bacteria in your body that keep you healthy but that apparently pro-biotic yoghurts really do help! So don’t forget your Yakult next time you shop for your GM-fed sausages or milk at your local supermarket!

“The health crisis, the economic crisis and the ecological crisis converge on your plate”

The last speaker was a bit closer to home – Mike Small who is co-founder of the Fife Diet, which is a “consumer network of people passionate about local food” and was there to “talk about the politics of food and the democracy of food”. He called for more “diversity and more democracy at all levels, not less” and for “people to know to how to cook and know what season it is by what’s on their plate”. He laid the blame of our global-spanning food consumption on us being “passive consumers”. The argument for genetically modified crops is often to “feed the world” but the co-founder argues that it is not lack of food, which he calls a “myth”, that is the problem but the wastage of good food – “where almost 50% is lost”. These conclusions, if you think about it, are creditable – when was the last time you checked where you Heinz baked beans came from or asked for your pigs trotters with that bacon buttie?

Mike Small and Chair, Joanna Blythman

Mike goes on to explain that the Fife Diet found out through publishing their open letter in reply to Westminster’s backing of GM, that the Scottish Government is still opposed to GM due to a number of principals including that of “the precautionary principal which said that insufficient evidence had been presented that GM crops are safe”. So although Westminster seems to be backing GM, us northerners generally seem to be against it?

That’s the very long gist of it.

Links and poll below!

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Links

GM Health Risk Week webpage

Prof Gilles-Eric Séralini’s report – long term toxicity of a roundup herbicide and a roundup-tolerant genetically modified maize.

Just in case you are still a bit dumbfounded by this whole GM thing!

World Health Organisation: 20 Questions on genetically modified foods

In reply to the comment posted below, here are some links:

2 links for answers to criticisms of Séralini’s study (one in the form of a report and the other which is easier to read):

http://gmoseralini.org/wp-content/uploads/2013/01/Seralinial-AnswersCritics-FCT_2013.pdf

http://gmoseralini.org/category/critics-answered/

And a link to Scotland Against Monsanto (the commenter):

http://scotlandagainstmonsanto.co.uk

[i] Liver congestion is a liver dysfunction where the liver pretty much gets clogged up and gallstones can form. [ii] Necrosis – The death of most or all of the cells in an organ or tissue due to disease, injury, or failure of the blood supply. (Google Dictionary) [iii] GMO – Genetically Modified Organism [iv] Glyphosate is a systematic herbicide that kills weeds, especially those known to compete with commercial crops, around the world. A commonly available commercial product is Roundup. [v] He had 2 sows die due to those cause but one was due to a twisted gut and another “something that had got infected inside”.