A 2012 study by Professor Gilles-Eric Séralini’s team at the University of Caen, France showed that eating GM maize and low doses of the Roundup pesticide with which it is grown damaged the health of rats over the long term ( gmoseralini.org for more information ). Other studies on GM foods also show toxic effects.

The treated rats suffered more severe organ damage, and higher rates of tumours and premature death, than controls.

This was the first long-term study on the commercialized GM maize NK603 and its associated pesticide and the most detailed study on any GM food.

The first tumours showed up only 4-7 months into the study. This shows that the 90-day rat feeding tests routinely done by industry on GM foods in support of regulatory approval are too short to detect effects that take time to appear, such as cancer, organ damage, and premature death.

We demand an immediate freeze on approvals of genetically modified (GM) foods until mandatory, transparent, and independently conducted long-term tests have been put in place internationally.

GM safety tests must examine the effects of eating the GM food and its associated pesticide over a lifetime. We demand the same testing for GM foods already on the market.