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Don't trust favourable GM reports - expert (20/9/2005)

1.Don't trust favourable GM reports - expert
2."HEALTH DANGERS OF GE FOODS AND THE COVER-UP"

"Laboratory rats fed a GM crop developed stomach lesions and seven out of 40 died in two weeks. Despite this, the crop was approved without further testing," said Smith, warning that Africa's leaders should look critically at research presented by those in the biotech industry. (item1)
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1.Don't trust favourable GM reports - expert
By Penny Sukhraj
Independent Online, September 20 2005
http://www.int.iol.co.za/index.php?set_id=1&click_id=143&art_id=vn20050920070147223C411580

An author on a mission to expose the dangers of genetically modified food has arrived in South Africa with tales of corporate espionage and biotech bullies.

"If there was no deception in the United States (about GM food), I would not be here," Jeffrey Smith said on Saturday.

The bestselling writer, who is at the forefront of the fight against GM foods with his international exposé Seeds of Deception, is touring the African continent, raising awareness of the dangers of GM foods.

Smith worked in the industry for a laboratory involved in GMO detection

Smith is founding director of the US-based Institute for Responsible Technology.

It took a lecture on harmful effects of GM foods 10 years to stir him to educate people on issues of genetically modified organisms (GMO), a topic immersed in technical jargon with ultimately little concern for the consumer, who is most affected.

Smith worked in the industry for a laboratory involved in GMO detection and wrote his book after he left the industry.

The work reads like a thriller, with stories of how international biotech corporations bribed officials and even threatened scientists who exposed the harmful effects of GM foods.

He has also documented how evidence, proving the unpredictable dangers, side-effects and by-products of GM foods, was stolen.

Even research documents were fudged, with crucial chunks of data which would hinder or prevent the approval of GM foods, omitted.

There is little debate about genetic modification in South Africa, where GM products include about 10 percent of maize, 30 percent of soya and up to 80 percent of cotton. Consumers are unaware of the ultimate dangers of splicing genes of one species and inserting them into another.

It is in this naive context, said Smith, that companies like giant multinational Monsanto - primarily responsible for pushing GM foods globally - are targeting developing nations.

"Countries like South Africa are seen as launch points for the developing world. South Africa appears to be hijacked in much the same way US regulatory agencies have been hijacked.

Smith has documented cases of blatant industry collusion and exposed the enormous food safety risks which have come as a result of corrupt methods of approving GM foods.

"Laboratory rats fed a GM crop developed stomach lesions and seven out of 40 died in two weeks. Despite this, the crop was approved without further testing," said Smith, warning that Africa's leaders should look critically at research presented by those in the biotech industry.

"We should enforce a ban on GM foods, but there is so much money and political power in this, it may take dead bodies to change the situation," he said.
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2."HEALTH DANGERS OF GE FOODS AND THE COVER-UP"

Jeffrey Smith, author of Seeds of Deception, reviews deaths associated with the genetically engineered dietary supplement L-tryptophan, the huge increase of allergies in Great Britain which occurred with the introduction of GE foods, and the conflict of interest surrounding the injection of bovine growth hormones into dairy cows. He describes how the public is kept in the dark about these. (#221). Green Time is produced by the Gateway Greens in conjunction with KDHX. Call 314-727-8554 or contact [email protected] for information.

Double Helix Channel 21 in the City of St. Louis:

8:30 p.m., Monday, October 3 & 10, 2005,

7:00 p.m., Wednesday, October 5 & 12, 2005,

2:30 p.m., Friday, October 7 & 14, 2005,

12:30 p.m., Saturday, October 8 & 15, 2005,

6:00 p.m., Sunday, October 9 & 16, 2005.

Airs on KDHX Ch. 21 in the City of St. Louis: 10/03 & 10/10 8:30 pm, 10/05 & 10/12 7 pm, 10/07 & 10/14 2:30 pm, 10/08 & 10/15 12:30 pm, 10/09 & 10/16 6 pm.

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