"Traces of Genetic Engineering Detected in Milk" (22/6/2004)

...the study from the 'Research Center for Milk and Foodstuffs in Weihenstephan, Bavaria, was kept under lock and key for three years' according to the German media report below.
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comment from nlpwessex:

The use of GM crops in farm animal feeds is continuing to move up the agenda particularly through the work of Greenpeace.

Greepeance UK recently forced major supermarket Sainsbury into concessions over the use by its milk suppliers of GM cattle feed (http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/business/3722185.stm ;
http://www.just-food.com/news_detail.asp?art=57720 )

This week Greenpeace have boarded a ship from the US delivering GM animal feed to the UK with several activists currently under arrest (http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/wales/3827669.stm ). The ship is due in at Bristol this morning after being held up by Greenpeace at sea for 36 hours off the coast of Wales.

Now Greenpeace say they have come across scientific evidence that GM material is getting into milk in Germany. This claim is likely to generate considerable controversy. One study is will not fully establish the situation.

The real test will be whether the authorities initiate independent follow-up studies to examine the issue more carefully, or whether as happened in the case of Dr Puztai and his discovery in relation to GM potatoes in 1998 ( http://www.freenetpages.co.uk/hp/a.pusztai/ ), a ruthless campaign is executed to discredit the original work and to ensure that no further independent research is carried out.

Significantly in this latest case the study from the 'Research Center for Milk and Foodstuffs in Weihenstephan, Bavaria, was kept under lock and key for three years' according to the German media report below.

Standard operating procedures apply it would seem!

Thanks to GM-free animal feed supplier "AgroTrace" for details and translation of this story from whom a copy of the Bavarian study in pdf format may be requested (http://www.agrotrace.biz/ ).

NATURAL LAW PARTY WESSEX [email protected] www.btinternet.com/~nlpwessex Tearing Down Biotech's 'Berlin Wall' www.btinternet.com/~nlpwessex/Documents/genomicsparadigm.htm The Acceptable Face Of Ag-biotech www.btinternet.com/~nlpwessex/Documents/monsantoMASpossibilities.htm

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Translation:
Traces of Genetic Engineering Detected in Milk
Greenpeace: Gap in the Labeling of Animal Products Must be Closed

Hamburg/Vienna – On Monday the environmental organization Greenpeace published the results of a study showing for the first time the detection of genetically modified contamination in milk samples. The scientists found parts of the gene substance of biotech soya and biotech maize in the milk of a farmer in Bavaria who had fed these plants [to his animals].

"Scientific research finding this impossible so far now has to be re-evaluated", says Henning Strodthoff, biotechnology expert at Greenpeace. So far it has been assumed that GMO plants are degraded during digestion and that they do not find their way into meat or milk. According to the EU labeling regulation for genetically modified food there is no labeling requirement for animal products. "This gap on the labeling must be closed immediately", demands Strodthoff.

Study Kept under Lock and Key

The study of the Research Center for Milk and Foodstuffs in Weihenstephan, Bavaria, was kept under lock and key for three years. Greenpeace is demanding further research and labeling of animal products fed with GMO feed.

In the farmer's milk samples that were analyzed DNA from genetically modified Roundup Ready Soya and genetically modified Bt176 maize were detected. Furthermore, the research report points out several possibilities as to how the gene segments may have found their way into the milk: Via the GMO feed that was fed to the animals, or via the dust from the feed in case the air was contaminated with it. So far, no further studies have been conducted in order to clarify the exact way of the DNA fragments into the milk.
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[German Original]
http://derstandard.at/text/?id=1702842
derStandard.at/Panorama ein Service von derStandard.at
21.06.2004 13:25

Gentechnikspuren in Milch nachgewiesen Greenpeace: Lücke in der Kennzeichnung tierischer Produkte muss geschlossen werden

Hamburg/Wien - Die Umweltorganisation Greenpeace veröffentlichte am Montag Untersuchungsergebnisse, die erstmals den Nachweis von gentechnischen Verunreinigungen in Milchproben erbringen. In der Milch eines Landwirtes in Bayern, der Gentech-Soja und Gentech-Mais verfütterte, fanden Wissenschafter Teile der Erbsubstanz dieser Pflanzen.

"Was die Forschung bisher für unmöglich hielt, muss nun anders bewertet werden", sagt Henning Strodthoff, Gentechnikexperte von Greenpeace. Bisher wurde angenommen, dass Gen-Pflanzen bei der Verdauung abgebaut werden und nicht in Fleisch oder Milch gelangen. Nach der EUKennzeichnungsverordnung für gentechnisch veränderte Lebensmittel besteht keine Kennzeichnungspflicht für tierische Produkte. "Die Lücke in der Kennzeichnung muss sofort geschlossen werden", fordert Strodthoff.

Untersuchung unter Verschluss

Die Untersuchung des Forschungszentrums für Milch und Lebensmittel in Weihenstephan in Bayern wurde drei Jahre unter Verschluss gehalten. Greenpeace forderte weitere Studien und eine Kennzeichnung von tierischen Produkten, die mit Gentech-Futter hergestellt wurden.

In den analysierten Milchproben des Landwirts konnte die Erbsubstanz von gentechnisch verändertem Roundup Ready Soja und genmanipulierten Bt176 Mais nachgewiesen werden. Zudem zeigt der Untersuchungsbericht mehrere Möglichkeiten auf, wie die Gen-Abschnitte in die Milch gelangt sein könnten: Über das Gen-Futter, das die Tiere bekommen haben oder den Staub des Futters, wenn die Luft damit belastet war. Bisher wurden keine weiteren Untersuchungen durchgeführt, um den genauen Weg der DNA-Fragmente in die Milch zu klären.(APA)

Link zum Artikel: Gentechnikspuren in Milch nachgewiesen

© derStandard.at 2004


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