Genetically modified foods - like canola oil and Pasta Roni - are being deceptively pushed into our diets everyday. One example is "Round-up Ready" corn sold and manufactured by Monsanto. More about that here. Simply put, Monsanto makes Round-up, it's the liquid weed killer you can buy at your local nursery; you spray it on the leaves of the plants where it's absorbed and blocks an enzyme the plant needs to live.
Here's where I have serious issues with entire fields of "Round-up Ready" corn:
- The corn seeds are genetically modified in a violent way (a "gun" and high velocity is used to ram the new DNA into the cell).
- The plants are not the only thing that is getting sprayed with this chemical. It also lands onto and is absorbed by the soil. Where do the plants get their vitamins, minerals, and nutrients that make them good for us to eat? The sun and the soil. And here we are dumping hundreds of gallons of a toxic chemical on them week?
- Round-up then gets into the soil and mixes with the water used to irrigate the corn; the corn "drinks" up the water/chemical mixture where it then becomes part of the cellular structure of the plant.
- Humans are supposed to eat this "Round-up Ready" corn that has been grown in a bath of chemical herbicide and believe it's safe.
- (Does any of the chemical herbicide get into our aquifers and drinking water supply?)
According to Howstuffworks.com, Round-up contains glyphosphate - the main ingredient used to stop the plants from producing that enzyme. And, "most people react badly to glyphosphate (and other chemicals mixed with it) when ingested or applied to the skin, so you want to avoid any contact with the chemical."
So, Round-up (which contains glyphosphate) is sprayed on corn fields hundreds of gallons at a time. The corn ends up "drinking" the Round-up as it's mixed with water and/or rain. Glyphosphate ends up in the cellular structure of the corn (it could be said that the plant has "ingested" the glyphosphate). I go to the store, buy the "Round-up Ready" corn or a product made with it, take it home, and eat (ingest) it. Does anyone else see a problem here?
Oh, and Monsanto, Con-Agra and other big-business "leaders" in the field of genetically modifying our food supply pay big bucks for lawyers and lobbyists so that they don't have to label foods that have been genetically modified. That and the FDA's role is here.
Many people including genetic scientists and biologists agree that genetically modified foods need hard, rigorous study, and that they are unfit for human consumption.
Thanks to a recent lawsuit, internal FDA documents revealed "that agency scientists warned that GM foods might create toxins, allergies, nutritional problems, and new diseases that might be difficult to identify."
In addition, a panel of experts from the Royal Society of Canada reported that "it was "scientifically unjustifiable" to presume that GM foods are safe," and the UK's Royal Society reported in 2002 that "genetic modification could lead to unpredicted harmful changes in the nutritional state of foods."
One independent study published on GM foods being fed to animals "showed evidence of damage to the immune system and vital organs, and a potentially pre-cancerous condition." Two other studies "showed evidence of a potentially pre-cancerous condition." Moreover, seven other studies were designed specifically not to identify these details.
For a very good account of genetically modified foods, read Seeds of Deception.
