The website momsacrossamerica.com, which aims to get GMOs labelled, has posted a "2012 Corn Comparison report" giving a comparative analysis of GM and non-GM corn.
http://www.momsacrossamerica.com/stunning_corn_comparison_gmo_versus_non_gmo
The report has created a huge buzz on the internet, gaining coverage on Russia Today, Mercola.com and NaturalNews.com. The report was provided by a representative for De Dell Seed Company, an Ontario-based farm that sells non-GMO corn seed. The analysis was carried out by a company called ProfitPro.
A number of our subscribers have asked us to comment on the comparison report, so we examined it and consulted with scientists and farmers.
The report's findings:
According to the report, the GMO corn contained high levels of glyphosate and formaldehyde. The non-GMO corn had none.
Momsacrossamerica's Zen Honeycutt commented that glyphosate has been shown to be toxic at 1 ppm and is present at 13ppm in the GMO corn. The report shows formaldehyde at 200X the level that has been shown to be toxic in animals.
The report also listed major nutritional differences:
GMO corn has 14 ppm of calcium and non GMO corn has 6130 ppm. 437 X more.
GMO corn has 2 ppm of magnesium and non GMO corn has 113ppm. 56 X more.
GMO corn has 2 ppm of manganese and non GMO corn has 14ppm. 7X more.
Our comments
The first point to emphasise is that this is not a controlled scientific study, but an analysis commissioned by farmers who wanted to know what was in their corn. The analysis was carried out by a company answerable only to those farmers.
Thus no information is given in the report on aspects that would be present in a scientific study, such as corn varieties analysed, growing and storage conditions, and how the measurements were done.
However, the glyphosate and formaldehyde levels alone, if verified by further experiments and supported by more information, would be alarming.
We understand that while this type of analysis is normally done on soil, this time it was done on corn at the request of the farmers. We wrote to ProfitPro and asked for more information but for the time being they do not wish to comment.
At the moment we don't have enough information to draw conclusions from the report. We hope more information will be forthcoming and that more farmers and independent scientists will arrange analyses of GM and non-GM corn. The corn should be harvested from real farmers' fields, just as was the case with the corn measured in this report (i.e. it should not be corn grown in Monsanto's "trials").
Nutritional and contaminant analyses are precisely the sort of information we need to move forward in the debate on what sort of agriculture we want to support.
If and when the information in this report is confirmed, it would be another nail in the coffin for the lie on which all GMO approvals are based: That GM plants are "substantially equivalent" to non-GM plants.
Commenting on the report, US farmer Howard Vlieger told GMWatch that he thought the glyphosate and formaldehyde levels in GMO corn could "explain the continuing problems we are witnessing in livestock operations with poor animal health when GMO feed stuffs are in the diet".
More information
Video of Mr Vlieger talking about the report findings:
http://www.momsacrossamerica.com/more_info_on_2012_corn_comparison_report
Press coverage:
http://inserbia.info/news/2013/04/study-gmo-corn-contains-chlorides-formaldehyde-and-glyphosate/