Details

Published: 08 March 2015

In an acclaimed new book launched at a press conference with the support of primate expert Dr Jane Goodall in London on 4 March, American public interest attorney Steven Druker reveals how the US government and leading scientific institutions have systematically misrepresented the facts about GMOs and the scientific research that casts doubt on their safety. Dr Goodall told the press that supporters of GM food were “deluded” and “anti-science” in ignoring evidence of harm.

Agricultural development expert and UN official agree: No consensus on GMO safety

There is no consensus on the safety of GM food, writes Timothy Wise of the Global Development and Environment Institute (GDAE) at Tufts University. And UN Special Rapporteur on the Right to Food Hilal Elver said questions remain unanswered about the GMO approach, including long-term health effects and the business models practiced by multinational seed companies.

TTIP trade deal will open the door to growth hormones and pesticides, warns chef Jamie Oliver

Chef Jamie Oliver has warned that a new trade deal with America will open the door to inferior food, including beef pumped up with growth hormones, banned additives and pesticides. There are also concerns that GM crops and food produced in the USA, which have not been through more strict vetting procedures in Europe, could be forced on to dinner plates.

TTIP could force Germany to abolish plans for labelling of GMO-fed animal products

According to the German parliament's scientific service, the TTIP trade deal between the EU and US could force Germany to abolish its plans for labelling for food from animals fed with GMO feed.

GM soybeans reduce weight of goats’ offspring – new study

A new study has found reduced weight in the offspring of goats fed with GM soybeans and changes in the composition of the goats’ milk that could affect immunity.

Bt maize outperformed by local non-GM varieties for smallholders in South Africa

Bt maize presents significant economic risks for smallholder farmers in South Africa and doesn’t match up to local non-GM varieties, shows a new study.

Gambia will never accept GM food, says President

President Yahya Jammeh of Gambia has said the country "will never accept GM food”. He declared that the country was committed to “purely organic” production.

US force-feeds GM crops to African nations, says new report

The Gates Foundation and Monsanto are forcing unwilling African nations to accept expensive and insufficiently tested GM foods and crops, according to a new report by Friends of the Earth.

Pressure group sues “lawless” Ghana authorities over GM foods

Food Sovereignty Ghana (FSG) is seeking to prevent the country’s National Biosafety Committee and the agriculture ministry from releasing and commercialising GM cowpeas and rice.

Polish farmers blockade motorways across country

Six thousand Polish farmers from the Solidarity trade union took to the streets and roads to protest against corporate land-grabs and GMOs.

Europe urged to halt GM maize production immediately

Friends of the Earth Europe and Testbiotech have called on the EU to suspend the growing of GM maize following the publication of a study showing it is nearly impossible to grow the crop without damage to nature and contamination of farms producing clean conventional and organic foods.

Hershey’s Milk Chocolate and Kisses to go non-GMO

US-based confectionary giant Hershey’s will remove GM ingredients from its Milk Chocolate and Kisses by the end of the year. The move comes after pressure from anti-GMO activists, who claim the technology is environmentally suspect and a health threat.

US: Limits sought on GMO corn as pest resistance grows

US regulators for the first time are proposing limits on the planting of GM corn to combat rootworm pests that have become resistant to the Bt toxins in the crop.

Arkansas farmers say Syngenta tainted grain supply to promote GMO

A lawsuit alleges that Syngenta engaged in a criminal conspiracy to contaminate the US corn crop to force China, other nations that buy US corn, and US farmers to accept GM corn.

USDA approves GMO Arctic apple despite opposition

The USDA’s decision to approve the GMO Arctic “non-browning” apple will expand the reach of GMO products into the produce aisle. Apple growers are upset about the move.

Frito-Lay SunChips test positive for Roundup weedkiller and GMOs

100% of the corn in a sample of SunChips was found to be GMO in tests. Glyphosate, the main ingredient of the weedkiller Roundup, was also detected.

GMO labelling bills in Indiana, Minnesota, New York State; Jackson County, Oregon defends GMO ban

The GMO labelling fight has resurrected in America's farming heartland, with labelling bills introduced in Indiana and Minnesota. And the New York State Assembly Committee on Consumer Affairs and Protection has voted to pass a similar bill, A.617.

Poison Spring: The secret history of pollution and the EPA

The book by former US EPA staffer Evaggelos Vallianatos, Poison Spring, documents a culture of fraud and corruption at the US regulatory agency, writes Carol Van Strum in a review.

UNICEF Ambassador Mahmoud Kabil joins Public Board of Factor GMO project

UNICEF Goodwill Ambassador for the Middle East and North Africa, Mahmoud Kabil, has joined the Public Board of the planned large study on GMOs and their associated pesticides – Factor GMO.

Scientists call on media to honestly report lack of GMO safety consensus

Scientists and consumer watchdog groups have highlighted the need for accurate media coverage on the lack of consensus on GMO safety. “Not one independent, public safety study has been carried out on the Arctic apple, and yet some media stories have reported it is ‘safe,’” said Michael Hansen, PhD, senior scientist at Consumers Union. “We call on the press to accurately report on the science of GMOs, particularly the health and environmental concerns raised by scientists and the lack of required safety studies that leave questions about the safety of genetically engineered foods.”

Claims of GM feed safety misleading – agricultural consultant

An article in Feedstuffs magazine highlighting the notorious Van Eenennaam review, which agribiz apologist Jon Entine hailed as the “trillion-meal study” that proved GM feed was safe to eat, has been comprehensively rebutted by an agricultural consultant in the same magazine.

Correcting misinformation about Pusztai’s findings

Arpad Pusztai’s findings that GM potatoes were unexpectedly toxic are widely misunderstood and misreported – and still highly relevant. GMWatch has published a summary of his findings, which has been written and checked by scientists.

Chinese citizens sue ministry to force disclosure of secret glyphosate study

A Beijing court has accepted a lawsuit application filed by residents against China's Ministry of Agriculture for refusing to publish the test report that the ministry claimed showed the safety of Roundup herbicide sprayed on GM soybeans.

Please support lawsuit to force disclosure of industry glyphosate studies

Tony Tweedale, a Brussels-based chemicals consultant to NGOs, has launched a lawsuit to force disclose the long-term toxicity studies on glyphosate (the main ingredient of Roundup herbicide) used to set regulatory limits. Currently those studies are kept secret. Please donate to help Tony reach the 5,000 Euro cost of the lawsuit.

Unsafe at any dose?

Retired professor of linguistics Derek Bickerton explains the scientific reason why we no longer have to take notice of claims that GMO crops and herbicides are not causing us harm.

GM mosquito project shelved in Malaysia and Brazil

Plans to release GM mosquitoes as a way to fight dengue fever have been shelved in Malaysia and Brazil as the strategy has been found not to be cost-effective.

Argentina’s GM soybeans are making locals sick

An excellent article for Vice News documents the devastating effects on Argentine people’s health of agrochemical spraying of GM soy.

Victory! Brazil meeting to approve GM eucalyptus trees occupied and cancelled

300 peasants took over the building where Brazil’s GMO regulator CTNBio was meeting to decide about whether to approve GM eucalyptus trees. The meeting was cancelled. On the same morning, 1,000 women took over operations of the GM eucalyptus developer company FuturaGene across Brazil and destroyed GM eucalyptus seedlings.

Indian govt minister urges farmers to fight GMOs and neonicotinoids

India’s minister for women and child development Maneka Gandhi has warned farmers against GM crops and agrochemicals as a threat to health and the environment. But the Modi government seems determined to jeopardise the country’s exports in its reckless decision to move ahead with open field trials of GM mustard.

Australia: Organic farmer Steve Marsh appeals court ruling

Australian organic farmer Steve Marsh has appealed the court ruling against him in which a judge rejected his claim for compensation after GM canola blew onto his land.

Australia: GM bananas stalled

A human feeding trial with GM bananas in the USA has been stalled by a challenge from the organisation Gene Ethics over legal irregularities.

LOBBYWATCH

Over half the experts in Argentine GMO regulatory body have conflicts of interest with industry

People with links to Monsanto, Syngenta and Dow evaluate the safety of the GMOs submitted for approval by these same companies, writes Argentine journalist Dario Aranda in an exposé (English translation exclusive to GMWatch).

Golden Rice promotional exposed as GMO industry invention

The discredited former UK environment secretary Owen Paterson tweeted a highly emotive poem about the supposed ability of GMO Golden Rice to cure vitamin A deficiency. But the poem turned out to have been written by a GMO industry employee. Paterson also deceived the media in a press release claiming the European Union and Greenpeace were condemning millions of people to death by opposing this GM crop – even though it is still nowhere near available.

Africa's biotech establishment attacks NGOs opposed to GMO crops

Africa's biotech establishment is deploying its biggest guns to attack NGOs opposed to GMO crops to help push through Ghana's corporation-friendly Plant Breeders Bill - a key element in the corporate enclosure of Africa's farming, seeds and agricultural heritage.

The truth according to Kevin Folta

The pro-GMO scientist Kevin Folta says he bases his statements on GMO safety on science – but some of his views look more like ideology. An expert in nutrition and public health weighs in with a commentary exclusive to GMWatch.

Precautionary case against GMOs is strong, in spite of dangerous Select Committee report

The UK House of Commons Select Committee on Science and Technology has published a report in which they argue that there is no precautionary case against GM food. But they are comprehensively wrong, explains the Green Party’s transport spokesperson Rupert Read.

UK public concern about GM foods higher than it’s ever been

The British public’s concern about GM foods is higher than it’s ever been, shows a report by the UK Food Standards Agency.

A funny thing happened when we criticised Anne Glover

When GMWatch published an article criticising ex-EU scientific adviser Anne Glover over her unconvincing performance on BBC’s Hardtalk programme, a twitterer called Ian George sprang into the attack against us. Could this possibly be Ian George, a former director of the biotech company Glover founded?

Why Mark Lynas changed his mind

Mark Lynas continues to build his career as an aggressive promoter of GMOs, teaming up with climate science denier Dominic Lawson in his latest misleading publicity drive.

Ex-Monsanto man disappears from editorial board of journal that retracted Seralini paper

Critical changes have this year been made at the journal, Food and Chemical Toxicology, from which the editor-in-chief A. Wallace Hayes retracted the paper by the Seralini team, which reported toxic effects from GM maize and Roundup fed to rats. The journal now has a new editor-in-chief, José L. Domingo, who has published papers showing that safety of GM crops is not an established fact; and the editorial board no longer includes Richard Goodman, the ex-Monsanto employee who became associate editor for biotechnology not long before the Seralini paper was retracted.

Why do people doubt science?

The reason people doubt “science” has nothing to do with anti-science attitudes and irrational fears, and everything to do with how science is abused by corporate interests, writes Colin Todhunter.