John Phillips: Bio-geneticist and nutrition specialist, was one of the first to point out the links between consuming GMO foods and Alzheimer's.
In the latest Bulletin received from 'Food & Water Watch' with assorted added documents, I've been informed the battle is now joined to get GMO foods labeled. Vermont has already passed legislation requiring genetically engineered foods to be labeled and the governor has signed it into law. But make no mistake the big 'guns' of the Neoliberal state are out to try to kill it, since they know labeling could be mandated by other states.
So no surprise that a bill was introduced in the last session of congress which intent is to kill all labeling initiatives for GMO foods. As with the case of fracking - whereby many state governments have outlawed initiatives to halt it - the momentum of the purveyors is to have the little people live in heaping piles of shit, including unlabeled shit for food. Who or what is behind this anti-labeling campaign? The Grocery Manufacturers Association (GMA) whose 300 member corporations have now poured $54.7 million into bribing our politicos to screw the rest of us. DO they care if we get Alzheimer's disease or cancer? Hell no! Because these vermin - like Rep. Mike Pompeo (R-KS) mastermind of the current legislation - already have "Cadillac" health plans to deal with any ills. Even if they get pancreatic, kidney, colon or other cancers they won't have to shell out tens of thousands a year for drugs to stay alive.
According to the Bulletin from 'Food & Water Watch' :
"GMO ingredients are hidden in 70 percent of processed food in this country. This is only a 'best guess' because no one knows for sure as they are not labeled. Also, very little is known of the long term effects of what GMOs can do to your health because they've not been properly tested. But what facts we do have are alarming."
The Bulletin then references:
"Real lab rats fed GMOs have suffered kidney and liver damage, cancerous tumors and even premature death."
Wonder why so many people are now needing kidney and liver transplants? This may be one huge contributing factor.
Among the other alarming facts is the horrific link to glyphosate as exposed by Barbadian geneticist and nutritionist John Phillips, who has noted:
""Among other toxins and other health-disrupting contaminants, GMO foods contain glyphosate, a horrifically destructive chemical that saps nutrients from foods and quite literally makes them toxic to consume."
Phillips also ties it into the increasing numbers of people in the U.S. suffering from Alzheimer's disease - which destroys the brain and renders victims little more than zombies. (If you can, see the recent film 'Still Alice' to get a grasp of how it destroys a professor's mind and life). European numbers by contrast are low, well because they are among the 64 intelligent and caring nations that require GMO labeling.
In his excellent Wall Street Journal piece, 'Yes - We Deserve to Know What's In the Food We Eat' (July 13, p. R1), Andrew Kimbrell lays out the crux of the matter:
"Chemical and food companies claim they shouldn't have to label because genetically engineered foods have not been proven unsafe. But every day we see labeling for food additives or processes such as 'made from concentrates' that have been found safe.
The Food and Drug Administration standard for labeling has nothing to do with danger. Rather, the law requires labeling to inform consumers about novel contents or changes that may not be obvious and the consumer would have an interest in knowing.
Do genetically engineered foods fit the bill? Yes, they do. Virtually all commercialized, genetically engineered food crops come from novel bacterial, viral, or other DNA sources never before seen in foods, often creating novel proteins as well. If the FDA were to actually test GMO foods, which it does not, and find them hazardous, it would not label them, it would remove them from supermarket shelves. "
Kimbrell goes on to write that while opponents often claim GMO foods would be "too expensive" to label, this is really a PR crock. In fact, "food companies change their labels all the time." and that "adding 'produced with genetic engineering' on the package would be of negligible cost."
Kimbrell's piece is potent because it's typeset along side a clear PR piece ('It's Simply a Ploy To Make Consumers Worry') by a Penn State prof (Nina Federoff) who ought to be ashamed of herself. One wonders in fact if she received as much money for that PR slop as Willie Soon has for his anti-global warming drivel.
Why the desperate refusal to label GMOs? Because it would cut into the profits of the biggest GMO producers like Monsanto which now rings up $11.8 billion a year in sales.
Labeling, as I said and Kimbrell gives a powerful justification for, is rational and 64 other nations already do it. They are determined to protect their citizens from potential Alzheimer's and cancer cases while ours seems more interested in enabling profits for the corporations that benefit from GMO food sales.
Meanwhile, as we await labeling, there are things you can do to avoid consuming GMO foods, as listed in the 'Food & Water Watch' enclosure:
1. Know the top GMO crops and common GMO ingredients, which include:
- Canola (also called rapeseed oil)
- Corn (including high fructose corn syrup)
-Cottonseed oil (common in vegetable oil and margarine)
- Soybeans (may also appear in ingredients' lists as simply 'sugar')
- Sugar beets (" " " " " " " " " ")
2. Buy organic - since the USDA prohibits GMO crops from being used in certified organic crops for food and animal feed.
3. Look for products that are specifically labelled 'Non -GMO or GMO Free')
4. Shop Local : Most GMO foods are produced on large, industrial farms and by huge corporate food companies. Your best bet is to buy local foods at farmers' markets.
5. Make it from scratch: By avoiding prepared and processed foods you control every ingredient, giving you final say on what you eat.
Finally, learn how to decode labels and do not be misled by the fake word "natural" - which is merely a deceptive marketing ploy.
For more information on label decoding of foods go to:
http://www.foodandwaterwatch.org/food/consumer-labels/decoding-food-labels/
Update:
The House bill to prevent GMO food labeling passed 275-150 on Thursday.
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