The study, published today in the journal "Archives of
Environmental
Contamination and Toxicology", analysed results of safety tests
submitted by
Monsanto to the Canadian Food Inspection Agency (CFIA) when the
company wasseeking authorisation to market its GE Maize variety
MON863 in Canada. The data shows that MON863 has significant health
risks associated with it; nonetheless, the CFIA approved the maize
for unconfined release into theenvironment and for consumption by
both humans and animals in 2003. The incriminating evidence was
obtained by Greenpeace following a court case(2), and passed on for
evaluation by a team of experts headed by Professor Gilles Eric
Seralini, a governmental expert in genetic engineering technology
from the University of Caen.(3)
"Consumers are already skeptical when it comes to GMOs and this
latest newsabout Monsanto will only confirm those concerns. GMOs
are inherently risky,and we should not be releasing these untested
products into the environmentor into our food chain," said Josh
Brandon, GE campaigner for Greenpeace."If GE products continue to
appear in our food, however, consumers needlabels on these products
so that they can make informed choices when itcomes to what they
buy."
The release of this latest data shows the urgent need for
mandatory
labelling of GE products in BC. The results also confirm the
warnings raised
by the Royal Society of Canada's expert panel on
biotechnology.(4) In 2001,
the panel of scientific experts found that the lack of
independent
verification of company produced data could lead to the approval
of
improperly tested and potentially unsafe products.
"As many as 70% of the processed foods on store shelves in BC
could containGE ingredients, and there is absolutely no way for
consumers to know this important fact," said Eleanor Boyle of GE
Free BC. "Consumers have a right to know what is in the food they
eat, so that they can make the decisionwhether or not to consume
this untested and risky technology. BC has theopportunity to lead
the way on this issue in Canada and Premier Campbell should listen
to British Columbians who want mandatory labelling of GMOs andtake
action before the next provincial election."
A recent Greenpeace poll, found that 79 per cent of BC residents
support
legislation requiring all GE food to be labelled, and indicated
that the
issue could be significant in the next provincial
election.(5)
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For more information contact:
Josh Brandon, Greenpeace Canada, GE campaigner, cell:
604-721-7493
Eleanor Boyle, GE Free BC, cell: 604-230-2561
Andrew Male, Greenpeace Canada, Communications, cell:
416-880-2757
1) The article is published online (www.springerlink.com/content/1432-0703)
by the American journal Archives of Environmental Contamination
and
Toxicology; it will be printed in May. A Greenpeace briefing on
the study is
available on request.
2) For details, please refer to the Greenpeace paper: "The
MON863case-a
chronicle of systematic deception
3) The analysis team was headed by Professor Seralini from
University of Caenand included experts from the French independent
scientific organisation CRIIGEN.
4) RSC, Royal Society of Canada (Expert Panel on the Future of
Food
Technology) 2001. Elements of Precaution: Recommendations for
the
Regulation of Food Biotechnology in Canada. Ottawa: Royal
Society of
Canada.
5) The Stratcom poll of 601 BC eligible voters was conducted
between November23 and November 30, 2006. It has a margin of error
+/- 4.0%. A copy of thereport is available on request.