Revealed: Health fears over secret study into GM food

The Independent (UK) reports that a secret Monsanto study found that rats fed on a diet rich in genetically modified corn developed abnormalities to internal organs and changes to their blood. Few long-term studies have been conducted on animals and GM food. The results are reminiscent of a mid-90s study by Arpad Pusztai, a Scottish scientist who found rats fed transgenic potatoes suffered from damaged immune systems and stunted growth.

From In These Times:

In 1998, Arpad Pusztai, a scientist at Rowett Research Institute in Aberdeen, Scotland, appeared on the British television program The World in Action to report that transgenic foods (foods that are bioengineered to include a gene from another species) may be unsafe. His research indicated that rats fed transgenic potatoes suffered from damaged immune systems and stunted growth. Pusztai fed the rats potatoes that had been genetically engineered to contain lectin from a snowdrop bulb to make them pest resistant. Lectins are sugar-binding proteins that can provide protection from insects, nematodes and some diseases. According to Pusztai, who is one of the world’s foremost authorities on lectins, the rats who ate these high-tech potatoes showed evidence of organ damage and poor brain development. This experiment was the first independent study—one not sponsored by a biotech corporation—to examine the effects of bioengineered food on mammals.

“We are assured that this is absolutely safe and that no harm can come to us from eating [genetically engineered food]. But if you gave me the choice now, I wouldn’t eat it,” he said on TV, warning that the food industry was treating the public like “unwitting guinea pigs.”

In an attempt to quell the resulting public furor, Rowett Institute Director Philip James, who had approved Pusztai’s TV appearance, said the research results didn’t exist. He fired Pusztai, broke up his research team, halted the six other similar projects his team was then working on and seized his data. Pusztai, who under the terms of his contract was gagged, was unable to respond to his critics.

Rats fed on a diet rich in genetically modified corn developed abnormalities to internal organs and changes to their blood, raising fears that human health could be affected by eating GM food.

The Independent on Sunday can today reveal details of secret research carried out by Monsanto, the GM food giant, which shows that rats fed the modified corn had smaller kidneys and variations in the composition of their blood.

According to the confidential 1,139-page report, these health problems were absent from another batch of rodents fed non-GM food as part of the research project.

The disclosures come as European countries, including Britain, prepare to vote on whether the GM-modified corn should go on sale to the public. A vote last week by the European Union failed to secure agreement over whether the product should be sold here, after Britain and nine other countries voted in favour.

However, the disclosure of the health effects on the Monsanto rats has intensified the row over whether the corn is safe to eat without further research. Doctors said the changes in the blood of the rodents could indicate that the rat’s immune system had been damaged or that a disorder such as a tumour had grown and…

Posted by anthony
Anthony Lappé is GNN's Executive Editor. He's written for The New York Times, Details, New York, Paper, The Fader and Vice, among many others. He has worked as a producer for MTV and Fuse. He is the co-author of GNN's True Lies and the producer of their Iraq...

RELATED ITEMS

• Dr. Marc Lappé, 1943-2005
  Posted by anthony on Tuesday, May 17th 2005