5. GM crops kill off pollinating insects and
encourage secondary pests
Swiss researchers have confirmed earlier findings
that the Bt toxin used in GM maize increases
mortality in ladybird larvae, a non-target species
that was not supposed to be harmed by the GM
maize.
In China, Bt toxin in GM cotton initially
suppressed the target pest, boll weevil, but
several secondary pests that are resistant to it
soon took its place.
6. GM food may not be safe to eat
GM food has not been properly tested for safety
because the big biotech companies lobbied
regulators into accepting that it was “substantially
equivalent’ to conventional food. But feeding
studies on laboratory animals show that GM food
can cause allergies and be toxic. For instance,
rats fed GM tomatoes have developed stomach
lesions. Research from New Zealand has found
that one GM wheat variety has the potential to
cause liver disease. Most recently, research on
rats, carried out by researchers (above) at the
University of Caen – the most thorough research
yet published on the health effects of GM crops –
found that a GM maize sprayed with the herbicide
Roundup and Roundup itself, showed an
unprecedented number of tumours developing.
7. Americans only eat GM foods because they
are unlabelled
In Europe, we’re told that Americans have been
eating GM foods with relish. In fact, they only do
so because GM foods do not need to be labelled
there, and so are indistinguishable from
conventional food. Californian consumers are
currently demanding labelling of GM food, and
predictably, ѡ