Critical Observer

HAWAII FIELDS TO BE INFILTRATED WITH GMO BANANAS

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<span style="font-size: x-large; font-weight: normal;">The <a href="http://hdoa.hawaii.gov/meetings-reports/" style="background-color: transparent; border-image-outset: initial; border-image-repeat: initial; border-image-slice: initial; border-image-source: initial; border-image-width: initial; border: 0px; box-sizing: inherit; color: #194e8e; font-family: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">Hawaii State Department of Agriculture</a> conducted an impromptu meeting to allow biotech to ‘field test’ genetically modified bananas. This is of great concern to the people of Hawaii, and no public notice was made of the meeting until very recently. UH received a $1.5 million research grant from the US federal government to develop a GMO banana variety, even though Hawaii residents have made it very clear they oppose GM crops.</span></h5>
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Hector Valenzuela of the Dept. of Plant and Environmental Protection Sciences, CTAHR, UH-Manoa has explained that even though bananas propagate asexually, widespread contamination is likely to occur in the state through people sharing propagating materials – called suckers or keikis – with friends, or neighbors.</div>
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The <a href="http://hawaiiseed.org/wp-content/uploads/2012/11/Papaya-Contamination-Report.pdf" style="background-color: transparent; border: 0px; box-sizing: inherit; color: #194e8e; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">experience with the GMO Rainbow papaya</a> shows that UH and GMO papaya farmers have been incapable of containing GMOs within the boundary of their farms resulting in the widespread contamination of non-GMO areas throughout the state.</div>
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Research needs to be conducted to determine potential health, environmental, economic, and social impacts from the release of a GMO banana variety in Hawaii, yet the biotech industry is set to unleash the GM banana variety without any of this.</div>
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Little or no research has been conducted by UH to find alternative ecologically-based, low input, practices to manage the bunchy top virus in Hawaii.</div>
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IslandBreath <a href="http://islandbreath.blogspot.com/2015/10/sneaking-in-gmo-bananas.html" style="background-color: transparent; border: 0px; box-sizing: inherit; color: #194e8e; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">reports that</a> they are trying to ‘sneak’ the GM banana.</div>
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<span style="font-size: x-large;">Say 'no' to GM bananas!</span></h2>
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<em style="border: 0px; box-sizing: inherit; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">This article originally appeared at <a href="http://naturalsociety.com/hawaii-test-fields-to-be-illegally-infiltrated-with-gm-bananas/" style="background-color: transparent; border: 0px; box-sizing: inherit; color: #194e8e; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;" target="_blank">Natural Society</a>.</em></div>

HAWAII FIELDS TO BE INFILTRATED WITH GMO BANANAS

The Hawaii State Department of Agriculture conducted an impromptu meeting to allow biotech to ‘field test’ genetically modified bananas...

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MONSANTO GUILTY OF CHEMICAL POISONING - FRENCH COURT

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A French court upheld on Thursday a 2012 ruling in which Monsanto was found guilty of chemical poisoning of a French farmer, who says he suffered neurological problems after inhaling the U.S. biotech company’s Lasso weedkiller.<br />
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The decision by an appeal court in Lyon, southeast France, confirmed the initial judgment, the first such case heard in court in France, that ruled Monsanto was “responsible” for the intoxication and ordered the company to “fully compensate” grain grower Paul Francois.<br />
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Monsanto’s lawyer said the company would now bring the decision before France’s highest appeal court.

MONSANTO GUILTY OF CHEMICAL POISONING - FRENCH COURT

A French court upheld on Thursday a 2012 ruling in which Monsanto was found guilty of chemical poisoning of a French farmer, who says he ...

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GMO chickens shed light on bird flu fight

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<span style="background-color: white;">In the realm of avian research, the chicks with the glow-in-the-dark beaks and feet might one day rock the poultry world. </span><br />
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<span style="background-color: white;">British scientists say they have genetically modified chickens in a bid to block bird flu and that early experiments show promise for fighting off the disease that has devastated the U.S. poultry and egg industries.</span><br />
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<span style="background-color: white;">Their research, which has been backed by the UK government and top chicken companies, could potentially prevent repeats of this year's wipeout: 48 million chickens and turkeys killed because of the disease since December in the United States alone.</span><br />
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<span style="background-color: white;">But these promising chickens - injected with a fluorescent protein to distinguish them from normal birds in experiments - won't likely gatecrash their way into poultry production any time soon. Health regulators around the world have yet to approve any animals bred as genetically modified organisms (GMOs) for use in food because of long-standing safety and environmental concerns.</span><br />
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<span style="background-color: white;">Bird flu has become a global concern among researchers over the past decade because of its threat to poultry and human health, and UK researchers have been toiling in genetic engineering for years to control its spread.</span><br />
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<span style="background-color: white;">People who are in close contact with infected poultry are most at risk for flu infections, and scientists are concerned about the risk for a human pandemic if the virus infects someone and then mutates. No humans have been infected in the latest U.S. outbreak, but there have been cases in Asia in recent years.</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: white;">"The public is obviously aware of these outbreaks when they're reported and wondering why there's not more done to control it," said Laurence Tiley, a senior lecturer in molecular virology at the University of Cambridge, who is involved in the experiments.</span><br />
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<span style="background-color: white;">Scientists argue that GMO livestock could help control diseases and feed the world's growing population. But if salmon's arduous swim to approval is anything to go by, their breakthroughs will be slow to come to market.</span><br />
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<span style="background-color: white;">The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has been reviewing a type of GMO salmon for the past 20 years, even though the agency deemed it safe for humans in 2010. Developed by AquaBounty Technologies Inc, it was engineered to grow faster than normal.</span><br />
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<span style="background-color: white;">Consumer activists have pushed back hard against GMO animals for food, arguing that GMO crops, already widely used and marketed, contribute to health and environmental problems.</span><br />
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<span style="background-color: white;">FOOLING THE VIRUS</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: white;">At Cambridge and the University of Edinburgh's Roslin Institute, scientists are using genetic engineering to try to control bird flu in two ways: by blocking initial infections in egg-laying chickens and preventing birds from transmitting the virus if they become infected.</span><br />
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<span style="background-color: white;">Two of the world's biggest chicken breeders, Germany's EW Group and Arkansas-based Cobb-Vantress, have funded parts of the research, though they too harbor significant reservations about GMO breeding.</span><br />
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<span style="background-color: white;">EW Group is interested in research to learn more about how chickens respond to flu, said Jim McKay, group director for science and technology. However, the company has a policy against breeding GMO animals and feels consumers are not ready to accept them in the food chain.</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: white;">Cobb-Vantress, owned by top U.S. chicken company Tyson Foods Inc, has stopped supporting research into GMO chickens "at this time" because there is no approved commercial use, said Mitch Abrahamsen, vice president of research and development.</span><br />
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<span style="background-color: white;">To genetically engineer chickens, the UK researchers inject a "decoy" gene into a cluster of cells on the yolk of a newly laid egg. The egg will hatch into a chick containing the decoy gene, which it will be able to pass on to its offspring.</span><br />
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<span style="background-color: white;">The decoy gene is injected into the chicken chromosome alongside the fluorescent protein that makes the birds glow under ultraviolet light, similar to glow-in-the-dark posters in college dorm rooms. The birds would not be bred to glow if they are commercialized.</span><br />
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<span style="background-color: white;">When the modified birds come into contact with the flu, their genetic code is designed to trick the virus into copying the decoy and to inhibit the virus' ability to reproduce itself.</span><br />
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<span style="background-color: white;">In one study with a form of decoy, scientists put 16 infected conventional chickens in contact with a mixture of 16 normal and 16 GMO chickens that contained a decoy. The GMO birds were found to be less susceptible and succumbed to infection more slowly than the conventional birds, said Tiley.</span><br />
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<span style="background-color: white;">FARMER PROTECTIONS</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: white;">A more flu-resistant bird could be a notable advance from the basic steps that farmers now rely on to avoid infections in barns, including banning visitors and disinfecting vehicle wheels. </span><span style="background-color: white;">Wild ducks, which can carry the virus, are thought to have spread the disease in the United States by dropping contaminated feces and feathers on farms. Humans can then transport the disease on their boots and trucks.</span><br />
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<span style="background-color: white;">The first GMO animal, a mouse, was produced in the 1980s for research purposes, according to the U.S. FDA. In 2009, the agency approved an anticoagulant derived from a GMO goat.</span><br />
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<span style="background-color: white;">The FDA said "there are many reasons for producing" GMO animals and that it could not provide a timeline for a decision on the GMO salmon. The British researchers have not asked the agency to review the GMO chickens.</span><br />
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<span style="background-color: white;">"We've got enough positive results to make us think it's worth taking it further," said Helen Sang, who took part in the flu experiments and is the Roslin Institute's personal chair in vertebrate molecular development.</span><br />
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<span style="background-color: white;">"The benefit could be enormous."</span><br />
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<span style="background-color: white;">From: FOX News</span></div>
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<i style="background-color: #e69138;"><b><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif; font-size: large;">Comment: That's the problem with all this GMO technology.. The benefit "could" be enormous. However, this is never the case. And biotech giants like Monsanto, don't even serve their own GMO products in their employee cafeterias, which are actually completely organic.</span></b></i></div>

GMO chickens shed light on bird flu fight

In the realm of avian research, the chicks with the glow-in-the-dark beaks and feet might one day rock the poultry world. British s...

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CALIFORNIA TO LABEL MONSANTO’S ROUNDUP AS ‘CARCINOGENIC’

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Sacramento, CA – The state of California’s Environmental Protection Agency has moved to begin labeling glyphosate, the main ingredient in Monsanto’s Roundup, as a known carcinogen.<br />
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Biochemical giant Monsanto has found itself under increased scrutiny after the World Health Organization recently announced that glyphosate is likely carcinogenic to humans.<br />
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Then just last week, researchers issued a warning about potential adverse long-term health effects. The warning comes after they found that long-term exposure to minuscule amounts (thousands of times lower than what is allowed in drinking water in the US) could lead kidney and liver damage.<br />
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The EPA’s announcement is an official “notice of intent” to label the product as a known carcinogen, which allows the public to comment on the proposed listing through October 5, 2015.<br />
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According to a report in the East Bay Express:<br />
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The action falls under Proposition 65, a measure voters approved in 1986 that requires the state to publish a list of chemicals known to cause cancer, birth defects, or other reproductive harms. The state regularly updates the list, which now includes hundreds of chemicals. Under Prop 65, businesses must provide a “clear and reasonable” warning before exposing people to a chemical on the list. The warning could be labels on a consumer product, workplace postings, distributed notices at apartment buildings, or a notice published in a newspaper.<br />
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The listing neither restricts, nor bans the herbicide, but environmental activists are hopeful that the listing could eventually lead to more restrictions on the chemicals usage.<br />
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“California’s taking an important step toward protecting people and wildlife from this toxic pesticide,” Nathan Donley, staff scientist with the Center for Biological Diversity, a conservation nonprofit based in San Francisco, said in a statement.<br />
“It’s nearly impossible for people to limit exposure to this toxin because it is just so widespread. That’s why we need much tighter controls on its use.” Donley said, adding that the US uses more than 250 millions pounds of glyphosate annually.<br />
The activist hopes these actions will serve as an impetus for greater federal involvement in regulating this potential carcinogen.<br />
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The Center for Biological Diversity claims that glyphosate residue is now found on 90 percent of GM soy and that world use of the chemical is at an all-time high.<br />
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by JAY SYRMOPOULOS | FREE THOUGHT PROJECT

CALIFORNIA TO LABEL MONSANTO’S ROUNDUP AS ‘CARCINOGENIC’

Sacramento, CA – The state of California’s Environmental Protection Agency has moved to begin labeling glyphosate, the main ingredient in...

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OVER 4000 ‘GENES’ ALTERED WITH LOW-DOSE ROUNDUP EXPOSURE

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Liver and kidney damage due to a diet full of genetically modified food has already been shown in a notable, yet controversial study that was once forced to be retracted, and then later republished by the Journal of Food and Chemical Toxicology. This study, titled the “Long Term Toxicity of Roundup Herbicide and a Roundup-Tolerant Genetically Modified Maize” is joined now by a new, peer-reviewed study showing that even at the levels of glyphosate the general public is exposed to in drinking water, over 4000 genes and their proper functioning are altered in the livers and kidneys of rats.<br />
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Are we affected too?<br />
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Published in the Environmental Health Journal, the new study suggests that even super low levels of Roundup exposure are deadly.<br />
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The study results showed that exposure to low-dose glyphosate concentrations, in an established laboratory animal toxicity model system, can result in liver and kidney damage, with potential significant health implications for people as well as our pets and wildlife populations.<br />
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Here is an overview given by the study abstract:<br />
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“Glyphosate-based herbicides (GBH) are the major pesticides used worldwide. Converging evidence suggests that GBH, such as Roundup, pose a particular health risk to liver and kidneys although low environmentally relevant doses have not been examined. To address this issue, a 2-year study in rats administering 0.1 ppb Roundup (50 ng/L glyphosate equivalent) via drinking water…was conducted.<br />
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A marked increased incidence of anatomorphological and blood/urine biochemical changes was indicative of liver and kidney structure and functional pathology….”<br />
This follow-up investigation conducted by Dr. Michael Antoniou’s team at King’s College London was a follow up to Seralini’s 2-year study of rats exposed to Roundup that the biotech industry tried desperately to silence. Sites like the Genetic Literacy Project are still attempting to dismiss Seralini’s findings, but with additional studies like Antoniou’s, their arguments become baseless.<br />
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Here’s why:<br />
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The Seralini investigation administered a commercial Roundup formulation at 0.1 ppb (parts per billion)/50 ppt (parts per trillion) glyphosate via drinking water for 2 years.Liver and kidney pathologies were found in the rats. The new study by Dr. Antoniou’s team investigated whether heightened liver and kidney pathology observed at an anatomical and biochemical level was reflected in the gene expression pattern. “Transcriptome” was analyzed, by comparing liver and kidney tissues from the Roundup treatment group with those of the control animals.Here’s what Dr. Antoniou said about what they found, “The findings of our study are very worrying as they confirm that a very low level of consumption of Roundup weedkiller over the long term can result in liver and kidney damage. Our results also suggest that regulators should re-consider the safety evaluation of glyphosate-based herbicides.”<br />
Dr. Antoniou and his team also found that a consistent pattern of alteration was found in the gene function of the liver and kidneys at this extremely low level of exposure.<br />
More than 4000 of the genes in the rats studied were found to have either increased or decreased function, and over 1300 of these affected both organs.<br />
The changes were highly statistically significant. This was not a small sample size that was affected.<br />
The gene changes affected important biological functions like respiration and metabolism.<br />
The gene changes caused health issues such as fibrosis (scarring), necrosis (the creation of areas of dead tissue), phospholipidosis (disturbed fat metabolism) and damage to mitochondria (the center of respiration in cells).<br />
These changes in pathology were confirmed at multiple levels: histological (through a microscope), and biochemical (by testing blood and urine samples.)<br />
Considering that the European Union and Australia have water which is 14,000 times lower in glyphosate levels than that permitted in drinking water in the USA, we can expect to see greater liver and kidney pathologies, as did the rats.<br />
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The researchers noted that the observed liver and kidney pathologies may have arisen from glyphosate, the adjuvants present in the Roundup formulation, or a combination of the two. They also still do not understand how Roundup caused this increased pathology specifically, but given the extremely low doses at which pathology occurred, it is likely the upset happens through the endocrine system, and hormonal interference.<br />
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With both Seralini and Antoniou’s work we now have more evidence that Roundup causes damage to the liver and kidneys. Despite this, and the numerous other findings, such as the recent news from Argentina that children are suffering from genetic damage at heavily sprayed GM soy sites in the country, there has been no international move to heavily examine Roundup, and hold Monsanto accountable for its poisoning of the people.<br />
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Will we have to wait decades, as we did with lawsuits surrounding Monsanto-made Agent Orange or PCBs to finally receive partial restitution for the insidious actions of a corporation with no soul?<br />
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“The backlog of Agent Orange cases needing attention at the Veterans Administration has been placed at half a million.  Meanwhile, the Supreme Court has declined to find the chemical companies responsible for Agent Orange health problems, in the US or Vietnam.”<br />
Will Monsanto and its best-selling herbicide, Roundup, have its way with the population to such a large degree that we will have to stand by idly and watch as multiple generations suffer physical and mental damage?<br />
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The results rest largely on our shoulders, as we have seen our elected officials care little about the damage that Big Biotech unleashes on the world. I urge you to ask that farmers in your area stop spraying Roundup, tell that stores to stop selling it, only eat organic food (also demanding that grocery stores stop selling chemically covered GM foods) and of course, when you can, grow your own organic food.<br />
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This article originally appeared at Natural Society.

OVER 4000 ‘GENES’ ALTERED WITH LOW-DOSE ROUNDUP EXPOSURE

Liver and kidney damage due to a diet full of genetically modified food has already been shown in a notable, yet controversial study that...

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Pesticide Exposure From GMO Crops in Hawaii

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Hawaiians have seen firsthand that people near agrichemical companies’ test plots of genetically engineered (GMO) crops are at increased risk of being exposed to toxic chemicals that drift off the fields. And they’re fighting back.<br />
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State and local representatives in Hawaii are working to pass laws to protect vulnerable communities from the harmful pesticides blanketing nearby GMO crops designed to be herbicide-tolerant.<br />
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In a recent article (Aug. 23) in The Guardian, journalist Christopher Pala wrote about the town of Waimea on the island of Kauai, downhill from some of the test plots, where a middle school and a hospital are less than 2,000 feet from a Syngenta test field. Pala noted that the companies are not required to disclose much about the chemicals they’re testing as they develop new varieties of herbicide-resistant crops.<br />
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In the contiguous 48 states, EWG analyses have shown that 3,200 elementary schools and 12,000 churches are located near fields where GMO corn and soybean are likely grown. And a report by the Center for Food Safety in May indicated that those numbers are probably underestimates, given the number of communities near GMO corn and soybean test plots in Hawaii.<br />
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The Center’s report found that agrichemical giants taking advantage of Hawaii’s extended growing season spray 17 times more pesticides on fields on the island of Kauai than on cornfields on the U.S. mainland.<br />
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Right now, Hawaiians are battling agrichemical companies at the county level, in the state house and in the courts over issues of pesticide disclosure, buffer zones and restrictions on GMO cultivation. Their efforts could be fruitless, however, if the U.S. Senate passes a bill – dubbed by opponents the “Deny Americans the Right to Know” or “DARK” Act – that could preempt any Hawaiian GMO laws that get on the books. If Hawaii or any other state were to pass a law requiring GMO foods to be labeled – as Connecticut, Maine and Vermont have done – the DARK Act, which has already passed the House, would block the state from implementing it.<br />
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One reason nine out of 10 consumers – regardless of political party, gender, education or race – want mandatory GMO labeling is the growing concern over the escalating amounts of toxic weed killers needed to grow the vast majority of GMO crops.<br />
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No matter where they shop, people should have the right to know which foods were made with GMOs, as consumers in 64 other countries already do.<br />
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By Mary Ellen Kustin, Senior Policy Analyst of EWG.org

Pesticide Exposure From GMO Crops in Hawaii

Hawaiians have seen firsthand that people near agrichemical companies’ test plots of genetically engineered (GMO) crops are at increased ...

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Greece and Latvia ban Monsanto's GMO Crops

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Two more European countries are rejecting genetically modified organisms (GMOs). Latvia and Greece have specifically said no to growing Monsanto‘s genetically modified maize, or MON810, that’s widely grown in America and Asia but is the only variety grown in Europe.<br />
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Lativia and Greece have chosen the “opt-out” clause of a European Union rule passed in March that allows member countries to abstain from growing GM crops, even if they are authorized by the EU. Scotland and Germany also made headlines in recent weeks for seeking a similar ban on GMOs.<br />
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According to Reuters, in many European countries, there is widespread criticism against the agribusiness giant’s pest-resistant crops, claiming that GM-cultivation threatens biodiversity.<br />
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Monsanto said it would abide by Latvia’s and Greece’s request to not grow the crops. The company, however, accused the two countries of ignoring science and refusing GMOs out of “arbitrary political grounds.”<br />
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In a statement, Monsanto said that the move from the two countries “contradicts and undermines the scientific consensus on the safety of MON810.”<br />
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Monsanto also told Reuters that since the growth of GM-crops in Europe is so small, the opt-outs will not affect their business.<br />
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“Nevertheless,” the company continued, “we regret that some countries are deviating from a science-based approach to innovation in agriculture and have elected to prohibit the cultivation of a successful GM product on arbitrary political grounds.”<br />
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According to NewsWire, the EU’s opt-out clause “directly confronts U.S. free trade deal supported by EU, under which the Union should open its doors widely for the US GM industry.”<br />
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In a statement on Thursday, the European Commission confirmed its zero-tolerance policy against non-authorized GM products. The commission said that it’s also consulting with the European Food Safety Authority (EFSA) in order to answer “a scientific question” on GMO crops that’s unrelated to trade negotiations with the U.S. The EFSA announced that it would release a scientific opinion on the question by the end of 2017.<br />
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The environmental group, Friends of the Earth Europe, however, has accused the European Commission of “bowing to pressure from large biotech companies to minimize the level of health and safety checks on imports” of GM crops.<br />
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“The Commission is working behind closed doors to undermine rules that guarantee Europe’s food is GM-free,” said Mute Schimpf, a Friends of the Earth Europe food campaigner, said in a statement. “They’re bowing to pressure from big biotech companies who want to bring GM-crops through the backdoor as part of the EU-U.S. trade deal.”<br />
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The group cites a leaked letter suggesting that the European Commission has asked the EFSA to explore bypassing food safety checks in the case of GM-imports.<br />
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“Undermining current food safety laws would mean the food on our plates could be contaminated with GMOs and we’d never know,” Schimpf continued. “It would have severe consequences for the food sector — low-level contamination could not be traced and products could never be guaranteed GM-free.”<br />
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By Lorraine Chow / EcoWatch

Greece and Latvia ban Monsanto's GMO Crops

Two more European countries are rejecting genetically modified organisms (GMOs). Latvia and Greece have specifically said no to growing M...

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Chipotle sued over GMO-free menu claims

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<span style="font-family: inherit; line-height: 24.0000019073486px;">(Reuters) - Chipotle Mexican Grill Inc's new GMO-free menu claims have lured diners and boosted the burrito chain's stock price, but it has some consumers crying foul.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">A California woman has accused the popular chain in a lawsuit of false advertising after it trumpeted on April 27 that it was the first national restaurant company to use only ingredients that are free of controversial genetically modified organisms, or GMOs.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">In her lawsuit filed Friday in federal court in San Francisco, the plaintiff Colleen Gallagher also alleged that Chipotle violated the Federal Food, Drug and Cosmetic Act because its food labeling is false and misleading, and deceived diners into paying more for their food.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">"As Chipotle told consumers it was 'G-M-Over it,' the opposite was true," the Piedmont, California resident said. "In fact, Chipotle's menu as never been at any time free of GMOs."</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">Chipotle spokesman Chris Arnold declined to discuss the allegations, but said "we do plan to contest this."</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">Many U.S. diners have in surveys expressed a willingness to pay a premium price for food they perceive to be less processed and more natural or organic, and retail data back that up.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">Chipotle's website carries disclaimers about the GMO content in its food.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">Those disclaimers say that "most animal feed in the U.S. is genetically modified, which means that the meat and dairy served at Chipotle are likely to come from animals given at least some GMO feed." They add that "many of the beverages sold in our restaurants contain genetically modified ingredients."</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">Gallagher contended that most Chipotle diners are unlikely to see these disclaimers, and will rely instead on the company’s advertising.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">Her lawsuit seeks class action status and unspecified damages.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">A woman named Colleen Gallagher, represented by the same law firm, is also a plaintiff in a 2014 lawsuit in the same court alleging that Bayer AG's claims about the health benefits of its One A Day multivitamins misled consumers.  On Aug. 18, U.S. District Judge William Orrick denied Bayer’s motion to dismiss that lawsuit.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">Lawyers for Gallagher did not immediately respond on Monday to calls and emails seeking comment.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">The case is Gallagher v Chipotle Mexican Grill Inc, U.S. District Court, Northern District of California, No. 15-03952.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">(Reporting by Lisa Baertlein in Los Angeles and Jonathan Stempel in New York; Editing by David Gregorio</span></div>

Chipotle sued over GMO-free menu claims

(Reuters) - Chipotle Mexican Grill Inc's new GMO-free menu claims have lured diners and boosted the burrito chain's stock price, ...

Read Article »

FARMERS SEE DANGER FROM GMOs; REJECT GMO SEEDS

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GM crops reportedly come with increasingly high costs and few benefits, and as a result, many farmers are refusing to plant them.<br />
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On its website, Monsanto – the world’s biggest producer of genetically modified organisms – claims that these realities are false. The manufacturer says that by genetically building certain traits into seeds, such as insect and herbicide tolerance, it can “help to increase yields by protecting the yield that would otherwise be lost due to insects or weeds.” Monsanto goes on to list five countries that have seen rather drastic increases in crop yields since the introduction of GM traits.<br />
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But nothing is more powerful than first-hand accounts from farmers who have tried to utilize GM crops in their own fields.<br />
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Illinois farmer Dan Beyers told the San Jose Mercury News last week that he abandoned GM corn and soybean seeds that had been altered to withstand glyphosate, the main ingredient in Monsanto’s Roundup herbicide, because planting the crops no longer made sense financially.<br />
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“As they added more traits, we didn’t really see a yield advantage. And every time they added a trait, they added cost,” said Beyers, who also worries that GMO seeds could be damaging his soil.<br />
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According to the Mercury News, anecdotal evidence suggests that Beyers is far from alone in his rejection of GM crops. [1]<br />
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As the world begins to wake up to and worry about the impact GMOs could have on humans and the environment, non-GMO foods – especially soybeans – are in high demand. Thus, they make farmers far more money. The demand for non-GMO crops is largely driven by foreign nations like Japan and South Korea, which are constantly in the market for conventional (non-GM) soybeans.<br />
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Plus, non-GM seeds are just plain cheaper because they lack the need to recoup the massive costs of research and development that are basically built into the price of GM seeds. [1]<br />
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Even if profit is the cornerstone on which this change is based, it is still telling. After all, experts project over $35 billion in sales for organic, non-GMO foods in 2015. As GMO corn, soy, and other GM grain prices rise, along with the costs to grow them (associated with more pesticide and herbicide use to control super weeds, for example), farmers are looking past the GMO propaganda which promised higher yields and more cash for farmers who grew their poison crops.<br />
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This phenomenon is explained clearly in “The Genetic Engineering of Food and the Failure of Science” (full text available for download here) published in The International Journal of Sociology of Agriculture and Food.<br />
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Gilbert Hostetler, president of Illinois-based Prairie Hybrids commented:<br />
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“Our non-GMO seed sales are significantly higher than last year.”<br />
Mac Ehrhardt, president of Minnesota-based Albert Lea Seed reports that he is selling more conventional (he describes conventional corn as non-GMO) corn seed by the end of November than he did all of last year. He says that farmers are turning to non-GMO to cut costs and to earn more money for their non-GMO yields.<br />
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Farmers are also fearful of planting GM seeds in their fields because they see the damage already caused by GMOs and wearily wonder what kind of toll they might take on their businesses in the future. Glyphosate is becoming less effective as more weeds become resistant to the chemical. “Roundup isn’t cleaning up the fields the way it used to,” Beyers said.<br />
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In order for a crop to be considered non-GMO, it must contain less than 1% of glyphosate.<br />
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The ever-present nature of glyphosate is making it hard for non-GMO farmers to keep their crops “clean.” Sometimes glyphosate from neighboring farms finds its way onto non-GMO farmers’ crops, for example, making it hard for farmers to keep their crops separate from GMO crops. This is called GMO cross-contamination, and it’s a problem.<br />
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GMO farmers have to be more cautious about where they spray herbicides, and non-GMO farmers simply have to hope that GMO farmers will be careful.<br />
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This article originally appeared at Natural Society.

FARMERS SEE DANGER FROM GMOs; REJECT GMO SEEDS

GM crops reportedly come with increasingly high costs and few benefits, and as a result, many farmers are refusing to plant them. On its...

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