GeneticallyModifiedSweetCorn

Duringtheshortsummerthatwe'vejustexperienced,andI'lldescribeitasabouttwo weekslong,wherethetemperatureswereactually"summerlike",aquestionkeptgnawingat meregardingourexposuretogeneticallymodifiedfood!HasMonsantoandtheotherlarge Biotechcompaniesbeenfeedingus,ageneticallymanipulatedversionofoneofourlate summerfavourites,sweetcorn?Well,becauseIdidn'thaveananswerandIknowthatiffoods aregeneticallymodified,themostdangerousformtoeatitisinitsnaturalformasgrown. Becauseofthis,Iwouldn'tbuyanyfreshcobsofcornthatwereplentifulatthefarmer's marketsandroadsidestandsinthearea.Becausetherearenolawsregardingthelabellingon GMproduceinCanadawhichwouldallowconsumerstomakeinformeddecisionsinregards tothefoodtheypurchase,Ididn'thaveasinglefreshcobofcorn! NowthatIhavedonealittleresearchintothisquestion,Icameupwithsome personallydisturbinganswers.Andtheanswerisyes,acertainpercentageofthe"sweet"corn thatweallknowandloveisgeneticallymanipulated.I'mgoingtoaddanarticletakenfrom theCanadianBiotechnologyActionNetwork,thatwaspostedOctober23rd2013byLucy SharrattandTaariniChopraofCBAN.

TestsDiscoverUnlabelledGMSweetCorninCanadianGroceryStoresandFarmersMarkets (Pleasenote:NosamplesweretestedfromMetrostores) October23,2013OttawaTestshavefoundunlabelledgeneticallymodified(GM)sweetcorn ingrocerystores,roadsidestandsandfarmersmarketsacrossCanada,saystheCanadian BiotechnologyActionNetwork(CBAN). OurtestingclearlyshowsGMsweetcornispresentinCanada,saidLucySharrattofCBAN. Thehighnumberofpositiveresultsinoursmallsamplesizealertsconsumerstothefactthat theycouldbeunknowinglybuyingGMsweetcorn.Attheveryleast,GMsweetcornshouldbe clearlylabelledsoconsumerscanmakeachoice. ThepurposeofCBANstestwastogetanindicationofthepresenceofgeneticallymodified (alsocalledgeneticallyengineered)freshsweetcorninCanada. OursamplesizewassmallandrandombutshowsaclearpresenceofGMsweetcorn,across provincesandtypesofvendors,saidCBANresearcherTaariniChopra.Theresultsdonttell ushowmuchofCanadassweetcornisGM,buttheydotellusthatitsoutthere,inboth grocerystoresandfarmersmarkets.

CBANtested43samplesofconventionalfresh,sweetcorn.HalfwerefromOntario;therest fromBC,AlbertaandNovaScotia.Thesampleswerepurchasedfromoutletsofmajorgrocery chains(Loblaw,WalmartandSobeys)aswellassomesmaller,independentgrocerystores, farmersmarkets,androadsidestands. 15ofthe43samplestestedpositive.Thismeansthatapproximately35%ofthesesweetcorn samplesweregeneticallymodified. GMsweetcornwasdiscoveredinsamplespurchasedfromLoblawstores. GMsweetcornwasalsopresentinsamplesfromfarmersmarketsandroadsidestands. Varioussamplesfromall4provinceswheresampleswerecollectedOntario,BC,Nova ScotiaandAlbertatestedpositive. TestingofsamplesfromSobeysandWalmartdidnotfindGMsweetcorn. ResultsarenotstatisticallysignificantbutprovideasnapshotofGMsweetcorninCanada, intheabsenceofmandatoryGMfoodlabellingandanygovernmenttracking,including statisticsonGMcropcultivation. ThetestswereconductedbyCBANstaff,atSeedsofDiversityCanada'slaboratoryin WaterlooOntario,usingstriptestsfortheGMproteinCry1Ab. Untilrecently,GMcorngrowninCanadawaspredominantlyfieldcorn,whichisusedfor animalfeed,processedfoodingredientsandbiofuels.GMsweetcornisthefirstGMwhole foodgrowninCanada,andraisesnewquestionsforconsumersaboutpossiblehealthrisks. ThesweetcornisgeneticallyengineeredwithgenesfromtheBtbacteriatoproduceproteins thatmakeittoxictosomeinsects. SomefarmersmightbeplantingGMsweetcornwithoutknowingthatitsgenetically modified,orbeingawareoftheconsumerconcerns,saidSharratt. Formoreinformation:LucySharratt,CBAN,6132412267ext25;TaariniChopra,CBAN,cell 2266068240.www.cban.ca/corn HereisthelinktotheabovepageattheCBANwebsite: http://www.cban.ca/Press/PressReleases/TestsDiscoverUnlabelledGMSweetCornin CanadianGroceryStoresandFarmersMarkets

Sonowthatweknowthatgeneticallymodifiedsweetcornisbeingsoldtousfor 2

consumption,inOntario,let'slookalittlefurtherintothisimportanttopic.

Hereissomeinformationonastudythatwasdonecomparingthenutritionalvalue analysisofGMOcornversusNonGMOcorn.TheanalysisshowsclearlythattheGMcornisof significantlylessnutritionalvaluethantheNonGMcorn.

Hereisthelinktothewebpage"MomsAcrossAmerica"fromwherethischartoriginatedandis

beingusedtoeducatethepublicinregardstothisimportanttopic. http://www.momsacrossamerica.com/stunning_corn_comparison_gmo_versus_non_gmo

Nowforsomefurtherinformationandstatisticalchartsthatshowthecorrelationbetweenthe introductionofgeneticallymodifiedfoodstotheNorthAmericanpublic(theU.S.inparticular) andthesteadyriseofvariousdiseases,cancersandothermaladiesinthehumanpopulation. Thecharts,alongwithaplethoraofotherusefulinformation,iscontainedinthefollowing article,

Genetically Modified Organisms and the deterioration of health in the United States........N.L. Swanson, 4/24/2013
Theabovenoted42pagereport,whereallofthefollowingchartscanbelocated, alongwithagreatquantityofrelatedinformationcandbefoundatthefollowinglink.... http://people.csail.mit.edu/seneff/glyphosate/NancySwanson.pdf

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Basedontheexaminingoftheabovecharts,theyappeartoshowanuncanny correlationtotheuseofGlyphosatepesticides,theacreageofGMOcornandsoyplantedand theincreasedincidentsofvariousdiseasesandillnessesintheU.S.population. BasedonalltheinformationthatIhaveseen,read,watchedandlistenedto,these GeneticallyModifiedfoodcropsareDANGEROUStohumanhealth.Some,infactmostofthe abovelistedchartsshowthattheacutehealthproblemsarisingfromtheconsumptionof thesegeneticallymanipulatedfoods,isalreadymanifestingitselfatalarmingrates.Ibelieve, thatasfarasthehazardousanddeadlysideeffectsstemmingfromtheconsumptionofthese productsandofglyphosateaswell,willberevealedoverthenextcoupleofgenerations, meaningourchildrenandtheirchildren. Theworstisyettocome! M.

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