Vermont Senate Votes 26-2 for GMO Labeling

[swineflu]

MONTPELIER - The Senate gave a decisive 26-2 vote Tuesday for a bill that would require labeling of foods that contain genetically modified ingredients, a strong indication that Vermont could become the first state in the nation to enact such a law.

"We are saying people have a right to know what's in their food," said Senate President Pro Tempore John Campbell, D-Windsor.

The bill would require food sold in Vermont stores that contain genetically modified ingredients to be labeled starting July 2016. The legislation is up for another vote in the Senate Wednesday before it goes back to the House, which passed a slightly different version last year. Gov. Peter Shumlin has indicated he's likely to sign the bill.

Two other states - Connecticut and Maine - have passed labeling laws, but both delayed implementation until neighboring states join them, a strategy designed to insulate them from being sued.

http://www.organicconsumers.org/arti...icle_29784.cfm

[Marema]

Good. I'd like to know what I'm eating so I don't grow a third eye.

[Butler to Baby Sloths]

Good, people have the right to know what they are eating (regardless of whether or not it is good for you).

[Templar 331]

This is going to be interesting. I wonder if the big corporations are going to label their products as GMO or just not sell in those states. If they do label them as GMO, it could cut into sales in other states without the labeling laws.

And all this hate towards GMO crops with no evidence of negative effects to back it up is just sad........

[Kraenen]

Sounds good. An informed consumer is necessary for a free market.

[swineflu]

Good, people have the right to know what they are eating (regardless of whether or not it is good for you).

..especially in cases where it is in fact bad for you. GMOs are harder to digest, cause food allergies, and the herbicide-resistant strains are LOADED cancerous herbicide, usually up to four or five applications as opposed to the usual one.
http://www.mmo-champion.com/threads/...ROOF-of-danger

[Kujako]

Oh, good. Now people can act on all of the baseless fear mongering and cause problems.

Your fear is baseless! Which is why we can't tell you what you're eating.

[Bathory]

Good! Regardless of your stance on the GMO subject, you should be able to tell what's in your food plain and simple.

[swineflu]

And all this hate towards GMO crops with no evidence of negative effects to back it up is just sad........

You are wrong. http://www.mmo-champion.com/threads/...ROOF-of-danger

[TZucchini]

Seems like an undue burden on the manufacturers to change all their labeling. Hopefully they increase their prices in Vermont to make up for the cost.

[swineflu]

Oh, good. Now people can act on all of the baseless fear mongering and cause problems.

http://www.mmo-champion.com/threads/...ROOF-of-danger
Scientists at the Russian Academy of Sciences reported between 2005 and 2006 that female rats fed Roundup
Ready-tolerant GM soy produced excessive numbers of severely stunted pups with more than half of the litter dying
within three weeks, and the surviving pups completely sterile.37
In 2005, scientists at the Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organization in Canberra, Australia
reported that a harmless protein in beans (alpha-amylase inhibitor) transferred to peas caused inflammation in the
lungs of mice and provoked sensitivities to other proteins in the diet.38
From 2002 to 2005, scientists at the Universities of Urbino, Perugia and Pavia in Italy published reports indicating
that GM soy affected cells in the pancreas, liver and testes of young mice.39
In 2004, Monsanto’s secret research dossier showed that rats fed MON863 GM corn developed serious kidney and
blood abnormalities.40
In 1998, Dr. Arpad Pusztai and colleagues formerly of the Rowett Institute in Scotland reported damage in every
organ system of young rats fed GM potatoes containing snowdrop lectin, including a stomach lining twice as thick
as controls.41
Also in 1998, scientists in Egypt found similar effects in the guts of mice fed Bt potato.42
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration had data dating back to early 1990s showing that rats fed GM tomatoes
with antisense gene to delay ripening had developed small holes in their stomachs.43
In 2002, Aventis company (later Bayer Cropscience) submitted data to UK regulators showing that chickens fed
glufosinate-tolerant GM corn Chardon LL were twice as likely to die compared with controls.43
In 2012, researchers found that female rats fed Roundup Ready-tolerant GM corn developed large tumors and
dysfunction of the pituitary gland; males also developed tumors and exhibited pathologies of the liver and kidney.44
Monsanto’s data on cooked GM soybeans shows as much as seven times the level of a natural soy allergen, trypsin inhibitor, compared to non-GMO soy.5
Monsanto’s Bt corn (Mon 810) produces an allergenic protein that is not produced in natural corn—the genetic engineering process switches on the silent gene.6
Mice fed natural Bt-toxin showed significant immune responses and became sensitive to other formerly harmless compounds.7,8,9 They also showed tissue damage in their small intestines.10
The bacterial gene that produces the Bt-toxin is inserted into GM crops. The Bt-toxin produced in GM plants, however, is three to five thousand times more concentrated than the spray, doesn’t wash off or biodegrade,19,20 and is designed to be more toxic than the natural version.21
A 2008 Italian government study found that Bt corn provoked profound immune responses in mice.22
Monsanto’s own rat studies with Bt corn also showed toxicity and immune responses.23
Numerous reports, including medical investigations and hospital records, show that thousands of agricultural workers in India exposed to GM Bt cotton varieties are reporting rashes and symptoms that are similar to those experienced by the five hundred people in the Pacific Northwest who were exposed to Bt-spray.24
In the Journal of Applied Toxicology 2012 researchers “documented that modified Bt toxins [from GM plants] are not inert on human cells, but can exert toxicity.” In high concentrations (generally higher than that produced in average Bt corn), Bt-toxin disrupts the membrane in just twenty-four hours, causing certain fluids to leak through the cell walls. The authors specifically note, “This may be due to pore formation like in insect cells.” 25
The EPA had also claimed that Bt-toxin was destroyed during digestion in humans. But a 2011 Canadian study conducted at Sherbrooke Hospital discovered that 93 percent of the pregnant women they tested had Bt-toxin in their blood. And so too did 80 percent of their unborn fetuses.26
When Australian scientists inserted a gene from kidney beans into peas, the protein produced in a genetically engineered pea had the right amino acid sequence—the same as that produced in kidney beans. But the sugar molecules attached to the protein in the peas had a slightly different shape from the molecules that attached themselves in the natural beans. This slight change of the sugar chain (called glycosylation) was credited with changing a harmless protein into a potentially deadly allergen.28
Numerous studies in the past several years have implicated Roundup, or its active ingredient glyphosate, in cancer, birth defects, endocrine disorders, Parkinson’s, and damage to gut bacteria.30
A 2013 paper in the journal Entropy: examining the biochemical impacts of glyphosate on two key metabolic pathways, as well as its ability to bind with minerals and make them inassimilable, the authors link it to “most of the diseases and conditions associated with a Western diet, which include gastrointestinal disorders, obesity, diabetes, heart disease, depression, autism, infertility, cancer and Alzheimer’s disease.”31
Transgenes inserted into GM crops can transfer to DNA of gut flora. According to one of the only published human feeding studies on GMOs, part of the transgenes from Roundup Ready soybeans transferred into bacteria living inside our intestines.32
GM papaya, zucchini and yellow squash have viral transgenes that may produce viral proteins. More than one hundred studies show that viral proteins can suppress an organism’s defenses against viral infections or have toxic effects. 33




5. The original study: Stephen R. Padgette et al., “The Composition of Glyphosate- Tolerant Soybean Seeds Is Equivalent to That of Conventional Soybeans,” The Journal of Nutrition 126, no. 4, (April 1996), left out the data from the cooked soybeans, which was recovered from the Journal and referenced in A. Pusztai and S. Bardocz, “GMO in animal nutrition: potential benefits and risks,” Chapter 17, Biology of Nutrition in Growing Animals (Elsevier, 2005).

6. L Zolla, et al., “Proteomics as a complementary tool for identifying unintended side effects occurring in transgenic maize seeds as a result of genetic modifications,” J Proteome Res. 2008 May;7(5):1850-61 http://pubs.acs.org/doi/abs/10.1021/pr0705082

7. Vazquez et al, "Intragastric and intraperitoneal administration of Cry1Ac protoxin from Bacillus thuringiensis induces systemic and mucosal antibody responses in mice," Life Sciences, 64, no. 21 (1999): 1897–1912; Vazquez et al, “Characterization of the mucosal and systemic immune response induced by Cry1Ac protein from Bacillus thuringiensis HD 73 in mice,” Brazilian Journal of Medical and Biological Research 33 (2000): 147–155.

8. Vazquez et al, “Bacillus thuringiensis Cry1Ac protoxin is a potent systemic and mucosal adjuvant,” Scandinavian Journal of Immunology 49 (1999): 578–584. See also Vazquez-Padron et al., 147 (2000b).

9. EPA Scientific Advisory Panel, “Bt Plant-Pesticides Risk and Benefits Assessments,” March 12, 2001: 76. Available at: http://www.epa.gov/scipoly/sap/2000/...toberfinal.pdf

10. Nagui H. Fares, Adel K. El-Sayed, “Fine Structural Changes in the Ileum of Mice Fed on Endotoxin Treated Potatoes and Transgenic Potatoes,” Natural Toxins 6, no. 6 (1998): 219–233.

21. See for example, A. Dutton, H. Klein, J. Romeis, and F. Bigler, “Uptake of Bt-toxin by herbivores feeding on transgenic maize and consequences for the predator Chrysoperia carnea,” Ecological Entomology 27 (2002): 441–7; and J. Romeis, A. Dutton, and F. Bigler, “Bacillus thuringiensis toxin (Cry1Ab) has no direct effect on larvae of the green lacewing Chrysoperia carnea (Stephens) (Neuroptera: Chrysopidae),” Journal of Insect Physiology 50, no. 2–3 (2004): 175–183.

22. Alberto Finamore, et al., “Intestinal and Peripheral Immune Response to MON810 Maize Ingestion in Weaning and Old Mice,” J. Agric. Food Chem., 2008, 56 (23), pp 11533–11539, November 14, 2008.

23. de Vendômois JS, Roullier F, Cellier D, Séralini GE. A Comparison of the Effects of Three GM Corn Varieties on Mammalian Health. Int J Biol Sci 2009; 5:706-726. Available from http://www.biolsci.org/v05p0706.htm; and John M. Burns, “13-Week Dietary Subchronic Comparison Study with MON 863 Corn in Rats Preceded by a 1-Week Baseline Food Consumption Determination with PMI Certified Rodent Diet #5002,” December 17, 2002. see also Stéphane Foucart, “Controversy Surrounds a GMO,” Le Monde, 14 December 2004.

24. Ashish Gupta et. al., “Impact of Bt Cotton on Farmers’ Health (in Barwani and Dhar District of Madhya Pradesh),” Investigation Report, Oct–Dec 2005; and Sunday Indian, according to hospital records: “Victims of itching have increased massively this year . . . related to BT cotton farming.” October 26, 2008.

25. Mesnage R, Clair E, Gress S, Then C, Székács A, Séralini, GE. (2012). Cytotoxicity on human cells of Cry1Ab and Cry1Ac Bt insecticidal toxins alone or with a glyphosate-based herbicide. J. Appl. Toxicol. doi: 10.1002/jat.2712

26. Aris A, Leblanc S, “Maternal and fetal exposure to pesticides associated to genetically modified foods in Eastern Townships of Quebec, Canada.” Reprod Toxicol. 2011 May;31(4):528-33. Epub 2011 Feb 18.

28. V. E. Prescott, et al, “Transgenic Expression of Bean r-Amylase Inhibitor in Peas Results in Altered Structure and Immunogenicity,” Journal of Agricultural Food Chemistry (2005): 53.

30. See list at http://responsibletechnology.org/gmo...of-glyphosate; Michael Antoniou, et al, GM SOY, Sustainable? Responsible? Earth Open Source, September 2010 http://earthopensource.org/files/pdf...l_eng_v15.pdf; and Michael Antoniou, et al, Roundup and birth defects: Is the public being kept in the dark? Earth Open Source, 2011 http:// http://www.scribd.com/doc/57277946/R...BirthDefectsv5

31. Anthony Samsel and Stephanie Seneff, Glyphosate’s Suppression of Cytochrome P450 Enzymes and Amino Acid Biosynthesis by the Gut Microbiome: Pathways to Modern Diseases, Entropy, 18 April 2013, http://www.mdpi.com/1099-4300/15/4/1416

32. Netherwood et al, “Assessing the survival of transgenic plant DNA in the human gastrointestinal tract,” Nature Biotechnology 22 (2004): 2.

33. Comments on GM Science Review, From Econexus, the Five Year Freeze, Friends of the Earth, GeneWatch UK, Greenpeace, the Soil Association, and Dr Michael Antoniou, October 14th 2003.

37. Advisory Committee on Novel Foods and Processes, Committee Paper for Discussion, Effect of GM Soya on Newborn Rats (Nov. 2005), www.bioeticanet.info/omg/transgeREC.pdf, accessed November 3, 2012.

38. Ho MW. Transgenic pea that made mice ill. Science in Society. 29, 28-29, 2006.

39. Ho MW. GM ban long overdue. Dozens ill & five deaths in the Philippines. Science in Society. 29, 26- 27, 2006.

40. French experts very disturbed by health effects of Monsanto GM corn. GMWatch. 23 April 2004. www.gmwatch.org.

41. Pusztai A and others. Genetically modified foods: Potential human health effects. Food Safety: Contaminants and Toxins. (J P F D’Mello ed.), Scottish Agricultural College, Edinburgh, CAB International, 2003.

42. Fares NH and El-Sayed AK. Fine structural changes in the ileum of mice fed on dendotoxin-treated potatoes and transgenic potatoes. Natural Toxins. 1998, 6, 219-33; Cummins J and MW Ho. Bt is toxic. ISIS News 7/8, February 2001, ISSN: 1474-1547 (print), ISSN: 1474-1814 (online) http://www.i-sis.org.uk/isisnews.php Agricultural Biotechnology 2006, www.ISAAA.org.

43. Novotny E. Animals avoid GM food, for good reasons. Science in Society. 21, 9-11, 2004.

44. Séralini, GE and others. Long term toxicity of a Roundup herbicide and a Roundup-tolerant genetically modified maize. Food and Chemical Toxicology. Volume 50, Issue 11, November 2012, Pages 4221– 4231.

[Butler to Baby Sloths]

Seems like an undue burden on the manufacturers to change all their labeling. Hopefully they increase their prices in Vermont to make up for the cost.

You are aware of how little it costs to print a label, aren't you?

[Templar 331]

You are wrong. http://www.mmo-champion.com/threads/...ROOF-of-danger

Oh look, you point to another thread where people have proven you wrong numerous times because your source material is flawed and not peer reviewed.

[Templar 331]

You are aware of how little it costs to print a label, aren't you?

But I'm sure it will cost more to look at the paper trail of all the ingredients in a product to determine if they have any GMO crops in them.

[Rukentuts]

Cool, I love more government regulation based off baseless fear. Let's attack GMOs and ignore global warming because that's the smart thing to do.

[swineflu]

Seems like an undue burden on the manufacturers to change all their labeling. Hopefully they increase their prices in Vermont to make up for the cost.

I'm glad it hurts your feelings. LOLOLOLOL We win you lose.

[Butler to Baby Sloths]

But I'm sure it will cost more to look at the paper trail of all the ingredients in a product to determine if they have any GMO crops in them.

They are manufacturing the food. They should ALREADY have a paper trail of all the ingredients that go into it.

[TZucchini]

You are aware of how little it costs to print a label, aren't you?

No. Please enlighten me. How much does it cost?

[Tinykong]

I'm all for additional labeling requirements on foods. I'd like to see it expanded so that companies can't hide behind "trade secret 'spice' mixtures."

[swineflu]

Dude, you make these threads all of the time and your sources have been shit on repeatedly. I'm not impressed by a wall of citations, some of which I recognize already as having been discredited or unrelated to GMOs.

What you are impressed with doesn't make any difference to anyone about anything that matters. LOLOLOL! i love this we win and YOU LOSE