GMO Health Myths | Alliance for Natural Health USA - Protecting Natural Health https://anh-usa.org ANH Protects Free Speech About Natural Health Modalities, Bioidentical Hormone Replacement Therapy, Homeopathy and Access To Natural Therapies. Tue, 01 Sep 2015 08:55:22 +0000 en-US hourly 1 https://anh-usa.org/wp-content/uploads/2026/03/cropped-240215-ANH-new-logo-leaf-32x32.jpg GMO Health Myths | Alliance for Natural Health USA - Protecting Natural Health https://anh-usa.org 32 32 Myth: It’s Scientific Fact that GMOs Are Perfectly Safe https://anh-usa.org/myth-its-scientific-fact-that-gmos-are-perfectly-safe/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=myth-its-scientific-fact-that-gmos-are-perfectly-safe https://anh-usa.org/myth-its-scientific-fact-that-gmos-are-perfectly-safe/#comments Tue, 01 Sep 2015 08:55:22 +0000 https://anh-usa.org/?p=13786 The biotech industry says, “Trust us, GMO are perfectly safe!” But let’s look at the evidence: Most studies on GMOs have been conducted by the same biotech companies selling them. It’s difficult to get the actual raw data for independent testing, since most biotech companies aggressively block independent studies. The few independent studies that do […]

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]]> The biotech industry says, “Trust us, GMO are perfectly safe!” But let’s look at the evidence:

  • Most studies on GMOs have been conducted by the same biotech companies selling them.
  • It’s difficult to get the actual raw data for independent testing, since most biotech companies aggressively block independent studies. The few independent studies that do exist indicate potential allergenic and carcinogenic effects. Other independent studies come under immediate attack if they reach conclusions that biotech companies don’t like. A great example is the now infamous Seralini study which demonstrated the danger of Roundup. This study was retracted after publication when the publication came under attack by the media and many scientists. It has since been republished.
  • GMO corn is implanted with Bt (Bacillus thuringiensis), which can be poisonous to mammals. Since the introduction of GMO corn, Bt toxin has been found in the blood of 93% of pregnant mothers and in 80% of umbilical cord blood.
  • The health effects of GMOs are exacerbated by the negative health effects of increased herbicide use as a direct result of GMO herbicide-resistant plants.

Most of the independent studies so far have been on laboratory animals:

  • A recent animal study found that glyphosate (the active ingredient in Roundup, Monsanto’s widely used pesticide) often leaves a residue on Roundup Ready crops—and this can affect testosterone levels and sperm counts.
  • Scientists are seeing birth defects, high infant mortality rates, fertility problems, and sterility in hamsters, rats, mice, and livestock fed GMO soy and corn, and some hamster pups even began growing hair inside their mouths.
  • Studies indicate other serious health risks as well: immune system dysregulation, which points to an allergenic and inflammatory response to GMOs; increased aging (especially in the liver); and changes in animals’ liver, kidney, spleen, and gastrointestinal systems.
While there have been no long-term studies on the effect of GMOs on humans, initial studies show that GE foods can cause an allergenic response. Allergies have already skyrocketed in the US, and with the introduction of GE soy in the UK, soy-related allergies rose to 50%.
Mammals that ingest Bt toxin develop liver and kidney toxicity; they also produce a potent immune response, and their immune response to other substances is heightened.

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]]> https://anh-usa.org/myth-its-scientific-fact-that-gmos-are-perfectly-safe/feed/ 1 Myth: GMOs are Tightly Regulated https://anh-usa.org/myth-gmos-are-tightly-regulated/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=myth-gmos-are-tightly-regulated https://anh-usa.org/myth-gmos-are-tightly-regulated/#respond Wed, 03 Sep 2014 05:01:14 +0000 https://anh-usa.org/?p=13788 Biotech companies claim that GMO foods are strictly regulated. The reality is that such regulation is either weak or non-existent. No GMO food has ever been certified as safe by the FDA. Biotech companies, not government agencies, conduct research on new GMO crops. The standard for GMO safety is completely arbitrary: GMOs are considered as […]

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]]> Biotech companies claim that GMO foods are strictly regulated. The reality is that such regulation is either weak or non-existent.

  • No GMO food has ever been certified as safe by the FDA.
  • Biotech companies, not government agencies, conduct research on new GMO crops.
  • The standard for GMO safety is completely arbitrary: GMOs are considered as safe as conventional products if they have, for example, the same nutritional value. However, what is actually being measured is carbohydrate value, not nutritional value. This criteria does nothing to prove safety or consistency.
  • Biotech companies are always looking for backdoor ways to release new GMO crops onto the market with minimal preapproval. Take, for example, the case of Codex and biofortification.
Despite warnings from its own scientists, the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) developed a policy that does not require any safety testing or labeling of GM products.
The basis for GMO safety is the use of a concept called “substantial equivalence,” which assumes that foods possessing similar amounts of the basic components (fat, protein, carbohydrates) are essentially the same. This standard was proposed by the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development, an international trade group, not a scientific one.“Substantial equivalence” has been criticized by numerous scientists. GMO crops are not “substantially equivalent” to regular crops because GE crop technology thwarts the natural reproductive process. Because it shares genetic combinations across different species, it circumvents the mechanisms which nature has built in to protect against dangerous combinations.Another way GMOs are not substantially equivalent is that GE soy, canola, corn, and experimental rice varieties have nutritional, size, and textural differences.
Biofortification is the breeding of crops to increase their nutritional value and can either be achieved conventionally—via traditional breeding techniques—or through genetic engineering. The global Codex Committee is currently considering whether to set standards on biofortification, and if so, how to define it. Essentially, this could be a backdoor way to release new GMO crops onto the international market without any regulation or labeling.

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]]> https://anh-usa.org/myth-gmos-are-tightly-regulated/feed/ 0 Myth: GMOs Help Family Farmers and Benefit the Economy https://anh-usa.org/myth-gmos-help-family-farmers-and-benefit-the-economy/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=myth-gmos-help-family-farmers-and-benefit-the-economy https://anh-usa.org/myth-gmos-help-family-farmers-and-benefit-the-economy/#comments Mon, 01 Sep 2014 05:23:36 +0000 https://anh-usa.org/?p=13798 While purveyors of this technology, like Monsanto, reap incredible financial rewards, studies indicate that small farmers are being squeezed out of the industry or are forced to be little more than sharecroppers, perpetually in debt to the large companies that hold their crops hostage: • In 2013, Monsanto sued 500 farmers for patent violations. Farmers […]

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]]> While purveyors of this technology, like Monsanto, reap incredible financial rewards, studies indicate that small farmers are being squeezed out of the industry or are forced to be little more than sharecroppers, perpetually in debt to the large companies that hold their crops hostage:
• In 2013, Monsanto sued 500 farmers for patent violations. Farmers who use their seeds are not allowed to save seed and reuse, but must buy new seed every year or face legal action.
• GM crops have caused seed prices of important US commodity crops to rise. Since 1995, soybean, corn, and cotton seeds have risen in price by 325%, 259% and 526% respectively.
• Crops contaminated with GMOs negatively affect trade relations as more and more countries ban the technology.
• Not labeling GMOs hurts the economy, makes the food industry less competitive worldwide, has a negative impact on food exports, imports, and jobs, diminishes tax revenue, and has a ripple impact on other associated industries. An ANH-USA sponsored study showed that the failure to pass mandatory GMO labeling in the state of Washington will cost 130,000 jobs in that state alone. Extrapolating those number nationwide shows the magnitude of the problem nationally.
• Countries like Russia and China have seen the economic impact of GMOs and have recently announced that they will be following the nearly 70 countries around that world that have banned GMO crops.

Exports of corn to China were down 85% in 2013 due to that country’s ban on GMOs. This represented a financial loss of $427 million for the US. Russia recently announced it would join the growing list of over sixty countries to ban GMOs—that is, over sixty countries that have been eliminated as trading partners for our crops.
In the summer of 2013, Japan and South Korea cancelled orders for, and banned imports of, soft white wheat from the US when GMO-contaminated wheat plants were discovered on a putatively GMO-free farm in Oregon.

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