Outrageous false claim: Frankenscientists say purple medicinal 'GMO' tomatoes can beat cancer

Sunday, November 18, 2012 by: Ethan A. Huff, staff writer
Tags: GM tomatoes, cancer, false claims

(NaturalNews) Forget spirulina, pomegranates, blueberries, and the host of other natural "superfoods" with incredible nutritive and healing powers -- the biotechnology industry has developed a new purple "Frankentomato" that it claims can single-handedly halt inflammation, stop plaque buildup in arteries, and even cure cancer! An outrageous new propaganda campaign currently making the rounds in the mainstream media, and headed by researchers with a vested interest in seeing the new mutant tomato succeed, claims that genetically-modified (GM) tomatoes are key to eliminating heart disease globally, even though there are already plenty of nature-made fruits and vegetables, including other varieties of tomatoes, that naturally perform this and many other medicinal functions.

This latest affront to natural food comes out of the David Geffen School of Medicine at the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA), where Dr. Alan Fogelman, Executive Chair of the Department of Medicine and Director of the Atherosclerosis Research Unit, recently led a team of researchers in conducting a shoddy, deceptive study that just so happened to arrive at glowing conclusions concerning the team's prized GM tomato. According to the study, which was presented at the annual American Heart Association (AHA) Scientific Sessions, adding a little bit of GM tomato extract to rats' diets, which were said to be mostly composed of "Western-style, high-fat, calorie-packed" foods, helped them to experience "significantly lower blood levels of inflammation."

But the trial, as pointed out by GMWatch.org, was small, poorly conducted, and was neither peer-reviewed nor published in an actual scientific journal. And yet mainstream media coverage of the study has been relentlessly forgiving of these blatant flaws, with popular news sources parading around ridiculous headlines like "Purple tomato can beat cancer," and "How my purple tomato could save your life," which falsely imply that this untested mutant food is somehow a proven cure for whatever heart condition or disease that might be ailing you -- snake oil anyone?

"A mice trial like this cannot necessarily be extrapolated to the choices that human beings make, in terms of the foods that they eat," noted Dr. Suzanne Steinbaum, a preventive cardiologist at Lenox Hill Hospital, about the study's laughable findings. "Based on this trial alone in mice, 'medicinal' genetically-engineered foods are not the do-it-yourself pharmacies of the future. A smarter, old-fashioned choice would be simply to eat more healthily."

There are already plenty of non-GMO crops with enhanced nutrient profiles

But how would the biotechnology industry, whose mascot and ringleader is the infamous Monsanto, make any money from Dr. Steinbaum's common sense dietary approach? Since companies cannot patent natural tomatoes, including the non-GMO enhanced purple tomato that has already been created by researchers at Oregon State University (OSU), which received little media attention (http://extension.oregonstate.edu), they are having to pull all sorts of political strings in an attempt to build public support for their own genetically-tampered tomatoes.

If enhanced nutrient profiles in foods are what the biotechnology industry is going after these days, there are already a wide variety of non-GMO, enhanced "superfood" crops already being cultivated (http://gmwatch.org), none of which have had their genes artificially spliced. As you will notice, these non-GMO varieties include foods like corn, millet, broccoli, peanuts, potatoes, rice, and, yes, even tomatoes.

So when it really comes down to it, there is no legitimate need for GM purple tomatoes, or any other GM foods for that matter. This latest media stunt with the GM purple tomato is nothing more than a pathetic marketing ploy hatched by the biotechnology industry to persuade people that GMOs are needed to promote public health and cure disease. But the moral of the story remains the same -- nature has already manifested the medicinal answers to life's illnesses in the form of natural fruits, vegetables, and superfoods, none of which require genetic modifications of any kind.

Sources for this article include:

http://gmwatch.org