German TV exposes the horrors of toxic GM soy

Thursday, February 17, 2011 by: Ethan A. Huff, staff writer
Tags: GM soy, GMOs, health news

(NaturalNews) Widespread environmental pollution; poisoning and contamination of agriculture; countless injuries, deformities, and deaths in humans -- these and many other horrific events are a result of cultivating genetically-modified (GM) crops, and GM soy in particular. A recent news documentary short that aired on German television exposes the massive destruction being caused by GM soy cultivation, and warns consumers that the food chain is more loaded with GM materials than they might think.

In Germany and throughout the European Union (EU), food products that contain GMOs must be properly labeled as such. As a result, there are few GM products on store shelves because, when made aware of their presence, consumers almost unanimously reject them. But what many people fail to realize, both in Europe and in the U.S., is that conventional livestock is often fed GM soy and corn, which ultimately ends up on store shelves in the form of conventional meat, milk, and eggs.

But the German documentary goes further, though, highlighting the other damage being cause by GM soy, including several cases of poisonings that have taken place in areas where GM soy is cultivated. Primarily in South America, where much of Europe's 41 million annual tons of soy come from, local residents are becoming poisoned, paralyzed, or killed by exposure to Monsanto's Roundup herbicide, also known as glyphosate, and the other chemical applications used to grow the GM crop.

"Before the poisoning we were a happy family," explains one young girl named Sofia who lives with her family near a GM soy field where heavy applications of Roundup take place. "We had our plants and fruit trees, but we lost it all, including my little brother." She goes on to say that her son was born with birth defects, and that doctors have told her not to have any more children within the next ten years because they, too, will be born with defects.

Sofia is not alone, either. There are numerous cases of disease and birth defects that have been reported all across South America as a result of GM soy cultivation. And the problem is only becoming exponentially worse.

According to the investigation, production of GM soy increased 35-fold between 1996 and 2003. And between that time, the use of Roundup increased an astounding 5600 percent, as farmers have to apply increasingly higher amounts of the herbicide every year in order for it to keep working. And in addition to Roundup, they are now having to apply the highly-toxic 2,4-Dichlorophenoxyacetic acid (2,4-D)chemical, which is known to cause neurological damage and chronic inflammation.

Tests conducted on glyphosate have found that the chemical inhibits proper brain development, which seems to explain perfectly why young Magui Arguello from Buenos Aires, Argentina, was born with mental impairment. Like many others in similar areas who have experienced similar issues, Magui's parents say the use of dangerous toxins in GM agriculture is to blame.

The report brings to light the dirty reality of GM soy cultivation, and the way the crop is discreetly used throughout the food chain. Even in Europe where consumers largely reject GMOs used directly in food, GM soy is quietly used to feed conventional livestock. And since food products that come from GMO-fed animals do not technically have to be labeled as containing GMOs, most consumers have no idea that they are present.

To view the full video report about GM soy, visit:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mqXId_-dTbw

Sources for this story include:

http://www.toxicsoy.org/toxicsoy/news/news.h...