Originally published September 29 2014
Bangladesh government admits Bt eggplant hasn't passed safety tests and ignores GMO labeling law
by Jonathan Benson, staff writer
(NaturalNews) The director of a government testing agency in Bangladesh that granted approval for genetically modified (GM) Bt eggplant (brinjal), which turned out to be a total failure, exploded recently after being questioned about the safety of the "Frankencrop." Dr. Rafiqul Islam Mondal* from the Bangladesh Agricultural Research Institute (BARI) angrily told a room full of reporters and farmers that, if they are so concerned about the safety of Bt brinjal, they should conduct their own safety research on the plant.
BARI insists that Bt brinjal does not harm humans, the environment or biodiversity. But the organization never actually tested the crop to see if any of this is true, a fact that ended up sparking a lively debate at a recent news conference. BARI had intended to use the conference as a platform to assert the safety of Bt brinjal, as well as defend its decision to approve it. Instead, its director ended up having a full-on meltdown when the public relations scheme didn't go as planned.
According to Bangladesh's New Age, Dr. Mondal went all looney-bin when, following his many reassurances about the safety of Bt brinjal, reporters questioned him about whether or not his lab had actually conducted any safety research on humans. He immediately started spewing a lengthy diatribe that, for all intents and purposes, answered the question with a resounding no.
"Asked whether BARI conducted any research to find out whether Bt brinjal would harm human health, the BARI director general became furious and asked reporters to set up their [own] laboratories to carry out the research," explains New Age.
How professional (not), especially considering the many unfortunate farmers who fell for the Bt brinjal lie and ended up suffering because of it. Several farmers from the area of Gazipur, for instance, explained how the controversial Bt brinjal saplings they were given for cropping ended up ruining them -- they now say they will never plant GM crops again.
Research conducted by Monsanto subsidiary showed Bt brinjal destroys immunity and vital organs
Dr. Mondal's fury over being questioned about Bt brinjal is laughably disingenuous. It is only reasonable, after all, that anything proposed to replace one of the nation's most popular food crops be thoroughly tested for human safety first. This is especially true in light of tests conducted by Monsanto subsidiary Mahyco, the producer of Bt brinjal, which found that the crop is deadly to mammals.
As explained by GMWatch, raw data from both 14- and 90-day rat-feeding studies revealed that Bt brinjal damages vital organs. The rats' ovaries ended up developing at half their normal weight, and their spleens became enlarged with white blood cell counts up to 40 percent higher than normal, due to Bt brinjal. The rats' livers were also harmed, as were their immune systems.
Mahyco didn't report any of these important findings to BARI, of course. The Monsanto subsidiary instead shifted the numbers around and made a declaration that Bt brinjal is safe rather than toxic, a common tactic of the GMO death cult when attempting to force its toxic wares on resistant nations. Fortunately, not everyone bought this lie.
"Major health problems among test animals were ignored in these reports," stated Dr. Lou Gallagher, a New Zealand-based epidemiologist and risk assessment expert who analyzed the data compiled by Mahyco and found its report to be false. "Release of Bt brinjal for human consumption cannot be recommended given the current evidence of toxicity to rats in just 90 days and the studies' serious departures from normal scientific standards."
Even so, Bt brinjal was released for planting in Bangladesh by BARI anyway, and without proper labeling in accordance with the law. The excuse for this travesty? BARI says there are no laboratories in Bangladesh to conduct this type of research, so releasing the crop without them was the only option (other than not releasing it at all, of course).
Sources for this article include:
http://www.gmwatch.org
http://www.gmwatch.org
http://newagebd.net
http://science.naturalnews.com
* Dr. Mondal's name is spelled here in accordance with the BARI website:
http://www.bari.gov.bd
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