Originally published December 7 2014
Agricultural contamination from GMOs is unavoidable, study shows
by Jennifer Lilley
(NaturalNews) The GM Contamination Register, run by GeneWatch and Greenpeace, has kept track of about 400 recorded cases of contamination incidents dating back to the unfortunate beginning of genetically modified crops in 1997 through the end of 2013.(1) It was developed to assess GM contamination because, despite the fact that it could occur through the inability to control released organisms, no global monitoring system was truly in place.(2)
Its creation serves to act as eye-opening, public-access documentation that sheds light on what GMO corporations would rather shy away from, and also includes more than just contamination data; illegal plantings of GM crops as well as their detrimental effects on agriculture are also documented.
Recently, details from the aforementioned 16-plus year time frame were analyzed, its startling findings published in the International Journal of Food Contamination.(1)
The shocking findings about GM contamination
The most disturbing aspect of all as experts sifted through cases by both country and crop? It would appear that agricultural contamination from GMOs is basically unavoidable. That's right. Unavoidable.
While efforts from health-conscious and environmentally concerned citizens aim to make the planet and all life on it a better place, it seems likely that unauthorized food production methods will continue to make their way into the food supply.
Consider this: There isn't any commercial growing of GM rice in the world, yet the findings shows that rice is laden with GM contamination, having the highest number of GM contamination incidents of all crops.(1) How does it happen? Contamination from unauthorized rice lines is a part of this unhealthy picture; in particular, the register calls attention to BT63 rice from China and LLRICE from the USA as ones that come from unauthorized GM rice lines.(3)
Other findings don't do anything in the way of putting minds at ease. In fact, the findings point to a very tangled web of mix-ups that involve differences in GM contamination reporting procedures by country, complications due to imported foods and inspection policies, cross-pollination, the inability to contain GM contamination once it's occurred and the lack of protocol for experimental GMO testing.(1) All told, nine cases of contamination from unauthorized GMO lines are recorded in the register, all of which do not have any authorization whatsoever for commercial cultivation at any location in the world.(3)
The findings also note that a quarter of GM contamination comes from corn and 10 percent from oilseed rape and soybean.(3)
Separate of the findings, more recent 2014 activity on the GM Contamination Register website notes that contamination incidents have been recorded involving Slovenia (genetically modified rice cakes from China), Germany (unauthorized fresh papaya from Thailand) and South Africa (unlabeled GM soy found in bread products).(2)
Determination to take a stance against GMOs, despite odds
Still, the fight persists, with many people determined to take a stance against GMOs in terms of requiring GMO identification on food labeling. Unfortunately, Colorado and Oregon have recently joined Washington and California as states where the effort didn't pass, likely attributed to the mere $896,000 raised by labeling advocates in Colorado compared to the deeper pockets of the $16.7 million spent by biotech and food companies who stand on the opposite side of the fence.(4)
George Kimbrell, a senior attorney at the Center for Food Safety, explains that the labeling loss in these areas is likely due to the fact that "chemical companies and their allies smashed spending records in these states." However, he remains optimistic that strides against GMOs continue to be made adding, "This is a social movement that's gaining power, as people become more aware of how their food is produced."(4)
Sources:
(1) http://www.gmwatch.org
(2) http://www.gmcontaminationregister.org
(3) http://link.springer.com
(4) http://abcnews.go.com
(5) http://science.naturalnews.com
http://truthwiki.org/Genetically_modified_crops
http://truthwiki.org/GMO_Dangers,_opinion
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