With the ink barely dry on the FDA’s approval of GM salmon, and several watch-dog groups threatening to sue, U.S. Sen. Richard Blumenthal, D-Connecticut, joins consumer groups wary of the genetically modified fish.
The Senator joined consumer groups who voiced concern on Capitol Hill last week, stating:
“I believe strongly that the consumers have a right to know.”
Cindy Tian, a professor at the University of Connecticut’s Animal Science Department, argues that labeling GMOs would scare the public away from an ‘extensively studied’ practice and that the internet is full of misinformation about GMOs causing cancerous tumors and other health concerns. She claims that there isn’t a single study proving this to be true. She teaches molecular embryology, stem cell biology and reproductive biotechnologies. [1]
Conversely, Blumenthal thinks people deserve to be fully informed.
There are actually numerous studies which prove that not only GM crops, but the pesticides and herbicides used to grow them cause all kinds of health problems, including numerous cancers:
- Published in Food Chemical Toxicology, one study articulates how glyphosate causes human breast cancer cells by interfering with estrogen receptors.
- The most controversial study, conducted by Gilles-Eric Seralini, was forced to be retracted from one journal and then was republished in Environmental Sciences Europe. He found that rats fed genetically modified maize developed multiple cancerous tumors. [2]
- The American Academy of Environmental Medicine (AAEM) expressed concerns about GMO foods, citing animal studies which showed altered structure and function of the liver, oxidative stress, intestinal damage, increased cell growth, disruption of the immune system and over 400 gene expression alternations.
- Canadian research published in the journal Reproductive Toxicology identified the presence of Monsanto’s Bt toxin and other pesticides associated with GMO crops in fetal and non-pregnant women’s blood. According to the study’s researchers, the fetuses were considered to be “highly susceptible” to the possible effects of “xenobiotics.”
Perhaps Professor Tian is on the biotech industry’s payroll? How else could she say there isn’t a single study linking genetically modified food to cancer?
Does it really matter, though, if scientists want to argue about whether or not these foods cause disease? We should have the right to know what we are eating. While the potential GMO-cancer link is important, what we ultimately want is labels so that we know what we are buying and eating.
Sources:
[1] CTPost
[2] Nature