Plus, alarming new GMO products and processes—including “mutant breeding.” Urgent Action Alert!
Consumer backlash against genetic engineering is growing. In response, biotech companies are attempting to woo consumers by repositioning and shifting their GMO products from “helping” farmers to appealing to consumers.
Sometimes the appeal is even made on completely specious “health grounds.” Surprised? Don’t be. While supplement producers are generally subject to severe government advertising gag rules, GMO producers are actively supported by the government, as Wikileaks documents made clear.
Paired with the GMO producers’ PR ploy is a disturbing trend: increasingly, Big Business is claiming that processes involving genetic manipulation are “natural.”
Here are some examples of the new GMO methods and products that Big Biotech is pushing:
- Non-browning “frankenapple.” USDA has released their latest environmental and plant risk assessments on the GMO non-browning apple, bringing it one step closer to complete deregulation. As you may recall, the “Arctic Apple” from Okanagan Specialty Fruits is genetically engineered not to turn brown when sliced or bruised. As a result, you won’t know if an apple served you is fresh. And there’s something darker lurking behind this useless GMO trait: while only one altered gene will prevent browning, it is likely that other genes have also been changed in the process. If Okanagan knows what else has been altered, they’re not telling. Don’t worry—it’s not too late to take action! Use our Action Alert below to ask the USDA not to deregulate the “frankenapple.” Please act now, as the deadline for comments is December 9! Meanwhile if you want to keep an apple slice from browning, just sprinkle some lemon juice on it.
- GMO “trans fat free” soybeans. Read more about Monsanto’s latest venture in this article.
- GMO “exotic” spices. Biotech companies are discovering how to create exotic spices (e.g., vanilla, saffron, patchouli) from GMO yeast and other microorganisms. Despite claims that these GMO spices are “natural” and “environmentally friendly,” they are anything but and threaten to put microfarmers in developing countries out of business. That’s not just bad news for farmers: if these crops cease to be cultivated before we decide that GMOs aren’t such a good idea after all—perhaps only after their long-term health effects become apparent—there will most certainly be a long-term shortage of exotic spices. (While we are on the subject of spices, this is one thing you may want to spend extra on to buy organic if at all possible for your budget. Non-organic spices are subjected to phenomenally high doses of radiation before being packaged.)
- GMO trees. The USDA is currently considering whether to allow the unrestricted planting of ArborGen’s GMO eucalyptus trees. According to a recent study by the Center for Food Safety, these trees could devastate the environment and threaten natural forests by sucking up at least twice as much water as normal seeds, requiring increasing amounts of fertilizers and pesticides (a common problem with GMO crops), and contaminating vulnerable wild trees.
- Biofortification is the breeding of crops to increase their nutritional value and can either be achieved conventionally—via traditional breeding techniques—or through genetic engineering. As we recently reported, the global Codex Committee is currently considering whether to set standards on biofortification, and if so, how to define it. Essentially, this could be a backdoor way to release new GMOs crops onto the international market without proper vetting or labeling.
- Mutant breeding (the technical term is “mutagenesis”). Companies like BASF and DuPont are increasingly turning to mutagenesis, a mimicking of the sun’s irradiation to delete and rearrange thousands of genes at random (the National Academy of Sciences say the risk of creating unintended health effects is greater from mutagenesis than any other technique, including genetic modification). According to biotech companies, this breeding technique is “conventional.”
ANH-USA carefully monitors the complex rulemaking and regulatory process, and we’ll notify you as crops and products come up for deregulation. This ensures that products don’t get passed through the approval process without public scrutiny. We’ll also continue to advocate for responsible GMO labeling—especially on “backdoor” GMO processes such as biofortification and mutagenesis—so that if these products do come to the market, you can “vote with your wallet.”
Action Alert! Tell the USDA not to deregulate the Arctic Apple! Remember, the deadline is December 9, so please act today!
I don’t want Monsanto poisoning my food; Do Not Deregulate.
Please keep GMOs out of our food supply! GMO products should at the very least be tagged as such so I can make a decision as to eat it or not!
Do not de-regulate the Arctic Apple.
My head is spinning with questions about why are these companies doing their best to destroy our health, our resources, our food and our economy. I send you all blessings to change your ideals of destruction. I am glad to be informed about the atrocities in the works. There is a saying what goes around, comes around. I don’t think anyone is above the saying. My heart to your heart. Nancy Doyle
We don’t need GMO technology to keep apples from turning brown. We have lemons!
Thanks anyway.
I do not believe genetically modified food should be GRAS. Until independant scientific studies prove GMO’s are safe , the USDA should not deregulate any additional GMO food. Busy moms should not be deceived into believing their children are eating healthy food when they eat genetically mutant non-browning apples. Children are exposed to toxins in the air, in water, in meat and fish, in lotions, cleaners, cosmetics, fragrances, and processed foods. Please don’t mess with fruit. Feeding your children fruit should be an “of course” not an “is this food going to increase their toxic load?”
We do not want our food genetically altered and spread through our environment. Do not allow this!
no GMO foods, no more GMO foods. they are not safe, they destroy the natural gene pool, they cannot be safely grown, they cannot be contained.
try using the precautionary principle on new technology.
what a thought!
Don’t let this Wicked company mess with the food supply! When are we they going to start paying attention to the warning signs? …After our ecosystem crashes from all the chemicals in the ground, water, and air?! Changing the chemical makeup could be very bad. Let an outside company PROVE it safe first before feeding it to the people.We aren’t guinea pigs!!
Please pass whatever regulations are necessary to protect our food supply from the GMO products, and require that those already in the food supply be labeled as such so that we can have safe food to eat.
I urge you not to deregulate the non-browning apple that has been genticallly engineered.
These products may be devastating to the Public.
apples are healthy for everyone. This should not be happening big companies ruining our food supply
Genetic modification, with unknown consequences, known harmful environmental effects, and inadequate testing, is a form of bioterrorism. There are large corporations making billions as they wreak havoc on our food supply and environment. Their PR people tout lofty goals, and the concept probably started out with good intentions–feed the planet. But when problems cropped up, they were too heavily invested to back out, and now we have mega corporations more interested in perpetuating themselves and their burgeoning profits than in a healthy food supply and environment. Investment now tends to run toward damage control and cover up, some pretty heavy handed, rather than curtailing dangerous projects and developing safer alternatives.
Why mess with what God created perfect??
Do not deregulate the Frankenapple!
Do not allow genetically engineered fruit such as, apples.
USDA please don’t allow GMO apples on the market. If you do then at the very least you must require them to be labellled as GMO and “experimental”, because you really don’t know what the long-term effects they will have on those who consume them. Be responsible, not beholden.
Please do not allow the GMO apple that doesn’t brown into the worlds diet. We need to have extensive long term testing on the health consequences, it’s not good to remove the natural way of knowing when a fruit is going bad and we need to know all the changes that have occured to these apples with labelling that it is GMO so consumers can make an informed decision about eating it or avoiding it .
sincerely
Dr Paul
No GMOs in my food, please! This genetic modification is completely unnecessary and may actually be harmful to the environment.
Do not deregulate the Artic Apple. Risking our health by putting unproven GMO’s into the food supply is dangerous, unethical, and unecessary. Myself, my family and my community demand a safe food supply.
Please do not deregulate the “frankenapple” also know as the GMO non-browning apple. I do not approve of genetically modifying our foods when there is not full disclosure on those modifications. There must be labeling with access to full information on such modifications.
To Whom this May Concern – – I am writing to you to request that any GMO food be regulated. I am a concerned voter that has educated myself in regards to these products. It is my earnest plea that you search your heart and your ethics to bring oversight to all genetically modified food.
Sincerely,
C. Underberg
Was just eating an apple as I was reading this… Noticed it has not began to brown on the inside as normal! It’s been 10 minutes… still no browning! THEY ARE HERE! We can usually get fruit at work and I also noticed this apple did not have a sticker on it like usual. Its just too bad. I really wanted to finish this apple! DANG IT!!
I absolutely am against any GMO products and will not buy anything GMO.
Please do not alter natural apples.
They are creating a Frankenstein Monster for which we all my pay dearly.
No frankenapples. Every genetically – altered food must be labeled.
Please do not allow de regulation of the Genetically modified Arctic apples; it is our right to know whether the food we consumer is natural or artificial. Unexpected health problems may not be known for some time, until it is too late.
It is imperative that no permissions be granted to foods that have any, any at all, genetically modified genes, no matter what the trait.
Darn if they mess with my American made apple pie!!!!!!!!! IT”S ON BIOTECH!!!!!