Wednesday, February 17, 2010

American Food Supply: U.S. Crops Grown in Herbicide

Most families are smart enough to not spray poison on their garden for fear that it will harm the small harvest they will consume. What most people do not realize is that genetically modified crops do exactly what we wish to avoid at home: genetically modified agricultural products are designed to grow in RoundUp. While the food industry argues that this is harmless, there is new evidence that this slowly poisons consumers. The food industry likes these modified crops because they no longer have to weed, they can simply dump a herbicide to destroy all competing plants. What is good for the food industry is bad for consumers.

A paper published in the International Journal of Biological Sciences (Abstract PDF) links genetically modified corn to liver and kidney poisoning (the organs that detoxify the body). This study comes to the reasonable conclusion that food grown in RoundUp may be bad for those who consume it. This food is currently legal and common in the U.S. An Australian news agency reports that the multinational enterprise seeking to advance this product used fraudulent research in its attempt to get this food approved.

This is the first of several posts that will examine the use of carcinogens in commonly consumed American products. This post concerned the long-term dangers in consuming non-organic (or genetically modified) corn.

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