[Date Prev][Date Next][Thread Prev][Thread Next][Date Index][Thread Index]

polluting the food chain with transgenic pork



February 8, 2003
Prof. Joe Cummins
e-mail: jcummins@uwo.ca
“Polluting the food chain with transgenic pork”
The inability of United states regulatory agencies to control pollution of the food chain with potentially poisonous transgenic plant and animal food crops is growing scandalous. Within recent months transgenic crop plant biopharmaceuticals have contaminated food crops (1,2,3) and a transgenic papaya variety was approved for commercial production even though it contained a transgenic protein whose amino acid sequence was identical to a known allergen (4). On February 5,2003 the United States Food and drug administration (FDA) reported that the University of Illinois had marketed 386 pigs that were the progeny of transgenic animals (5). The FDA report indicated that the marketed animals had not been adequately tested for presence of transgenes , the report failed to detail the transgenes used to construct the experimental animals and FDA believed the release incident was an isolated one and that the transgenic products created no health risk. However, the FDA report does not appear to be entirely forthcoming and truthful, indeed it reads like corporation public relations rather than serious investigation. A February 6, 2003 article (6) by Andrew Pollack of the New York Times reported some transgenic animals had the gene for insulin like growth factor but that FDA believed such genetic modifications posed no health concern to those consuming pork from the transgenic animals. Pollack’s article also pointed out a well known incident contradicting the FDA claim that the sale was an isolated incident because transgenic animals had been butchered and served as sausage in 2001. The FDA claim that there is no health concern associated with consumption of transgenic animals containing insulin like growth factor is truly bizarre. Insulin like growth hormone is a well known cancer promoter as is well documented in an editorial report from the British Medical Journal (7). The cancers associated with high insulin like growth factor include predominantly colorectal and breast cancer. In reality, the transgenic pork poses a real and present danger of cancer promotion! Turning, to the famous earlier sale of transgenic pork that was ignored by FDA, in 2001 carcasses from transgenic pigs created at the University of Florida were sold for human consumption rather than being incinerated even though they had been treated with barbiturate drugs and chloroform. Some meat was turned into sausage and consumed by a number of people. A report from Agence France Presse English Reuters (8) treated the event with levity calling it the “Wurst-case Scenario” and quoted a lady who ate five pounds of transgenic sausage “tasted real good”. A more professional report from the Gainsville Sun reported on the injection of the pigs with barbiturates to kill them then their sale to a local butcher who made sausages from the pork (9). The Gainsville report quoted the butcher “we only ate a little bit of it, we threw it out because it did not taste right”, he then took the remainder to the home of a friend whose funeral was being commemorated and the sausage was consumed by the friends of the deceased.. Both government regulators and journalists seem to believe that transgenic contamination of the food supply with transgenic plant and animal is a jovial happening and no threat to humans or wildlife. Their comments read more like public relations for corporations and universities than they do like serious investigations. Ignoring the very well established cancer promoting properties of the transgenic products seems a gross effort to conceal vital information from the public. It seems clear that the government regulators are not doing their jobs and they should be replaced or subject to truly independent and professional oversight. The regulatory agencies seem to be public relations agencies on behalf of corporations and large universities where independent investigations are needed. Such callous disregard for the global population seems bound to impact United States food markets.
References
1.      Ho, M. “Pharmegeddon” 2002   http://www.i-sis.org.uk
2.      Cummins,J. “Poison pharm crops near you” 2002  http://www.i-sis.org.uk
3. Cummins,J “Risk of edible transgenic vaccines” 2002 http://www.i-sis.org.uk
4.      Cummins, J. “Allergenic papaya scandle” 2003  http://www.i-sis.org.uk
5. Food and Drug Administration “FDA investigates improper disposal of bioengineered pigs” 2003 http://www.fda.gov/bbs/topics/ANSWERS/2003/ANS01197.html 6. Pollack,A. “The Food and Drug Administration said yesterday that it was investigating the possibility that genetically engineered pigs might have been illegally sold for use as food.” 2003 New York Times http://www.nytimes.com/2003/02/06/health/06PIG.html?pagewanted=print&positio n=top
7.      Smith,G.,Gunnel,D. and Holly,J. “Cancer and insulin-like growth factor-I
      (IGF-1 )” BMJ 2000 , 321, 847-8
8. Agence France Presse English Reuters “WURST-CASE SCENARIO: TRANSGENIC SAUSAGES MISTAKENLY EATEN IN US” july,25,2001
9.      Miller, C. “Tainted GM Pigs Put Into Sausages” 2001 ,6-4-1
      http://www.gainesvillesun.com
	

.