[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
.