A scientific study confirms the big scam on glyphosate and GMO soybeans, endorsed by regulators everywhere. In fact, the treatments are at least double those performed on the experimental crops used to assess the risks of using the world’s best-selling agrotoxin. Thousands of tons of toxic residues thus enter the food chain. #Buycott!
GMO soybeans and glyphosate, consumption doubles
GMO Roundup Ready (or Glyphosate Tolerant, GT) soybeans are designed for the purpose of resisting-it alone, on all plant species-glyphosate sprays. It accounts for 94-100% of ‘biotech crops‘ in Brazil, the US and Argentina, 77% of global production. (1) Quite a bargain for global seed and agrochemical monopolists, the so-called Big 4. But the real business is not the seeds, but rather the glyphosate-based herbicides and pesticides that these crops require in unparalleled quantities. Not surprisingly, the turnover of agrotoxics is three times that of seeds and their margins vastly higher. (2)
‘These plants have triggered increased use and increased glyphosate residues in soybean products. We present data showing that farmers have doubled their applications of glyphosate per season (from two to four) and that glyphosate spray residues (at full plant flowering) at the end of the season produce much higher residues in plants and harvested produce. GT soybeans produced on commercial farms in the United States, Brazil, and Argentina accumulate a total of about 2,500-10,000 tons of glyphosate per year, which enters global food chains.’ (3)
The scientific study ‘The Introduction of Thousands of Tonnes of Glyphosate in the Food Chain-An Evaluation of Glyphosate Tolerant Soybeans‘ showed that commercial agricultural samples of GMO soybeans contain much higher concentrations of glyphosate than GT soybeans from field trials conducted by the producing companies (which were used for safety assessments).
GMO soybean and double gifosate, what consequences?
Researchers have shown that GMO GT soybeans accumulate herbicides substantially in comparison with non-GMO and organic soybeans. Their nutritional composition is altered and they cause dose-related adverse effects in feeding studies in a relevant organism model.
Nutrition studies at Daphnia magna (a small crustacean of the genus Daphnia, belonging to the Order Cladòceri, also known as the ‘water flea’) have indeed shown dose-related adverse effects (mortality, reduced fecundity and delayed reproduction) of glyphosate residues in GMO soybeans, even at glyphosate concentrations below the permitted residue levels. (4)
Post-harvest use of glyphosate. GMO soybeans, wheat and legumes
The use of glyphosate in the post-maturity stages of the plant, up to the post-harvest stage, has a substantial impact on the amount of toxic substances residing there. This distinguishes GMO soybeans from non-GMO (or IP, Identity Preserved) soybeans and, more generally, commodities that come from the American continent-where the use of glyphosate and other agrotoxics in the post-harvest phase is allowed-as opposed to European and Italian soybeans, where this practice is banned. Soybeans, but also wheat and other grains. As well as legumes, as seen in the case of Canadian lentils.
‘The impacts of these glyphosate residues constitute knowledge gaps that have resulted in incomplete assessments of potential interactions between glyphosate residues, plant composition, and potential adverse effects on consumers. These problems are not followed by adequate in vivo feeding studies in the long term.’ (3)
What risk assessment?
The current risk assessment system, the authors of the research point out, is based solely on data provided by manufacturers. Namely, on the ‘field trials with seeds that were sprayed with much lower doses of glyphosate than contemporary farm uses. This has left knowledge gaps and a potentially serious underestimation of health risks to consumers.’
Unreliable and false data, like the fake scientific studies that Monsanto commissioned and Bayer used to renew glyphosate approval in Europe. The Commission led by Ursula von der Leyen is therefore asked to effectively follow up on promises of a crackdown on pesticides and herbicides. In the name of strategies on biodiversity and
Farm to Fork
(f2f).
Buycott! GMO soy, palm oil and American meats, off our plates! Our petition is always waiting for your endorsements and contacts. Please feel free to add them by following the link https://www.egalite.org/buycott-petizione/.
Dario Dongo
Notes
(1) James, C. (2017). Global Status of Commercialized Biotech/GM Crops: 2017; ISAAA: Ithaca, NY, USA.
(2) See free ebook ‘GMOs, the Big Scam,
(3) Bøhn, T., & Millstone, E. (2019). The Introduction of Thousands of Tonnes of Glyphosate in the Food Chain-An Evaluation of Glyphosate Tolerant Soybeans. Foods, 8(12), 669. doi.org/10.3390/foods8120669
(4) The toxicity of glyphosate at doses well below those considered ‘safe’ in the US and EU was recently established in the study cited in https://www.greatitalianfoodtrade.it/sicurezza/il-glifosato-danneggia-il-microbioma-anche-alle-dosi-ammesse-in-ue-studio-scientifico-e-domanda-di-rinnovo-autorizzazione.
V. Robin Mesnage, Maxime Teixeira, Daniele Mandrioli, Laura Falcioni, Quinten Raymond Ducarmon, Romy Daniëlle Zwittink, Caroline Amiel, Jean-Michel Panoff, Fiorella Belpoggi, Michael N. Antoniou (2019). Shotgun metagenomics and metabolomics reveal glyphosate alters the gut microbiome of Sprague-Dawley rats by inhibiting the shikimate pathway. BioRxiv. doi.org/10.1101/870105
Dario Dongo, lawyer and journalist, PhD in international food law, founder of WIISE (FARE - GIFT - Food Times) and Égalité.
