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The U.S. government will start considering industry proposals to sell genetically engineered animals as human food.
FDA to review genetically engineered animals
Seeded on Thu Sep 18, 2008 6:23 PM EDT
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- Public Discussion (333)
What do you think about genetically-engineered meat or fish -- sound appetizing? Would you want superfood to be clearly labeled?
I would want it labelled and I would want the word "super" taken out of the equation.
- 4 votes
Genetically modified foods are anything but "super". They are disastrous to health, as research shows. These foods actually alter human genes, causing cancer and a host of other illnesses. Since viruses are used to modify the genes, don't you think that is a sign that something is wrong????? Monsanto (who is responsible for many of these foods) created the agent orange chemicals and the gases for exterminating Jews in WW2. What do you think Monsanto's ethics are like? They simply want to control the world's food supply by owning the patent on everything that humans eat. See the film in Google videos called "The World According to Monsanto."
- 5 votes
Artificial elements in food production have existed for a long time. We're just moving closer to the source. For example: Pasteurized milk is not in its original form. After all, the preparations would have slightly changed its makeup (an even with pasteurization not all microorganisms are removed). Now imagine milk that does not need to be pasteurized because the cows immune system is similar to ours and filters out the diseases that may affect humans. Pure milk...no change...better nutrition. This could also mean fewer chemicals in our foods, since the source is improved then we don't need non-organic chemicals added to the food. In conclusion: You don't need mouse traps if the mice can't get in, in the first place.
- 1 vote
That's disinformation. Monsanto did not make Zyklon B, used to kill Jews. There have been no studies showing that eating GM foods will cause cancer or genetically alter your genes.
Lies spread by Greenpeace and other whackos, just confuse an issue that needs serious study.
Let Us Think About This- Keep thinking Dude!!! Your not quite there yet.
- 2 votes
Stop the NWO, There is absolutely no proof of what you are saying. You sound like McShame just making up lies.
There is absolutely no research showing how GM crops are disastrous to health. It is impossible to have your genes altered by eating these foods, just as it is impossible for this to happen with any food we eat. There are many ways to target the genes when creating these animals/plants, not all involve viruses (and I would use the term virus very loosely here). These gene vectors are the same types currently used in all research and college level laboratories around the world. They require minimum safe handling. They are not dangerous to the people using them so how could they be dangerous to the rest of the country? In any case only the parent generation undergoes gene manipulation not the ones planted in the field.
Where did you get your Monsanto info? They were founded in St. Louis - not Nazi Germany! They never had anything to do with the Holocaust. Anyway, any chemical company in the world could have made hydrogen cyanide. Agent Orange is an herbicide. If the military wants to spray it on soldiers and Vietnamese that is the military's fault. If we sprayed you with any number of chemicals that have real world uses you would probably get sick too. Monsanto has been involved with agriculture as far back as it was founded. Why all the sudden concern over patent rights involving seed lines? This practice has been going on for decades with traditional cross-bred crops, why should the patent system be any different if the crop was GM? All of the seeds that most farmers use are bought from somewhere. Do some homework!
you could not have it any more wrong . . . did you do ANY biology at all in school?? or do you just regurgitate what you hear??
- 1 vote
First of all: Not everything natural is good (AIDS, Salmonella, the bubonic plague, anthrax)Secondly:not all unnatural things are harmful. An excellent example of this would be pasteurization. Even though it is clearly beneficial,it faced opposition when first proposed because it was unnatural. Next, genetically altered food does NOT alter the DNA of humans. Retro viruses alter genetic codes. However, genetic modification does not always use viruses. It is often done with plasmids, small pieces of DNA that can move from cell to cell. Even when they do use viruses, they can't effect humans, they aren't usually present in the meat, and the heat from cooking kills them. (there is a way to destroy all microorganisms without affecting the food, but that is another discussion.)
Yes Monsanto does create genetically modified SEED. Monsanto is also responsible for Agent Orange, but Agent Orange kills PLANTS, not Jews. In fact, Agent Orange was actually used in the VIETNAM War by the USA. I did watch the film, and it seems that the controversy was over the herbicide Roundup which was marketed as biodegradable. It was the subject of a false-advertising lawsuit on the grounds that it's main ingredient was actually harmful to the environment. It is also true that the herbicide increased the disease rate among the crops that it was used on. However that is why the company started selling herbicide resistant crops. And it turns out that (with the exception of plants) Roundup is actually LESS toxic than most other herbicides.
How dare they call these abominations "superfood".
Superfoods are organic, or wild-harvested super nutrient ethnobotanicals.
NOT genetically mcEngineered, NOT pumped full of hormones or antiobiotics.
Here we go with the transparency issues again.
WE HAVE TO DEMAND FULL DISCLOSURE FROM OUR GOVERNMENT.
- 7 votes
The only reason corporations refuse to accurately label genetically modified animal meat is becasue they KNOW that nobody wants to eat it! No one wants to be a 'test subject'!
And these coprorations WILL get away with it, feeding you whatever they pass off as 'food', just to make a buck, unless you demand it be labeled accurately.
We already have perfectly good sources of meat. It's called a farm. Not a lab.
- 4 votes
I agree it should be labeled . . but not for modification . .but for any chemical alterations.
Also, this corporate "conspiracy" may also be explained buy the insane mass of uneducated people spouting off and making up there minds in a orgy of spin . . rather then . . . heck
really learning about the subject and testing the outcome.
they saw the spin masters and wanted to save themselves grief . . . got to love capitalism!
- 1 vote
There should be NO reason why the food shouldn't be labeled, if the food is fine they shouldn't need to hide it from people. Everyone should be given the choice to know what htey are purchasing, whether or not we feel it is good or bad it should ALL be labeled if it containe GMO's.
Personally I wouldnt want to be eating a mix of any to animals morphed together, the thought just is sickening, worse then eatting hotdogs, this isn't what God had in mind. What kind of food hungry animals have we become carving these mutant animals. ANd how in the world could these corperations ahve done studies on the effects of children eatting this food as their regular diet over a period of 50+ years to study the true effect of how these foods effect people who are very young, very old, and over a long period of time. It seems rediculous that the government would let them push this through like that jsut for the sake of a new product to sell.
direct quotes
Jeffrey Smith's Testimony to the EPA - June 2007
Ignoring safeguards in order to promote the biotech industry was particularly evident at the FDA in the early 1990s, when they created a new position for Michael Taylor, Monsanto's former attorney and later their vice president. Mr Taylor was in charge of crafting the FDA's GMO policy. Documents now public from a lawsuit reveal that the consensus among FDA scientists was that GM foods might promote allergies, toxins, new diseases and nutritional problems. They had urged superiors to require long-term safety studies. These warnings were ignored, even denied, and the FDA has no required safety testing.[1] Division of Food Chemistry and Technology and Division of Contaminants Chemistry, "Points to Consider for Safety Evaluation of Genetically Modified Foods: Supplemental Information," November 1, 1991
A recent Russian study found that an astounding 55.6% of the offspring of female rats fed genetically engineered soy flour died within three weeks. The female rats had received 5-7 grams of the Roundup Ready variety of soybeans, beginning two weeks before conception and continuing through nursing. By comparison, only 9% of the offspring of rats fed non-GM soy died. Furthermore, offspring from the GM-fed group were significantly stunted—36% weighed less than 20 grams after 2 weeks, compared to only 6.7% from the non-GM soy control group.
The study was conducted by Dr. Irina Ermakova, a leading scientist at the Institute of Higher Nervous Activity and Neurophysiology of the Russian Academy of Sciences (RAS). It was originally presented on October 10, 2005
Michael Meacher, the former minister of the environment for the UK, said, "Any baby food containing GM products could lead to a dramatic rise in allergies."
A 2002 report by the UK's Royal Society, said that genetic modification "could lead to unpredicted harmful changes in the nutritional state of foods." They therefore recommended that potential health effects of GM foods be rigorously researched before being fed to pregnant or breast-feeding women, elderly people, those suffering from chronic disease, and babies.
A study by Seralini, et al, entitled "New Analysis of a Rat Feeding Study with a Genetically Modified Maize Reveals Signs of Hepatorenal Toxicity," published in Archives of Environmental Contamination and Toxicology, March 13, 2007 has re-analyzed Monsanto's Mon 863 data and found additional evidence that Mon 863 is toxic to livers and kidneys.
Shubbert, R., et al., 1998. Ingested foreign (phage M13) DNA survives transiently in the gastrointestinal tract and enters the bloodstream of mice. Mol. Gen. Genet 242: 495-504. Fragments of artificial genes inserted into foods were detected in the brain cells of baby mice
"The reason given is the high level of unpredictable consequences. Over two hundred scientists have signed a statement outlining the dangers of GM foods and The Union of Concerned Scientists (a 1000 plus member organization with many Nobel Laureates) has expressed similar reservations. The prestigious medical journal, Lancet, issued a warning that GM foods should never have been allowed into the food chain. Britain's Medical Association (the equivalent of the AMA) with 100,000 physicians and Germany's with 325,000 issued similar statements. In a gathering of political representatives from over 130 nations, approximately 95% insisted on new precautionary approaches. The National Academy of Science released a report that GM products introduce new allergens, toxins, disruptive chemicals, soil-polluting ingredients, mutated species and unknown protein combinations into our bodies and into the whole environment. This may also raise existing allergens to new heights as well as reduce nutritional content. "
" In 1996, Brazil nut genes were spliced into soybeans by a company called Pioneer Hi-Bred. Some individuals, however, are so allergic to this nut, they go into anaphylactic shock (similar to a severe bee sting reaction) which can cause death. Animal tests confirmed the peril and fortunately the product was removed from the market before any fatalities occurred. "The next case could be less than ideal and the public less fortunate," writes Marion Nestle, head of the Nutrition Department of NYU in an editorial to the New England Journal of Medicine. About 25% of Americans have adverse reactions to foods. 8% of children and 2% of adults have food allergies as tested by blood immunoglobins. "
(I live in appleton this is true)
"Before the Appleton Wisconsin high school replaced their cafeteria's processed foods with wholesome, nutritious food, the school was described as out-of-control. There were weapons violations, student disruptions, and a cop on duty full-time. After the change in school meals, the students were calm, focused, and orderly. There were no more weapons violations, and no suicides, expulsions, dropouts, or drug violations. The new diet and improved behavior has lasted for seven years, and now other schools are changing their meal programs with similar results.
Years ago, a science class at Appleton found support for their new diet by conducting a cruel and unusual experiment with three mice. They fed them the junk food that kids in other high schools eat everyday. The mice freaked out. Their behavior was totally different than the three mice in the neighboring cage....The junk food mice,.. destroyed their cardboard tube, were no longer nocturnal, stopped playing with each other, fought often, and two mice eventually killed the third and ate it.
Sister Luigi Frigo repeats this experiment every year in her second grade class in Cudahy, Wisconsin, but mercifully, for only four days. Even on the first day of junk food, the mice's behavior "changes drastically." They become lazy, antisocial, and nervous. And it still takes the mice about two to three weeks on unprocessed foods to return to normal. One year, the second graders tried to do the experiment again a few months later with the same mice, but this time the animals refused to eat the junk food.
Across the ocean in Holland, a student fed one group of mice genetically modified (GM) corn and soy, and another group the non-GM variety. The GM mice stopped playing with each other and withdrew into their own parts of the cage. When the student tried to pick them up, unlike their well-behaved neighbors, the GM mice scampered around in apparent fear and tried to climb the walls. One mouse in the GM group was found dead at the end of the experiment.
We are just beginning to understand the influence of food on behavior. A study in Science in December 2002 concluded that "food molecules act like hormones, regulating body functioning and triggering cell division. The molecules can cause mental imbalances ranging from attention-deficit and hyperactivity disorder to serious mental illness." The problem is we do not know which food molecules have what effect."
- 3 votes
I'm just ready for the propoganda to stop...they sell us the drug ads that end up on our bedside table, then we end up in a clinical trial for our unexpected/casually stated side effects that by the way may be life threatening. The FDA has allowed GE foods to be sold without labelling for a while now...and there are plenty of us who are not thrilled about eating tomatoes with the genetics of a fish. I believe we are breaking the law of nature by modifying DNA and risking mutations of all sorts. I don't know about anyone else out there, but I'm not excited about being a guinea pig. Trying not to be completely paranoid...
At the very least for God's sake put a label on it! Then it's "buyer beware"
- 2 votes
this is bull@!$%#, for real you people are pissing each other off because you want the last word. Pfft get real we have no idea that any of this is true, we know that GE foods are a source of food, not a great one but still. Most of the talk you people spray into society is HORSE @!$%#, and alot of it at that. Who cares, the public has no say in the government today, they dont give a rats ass about us, they just want to line their pockets so there lazy asses dont have to work, Just like the gas prices, Crude oil is almost 65% cheaper than WHAT THE GOVERNMENT IS SELLING IT TO US FOR, you know what i have to say about that, @!$%# that. the government is a bunch of dumb bastards thinking they make a difference in the world, when in reality, THEY DONT LIVE IN IT, they get driven around by illegal imagrents who have fake papers trying to make a living and making all of our expenses Even HIGHER, and for what, some one needs to blow this @!$%#ing country away, AND START OVER, end of story. where are we now, @!$%#ing with @!$%# that wasnt sposed to be @!$%#ed with, to most of you im atheist/agnostic. so dont give me that god bull@!$%#. ;D
No, I would not eat genetically engineered anything and I hope the F.D.A. will require labeling, so that I have a choice. I'd be willing to give up meat if not. Who knows what the long term effects will be????
- 1 vote
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SAY NO TO GMO!!!
Once you set a precedent such as allowing a (patented) cloned cow into a herd, the others it breeds with will also become OWNED by the patent owner. Companies like Monsanto WANT TO OWN THE FOOD SUPPLY. If you allow a patented, genetically modified fish into the waters where wild fish swim, the patent owner will eventually own the fish supply, etc., etc., etc.
Henry Kissinger said "Who controls the food supply controls the people." Kissinger also advised eugenics and depopulation by way of the food supply. (enter into Google: Kissinger population).
Monsanto has a history, for example, of throwing some of its GMO seeds into an organic Farmer's field and letting its patented seeds take over the farmer's crop. Then, Monsanto sues the farmer for patent infringement and the farmer has to pay Monsanto a royalty from then on AND buy his seed from Monsanto year after year after year. (see the following movie on Google videos: "The World According to Monsanto"; and go to organicconsumers [dot] org/monlink.cfm) Monsanto is NOT an ethical company.
Next, it is very important to understand CODEX ALIMENTARIUS, by entering those two words into Google videos and learn how it intends to lower nutrition levels worldwide.
And for a real wake-up call, read what the New World Order inscribed on its Georgia Guidestones: "Maintain humanity under 500,000,000..." That's 500 million people WORLDWIDE!!!
SAY NO TO GMO!!!
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- 2 votes
We need to stick to more natural methods, after all nature knows best. humans are trying to learn its secrets, but some secrets are not meant to be known ..
- 2 votes
I agree 110%! Don't mess with God's masterpiece! We've done too much of that already. Let's leave the animals well enough alone.
Hmmm, genetically engineered animals for food...such a scary thought.
- 1 vote
I will stop eating meat if it does not have to be labeled as engineered.
#2 - Thu Sep 18, 2008 6:31 PM EDTWe actually had a bull cloned. There is so much misinformation and panic created by the media that it was a fight to actually get the FDA to go forward and allow us to use them. We actually got to visit a facility that engineered the pig gene so that their organs will be better sized and accepted by the human body for transplants. It's sad that the public "ick" factor has held up so many breakthroughs that could even save lives!! These genetically engineered animals will make it where we have to use less vaccines and antibiotics. Engineered vegetables? Less insecticides and herbicides used. Do your homework before you start disreguarding scientific breakthroughs!
You need to do YOUR homework dude!!!!! Scary stuff!!!! Monsanto = Satan!!!!!
- 4 votes
so, you're saying that if food didn't need insecticides (meaning even INSECTS recognize that it's bad for you) it'd be good for us?
There is already food like that out there, anyoe ever notice that you never get bug problems in your sugar? I could go down the list here, but it's a really REALLY long one. Here's a tip, look at the label on the box of whatever you have. If there's something you don't know about or can't even pronounce, look it up online. You'd be Super surprised to find what "preserves" the products and how they've renamed the poisons so that you don't realize they're being put into the product. Arsenic for snack anyone? Formaldahyde drink cocktail? Go ahead, read those labels...
- 3 votes
A clone is just a identical twin born later . . . . .
Also most all food animals and plants have been genetically modified for 100s if not 1000s of years . . . The apple, lettuce, cabbage, corn, Pepper, orange, etc etc etc you eat today never ever existed in the form you recognize today naturally. with Animals food Turkeys are white can't bread on there own . . etc . . and lets not even get started with cows and chickens. . .
Killer, Echoe, GM foods don't need all those scary chemicals - that's why people who understand them are so in favor of them. If you want less insecticides and herbicides in your food and you want to grow a crop with less fertilizer (so as not to pollute lakes and streams with nitrogen) using less water and providing more nutrition- GM is the answer.
GM is a continuation of traditional cross-breeding. In cross-breeding two plants/animals are mated to produce offspring that hopefully have the virtues of both parents. No one knows what changes are happening at the genetic level. There are massive genetic changes taking place and no one seems to mind. Just look at maize. Originally it looked more like a type of wheat, but over thousands of generations of selective breeding we have this oversized fruit that looks nothing like the original plant, complete with thousands of random genetic mutations. GM foods have a single mutation or a single additional gene right where we need it to produce a desired result, without hundreds of years of groping in the dark for questionable results.
When you understand it it actually sounds better than traditional techniques. As long as you're not inclined to be a chicken little about things you don't understand.
- 1 vote
LOL Funny- why should anyone even consider listening to you when you can not even spell??? I think you are confusing hybridization and genetically modified...keep on LOLing you sad excuse for a human hybrid.
- 5 votes
radagast-
without hundreds of years of groping in the dark for questionable results.
or even decades of finding any ill effects. Nope, not yet...if ever.
- 1 vote
What would be the mechanisms to these ill effects? Are these imaginary mechanisms? How do we test for things that have no basis in reality?
It is apparent to me that no one will ever be satisfied that anything is safe in this modern era. We demand that the gov't spend millions to test for imaginary and suppossed health risks before there is any evidence of them. Then when the report comes back negative we all say 'you didn't test it for long enough' or 'your just in league with big pharma.' So you make the gov't spend millions more. Again negative results. Now you don't trust the gov't because you can't believe that something you don't understand could be anything but a nightmare. People begin to propose preposterous scenarios and demand that the gov't test for them. If it is out of the realm of the possible why do we have to test for it?! Do you even understand what I'm driving at here? We might as well test to see whether GM foods will give you X-ray vision-it's simply not possible.
I'm all for testing - when there is a reason to be concerned, but only to a point. Why do we test GM foods but not hybrid foods that have been crossed between species? The answer is that one is a scary new technique and the other is a technique that we understand. However, the new scary technique is more predictable than the old. If you ask me seedless watermelons are a black box!
Attack the writer, not the content . . . normal for one that has no real retort.
hybridization is just one way of genetically modifying . . . saying that it is not is hiding from reality.
hybridization can create most all of the problems people are freaking here about . . .
make a plant hybrid to make it more productive . . and accidentally make a allergen protein . . . that can kill 1% of the populous . . . etc . .
- 1 vote
We already have processes that use less insecticide. It called 'organic'.
As for cloning a bull, did the bull lose it's genitalia and was unable to reproduce on its own?
Yeah, the ick factor. You can play god all you want. Just LABEL the stuff you mess with. Why is that too much to ask?
- 4 votes
radagast-Safety is not a preposterous scenario nor is it out of the realm of possibility. Our government is in a meltdown due to just passing anything on down the line. The FDA and the EPA are both jokes on the HIGHEST order!! I am not going to turn over my health to these lackluster (supposed) oversight agencies and worry about the consequences later. You may be that foolish, but not I. Also, your condescending statements that I don't understand the issues are bogus. I think it's the other way around!!!! You are unable to expand your thought beyond agribusiness....I wonder who you slave for......
- 5 votes
Clevella-
Just LABEL the stuff you mess with. Why is that too much to ask?
Because if they did...no one would buy it. Greedy S.O.B.'s
- 4 votes
"We already have processes that use less insecticide. It called 'organic'"
first "organic" foods are a sham . . .you would be surprised what "passes" as what you people term 'organic' officially.
second the term is rather meaningless.
Third most 'organic' foods produce much less and SUFFER from insects greatly . . .
This may be fine for people that can spend the extra $$ on trendy food . . . but other people need . . .NEED to eat.
Also find one hard study that takes a foodstuff that is Genetically altered and one the is not (so much - since all food has been) and that can point out any meaning full differences?
Just mateing changes the genetic code . . .does the meat from different offspring suddenly become poisonous?? . . . no . . meat is meat is meat
LOL Funny- You are such a liar...you should be McCain's pick for V.P.
- 4 votes
Actually, pesticides don't worry me. They are meant to kill BUGS. Yes, I know that they are supposed to be carcinogenic, but about 5% of a plant is NATURALLY composed of carcinogenic material. It's not like we are chugging poison. Anything can be deadly in large enough doses (even water). It's all about quantity. In fact, I'm in favor of DDT. It only harmed birds, and it only harmed them because we used too much.
cross hybrid products are not the same as genetically modified.
Let me explain for the overly simplistic mind. When you take your meds and they are pharmaceutically created, those meds have severe side effects and those side effects show up in a very little amount of time compared to the life of a human or animal being subjected to the meds It's one reason why pharmacies do not advocate a lifetime of dependencies on their meds. Those meds are genetic manipulations of plant and animal products to a more specific purpose. However, major components of the plant and animal "benefits" are left out, and those that are left out usually balance out the complete or whole utilization of the "benefit" from the drug and later on, AFTER a VIOXX scandal, we find out that we need to put some of those back in.
Cross hybridization is the allowance of the POSSIBILITY of breeding of something that may or may not survive. Many things cannot be cross bred such as humans and horses, elephants and giraffes, etc, for a biological and genetic reason. If they could, well those things too, would be walking around. cross breeding corn for example with a watermelon cannot happen. It can certainly be TRIED, but it cannot happen. and that is a natural selection process that can't be forced.
GENETIC MODIFICATION on the other hand is MANIPULATION of the genes that BLOCK the cross breeding process so that the plant/animal is FORCED to become a cross breed in spite of the inherent biological STOPS to block that process. If the process is blocked naturally, one has to realize there is a purpose for that block and at LEAST have a complete and full understanding of it rather than leap the gorge without knowing what will happen on the other side (if you make it to the other side.) A balance MUST be achieved in order to prevent disastrous risks.
My objection to genetically modified foods is the complete and UTTER ignorance of the full benefit of that food in the first place. When you eat an orange, it has a large numbr of nutrients, it has fiber, it has vitamin C, all of which are designed to enhance and fulfill the purpose they achieve in the body. With solely Vitamin C much of it is discarded in the digestive process because the components needed to get the vitamin C to its receptor sites are lacking. The fiber of the orange helps to keep the fructose in steady supply rather than what happens in a glass of soda which is sudden sugar high and then sudden sugar drop. Each food has a full round of components just like that orange, (which I also simplified for you... because it is actually more complicated than that, the rind has benefits, the white has benefits, and on and on.) It is also why you can eat oranges for your ENTIRE life without dying from it as opposed to pharmaceutical or chemically altered foods.
Now, BEING A STUDENT OF ISU where gentically modified CORN has been produced to get antibiotics into the corn for the "benefit" of humans who may need those particular antibiotics, I highly questioned whether the study looked FULLY at whether the antibiotics were altered by the corn, or whether the corn became in any way detrimental to the body's biologiccal needs in the process. This was indeed ignored by the scientist, as her SOLE purpose was to see whether or not the antibiotic could be "grown" in the corn. THis was so that she could discover the means (and of course had the patent) of introducing ANY kind of medicine or chemical into the food.
Another disturbance in that study is that YOU, who so easily accepts the ability to mess with your food, was the EASE in which a substance can be introduced that affects and ALTERS your body. YOU may be subject to eating foods wth NO realization of what has been added or altered. If you have ANY kind of allergy, or bodily reaction, you woul have zero access to any immediate antidote due to the lack of labeling. I do NOT want the government to be involved in (as is currently happening in the gardisil ORDER that all female immigrants take this immunization, while citizens are not subject to such order) in making any U.S. citizen an unknowing gunea pig to such foods or chemicals.
A clone is NOT just a twin only born later. Again a HUGE oversimplification. When Dolly was born, there were SEVERE problems, she aged in such a rapid way as to cause all kinds of degenerative problems, mental and physical. She had to be put to sleep. (that was the first cloned sheep by the way.) to say that meat is meat is meat, is to say that ROTTEN meat is the same as GOOD meat. It is not. Degenerated meat no longer has nutritional benefits to the human body and has severe harmful toxicity to he human body. Just as highly processed food no longer has benefit to the human body. (As EVIDENCED by the rate of diabetes and obesity in our country.)
The pharmaceutical companies are becoming MORE aware of the fact that whole foods themselves have medical benefits and are now becoming better at studying the ENTIRE complexity of the medicinal benefits and realize that without fuller knowledge of ALL of the components of an actual whole food (of which phytonutrients themselves are only now being discovered and analyzed fully) and they are using that information to reduce side effects in medicines and boost benefits. They were aware of the medicinal benefits of foods and plants in the first place, but ignored that for a very long time thinking that they could just alter everything they wished to create and thus have the ultimate supermed.
I will NOT be subject to a test trial run of food that has NOT been tested on humans, nor will I be FORCED to introduce such a food to my stomach. It is COMPLETELY within logic and normal rights to know what you're eating through labelling, and to be allowed to make your own choice. To stand there and call others "chicken little" is cowardly. YOU eat it, and ENJOY. I will not take away your choice to do so and I will not call you names because you make a choice like that. But I don't allow you to justify forcing ME to live my life in what I perceive to be an unhealthy manner.
- 1 vote
how is it that they can possibly believe that ANY chemically altered meat can be healthy for anyone. there are enough proven and non proven drugs that harm the human body. the human race is already making enough of a mess with changing the natural balance. all this will do is end up destroying ourselfs because no one wants to look at the unnatural long term effects that this will have on us. plat with moture nature and she will play right back!
- 1 vote
#4 - Thu Sep 18, 2008 6:38 PM EDT"ANY chemically altered meat "
you chemically alter meat by cooking it . .
A flat statement like that is useless since most every thing is a chemical and most everything alters something it is mixed with . . . . .
you CAN'T bake or cook with out making some massive chemical reactions!
The meat is not chemically altered. There are no chemicals in the meat. Why don't you understand this before you demonize it?
"There are no chemicals in the meat."
ya that is the problem . . . . everything is "chemicals" . . . but that is not the context people here are talking about. they are talking about . . . Changed from "normal" chemicals . . even though most do not know it since they do not have a clue.
Anything you do to meat will alter it . . . let is sit . . cook it . . . the trick is . . does the change to the beast change the chemicals of the meat in a meaningfull way . . .
so far . . all test can't even tell it apart . . . so . .
- 1 vote
The short term effects are seen right away, but what about long term effects. We can identify the effects of putting chemicals into our drinking water system. Now we might put an unknown element on our earth. Could this be an unknow chemical, hormone, or perhaps species? I have been working on a story line of sorts on this idea. I have it both beneficial and hurtful to our way of life. rxh
#5 - Thu Sep 18, 2008 6:38 PM EDT"It tastes just like any other farm-raised salmon," said vice chairman Elliot Entis, who has sampled it.
Yeah, It's not the taste I'm worried about....sounds to me like the days of Soylent Green are upon us. Becoming a vegetarian sounds better each day....well except for Monsantos role in genetically modified seeds. We are all on a downward spiral...hang on folks!!!!
- 4 votes
#6 - Thu Sep 18, 2008 6:38 PM EDTYou know, an oft unknown fact about Monsanto is that their crops cross pollinate with other crops. They have genetically altered crops so that they will NOT grow another year if you collect the seeds.
Yes the plan is that you'd FOREVER have to purchase the crop from their company through "accidental" cross pollination no natural crop would be left. How cool is THAT?
- 2 votes
why does the government do stuff like this $$$$$ corporate america.
- 1 vote
#7 - Thu Sep 18, 2008 6:39 PM EDTbut it is your vote than can put them in office or take them out!
- 1 vote
Look at the awful presidential candidates we have now. No I don't believe our next four years are going to get better. It is all about corporations.
- 1 vote
It's just not right. That is what I feel in my gut and that is what people need to go along with more instead of being swayed. If a scientist told me if I put some horse (or any other animal) dna into my cat or dog and they would live twenty more years, I still wouldn't do it because it's just not right. Even if this food comes out, is cheaper, and deemed safe by the gov I still wouldn't buy it. They won't let the animals they change to reproduce! That says a lot to me. I wouldn't want to eat an animal with such uncertain effects.
God made these animals perfect. I don't think it's our place to change their dna to better please our selves of what a better animal is.
- 4 votes
#9 - Thu Sep 18, 2008 6:40 PM EDTEven if this food comes out, is cheaper, and deemed safe by the gov
The cheap food is the food that is the worst for you...high fructose corn syrup and hydrogenated oils are the cheapest most lethal foods our government supports.
- 5 votes
That person in the article who commented about mouse genes being in the pig was dumb, as are most of these "watchdog" groups. They clearly have no knowledge of what molecular biology or modern molecular genetics is.
When we're talking about "mouse genes" and "pig genes", we're not talking about making pigs grow whiskers or long rat tails, we're talking about DNA. DNA is made up of A, G, T, and C nucleotides, which code for certain amino acids, which make up proteins that do all sorts of stuff. For example, there may be a protein that is coded for in the pig genome that produces tons of cholesterol in the meat.
So get the image of a mouse or a pig out of your head when you're talking about genes, because we're all just DNA. Say that a gene in a mouse, through evolution, has evolved so it has some A's and G's that are different than the pig's equivalent gene that produces cholesterol, but the mouse's protein coded by its slightly different gene doesn't produce cholesterol in the meat.
What geneticists do is copy the DNA pattern from the mouse and overwrite the pig's gene, so now the pig doesn't make the cholesterol protein, and now the pig's meat doesn't have much cholesterol in it. But everything else is COMPLETELY identical. All we did was take a single stretch of DNA and replace it with a very similar but also different variation that had a positive effect
It's not like you'll be eating a half mouse/half pig monstrosity, its still a pig but with some nucleotides that are changed.
If you looked at it that way, then you should say that OMG...WE ARE HALF HUMAN/HALF FISH MONSTROSITIES! Why? Because a good sampling of our genes are nearly IDENTICAL to those in fish. Essentially, they are "fish genes". But we're still human right? All a gene is is just a stretch of DNA.
#10 - Thu Sep 18, 2008 6:41 PM EDTWHAT!!!!!! Are you F-ing kidding me??? Genetically-engineered meat and fish? That is AWFUL!!! I hate that in todays sociaty animals are just treated as objects!! I hate that animals are just tossed around and people have forgotten that they have feelings too!! How about we break down all the over populated races and F-ing eat them and give the animals a break!! Just the thought of how veil is prepared and how animals are slaughtered even down to cats and dogs in other countries for this fat pathetic world!!
Its SO just disgusting!!!
-Peta Supporter
Rachel
- 1 vote
#11 - Thu Sep 18, 2008 6:41 PM EDTSorry we are omnivores . . . nature kills . . . get with reality . . .
We CAN though make it humane . . more then we we do for eath other . .
we have been around billions of years we were fine then with the food we ate .so now it saves money for corporate america so now they can save money on vaccines......
- 3 votes
#12 - Thu Sep 18, 2008 6:44 PM EDTAll they're doing is inserting a modified stretch of DNA into the animal's genome so the protein it makes either doesn't work or has a different function. If you thought that makes the animal a monstrosity, then I guess we're half man/half fish monstrosities, since a good portion of our DNA is nearly identical to fish genes. But I don't seem like a fish, do I?
These are proteins we're talking about people, proteins coded using a sequence of nucleic acids. You people who think we're fusing animals into monsters are just plain wrong, and it really demonstrates your complete lack of knowledge about molecular biology.
- 1 vote
#13 - Thu Sep 18, 2008 6:48 PM EDTIf indeed our DNA is nearly identical to fish (back it up), then our creator made it that way or we evolved that way...not some scientist in a lab with very little research to back up that there will be no ill affects. Plus, I think you are a tad condescending!!!!
- 5 votes
yep, it's protein coded a certain way. It's protein that in its current natural form our bodies were designed to process. Our bodies are NOT designed to process a changed form of DNA which is fully why we're experiencing such a backlash of health problems in the U.S.A.
I had to do a DRASTIC diet change to reverse serious liver damage and lung damage to my body BECAUSE of the the incredible hardship put on them by processed foods in the U.S.
You ask any cancer patient who has been working with a nutritionist. They are ALL told to stay away from processed food and genetically altered foods, vegetable, fruit and meat alike. WHOLE foods and organic foods are what is recommended, because the body does not then have to overcompensate to get it out of the system.
All those meds from the pharmacies are also synthetic forms of plant benefits.
Our bodies closest resemble the ocean's makeup of minerals. It's because we evolved from slime. but we EVOLVED. Evolution takes thousands upon thousands of years. If you're going to genetically alter the food sources that a body requires, you'd have to genetically alter the body to be fully able to absorb any benefits from the food source.
And thanks, but no thanks, I'm not going to be anyone's genetic experiment. Even if it meant I could become the bionic woman. NOT.
- 3 votes
and P.S. I was never a smoker nor a drinker. So no, it wasn't my lifestyle other than eating the "recommended" and "safe" foods that are so advertised on a daily basis.
what's sick is the bombardment of food ads on my kid after during all the cartoons.
Go ahead and eat that thick angus burger. Eat the McDonald's fries. Pay the price. Smile while you have that heart attack you got to have the DQ blizzard!
NO, YOU IDIOT... YOU'RE JUST PLAIN WRONG! If you want to eat that stuff...GO FOR IT!
The problem is you can't true the system to inform us. And oh...by the way ..your brain has been fused into a monster.
i don't think the government is doing the right thing any more. just lOOk around..
- 4 votes
#14 - Thu Sep 18, 2008 6:52 PM EDTTalk about scary! It is wrong to alter the animal to grow faster! I have tried some chickens that grow bigger and faster. They had alot of medical problems with there legs to where they could not walk. And then the meat doesnt taste as good either. But it is all about the MONEY, right?
I am glad I live on a farm and grow my own fruit, vegetables and meat. Just have to say it is hard work farming and we try are best as a family to get naturally raised products to the community.
Now if you excuse me I have animals to tend to and apples to pick.
- 3 votes
#17 - Thu Sep 18, 2008 6:58 PM EDTIf I were your neighbor or lived within a decent range...you would have all my business and my friends business!!!! Mmmmm, apples!!!
- 3 votes
This is sick! Imagine the suffering that is going to be inflicted on animals! Our humanity slips farther into oblivion each and every time we abuse the creatures of the planet. They are already horribly mistreated in factory farms, laboratories, fur farms, circuses, and rodeos, to name a few. How much more damage are we willing to perpetuate on animals? I also shudder to think of what new diseases and illnesses are to arise from the further "engineering" of animals.
For the sake of all, go vegan, voice your concerns, and don't let the government allow this atrocity to continue!
#18 - Thu Sep 18, 2008 7:03 PM EDTUnless you grow your own vegan food from heirloom seeds...Monsanto has made the choice of vegan scary too.
- 4 votes
I was about to say the same killerb. unless you go COMPLETELY organic in whatever you eat, you run some serious health risks out there.
I got news for you too, taste a wally world apple and taste a locally grown organic one and you'll NEVER go back to the tasteless variety again.
- 1 vote
I grew up in rural Michigan (in the 70's) and my mother was from Canada whose family were farmers and orchard growers...I know what real food tastes like. I yearn for those tastes...just can't get them too much anymore...but then again I live in LA. Thank God I am moving back east in Nov. Yeah, winter!!!!
- 4 votes
That is why I went into farming. I got tired of paying alot of $ for tasteless food.
- 1 vote
So what happens when this DNA marker shows up in human DNA. DO these companies now own the humans? Like Monsanto is doing all over the world. One day we will eat if Monsanto says we can eat.
So man and the $$$$$ is more important than getting back to nature ? Are we sure that all of the reports are positive? Are we sure it is safe?
Lets just live as sheep , do nothing and let the corporations handle it. I am sure they have our best interest at heart. No one has time to look into it , until it is too late.
- 2 votes
#19 - Thu Sep 18, 2008 7:05 PM EDTDo you really think we get DNA from our FOOD???? Please people do Bilology 101
Markers can show up like the mad cow and Creutzfeldt-Jakob Disease These more complicated functions are not covered in Bio 101
Hey LOL funny: then don't eat. Obviously to you, food doesn't affect your DNA.
Cheap food???? Trust that the government is doing the right thing??? NO WAY....shades of China (and we know what kind of products they sell.) I would want it clearly labelled "genetically modified" so I can make the choice of what I eat and feed to my family. I have read articles on the Aqua Bounty Technologies products and they have not figured out how to keep the fish farms free of bacteria. According to the article it would take several more years to figure out (if it can be made to work at all.) LEAVE NATURE ALONE!! It's all about the almighty $$$ (and after the financial debaucle we have going through, we can see how well that works.)
- 1 vote
#20 - Thu Sep 18, 2008 7:05 PM EDTHow far will the corporations go to stretch profits?
This is disgusting. There is something wrong about it, it is not natural.
How do we know how this will affect our bodies down the line. Who know what will be the result in 10-20-30 years?... or in a generation or two.
But as is always the case, key figures will be paid off in some offshore account and this too shall pass.
Instead of all this effort to help corporations we need to look at how we can make life livable for the have nots. Have not now means not being able to survive. Who will bail out the 10's of millions of people who will become homeless, the Federal Govt?
No they only look out for who will give something more than one vote back to them....
The point corporate and governmental America is missing is that our economy is like an organism and as such the bottom 95% needs to be able to afford a place to sleep and food before they can go out and buy all the products (the ones we used to make and now buy from china) which makes the economy roll along. STOP outsourcing, allow people an income only slightly above that which a slave earns, promote AMERICAN manufacturing, STOP throwing money to every country in the world, GET OUT of Iraq and Afganistan, mind our own business and get our country back. We are on the verge of another depression, we ARE in a recession, people cannot afford the basic necessities... Where is this all headed? Every level of GOVERNMENT has miserably failed the people MISERABLY!!!
How can it be that every time a dollar changes hands the government gets a piece of it on both ends and yet still, we are so deep in the red?
And at a recent political convention they held up placards which said SERVICE...
Service to what? The military industrial complex which lied to us and sold out 400 million American so a small clique can make hundred of billions of dollars?
Why is bush trying to pay for the modernization of Pakistan's F-16 fleet? Who will recieve the contract?
They loan money to the govt to pay for the arms and ammo to destroy a country, then award themselves the contracts to rebuild what they destroyed (hello cheyney and haliburton)...
A triple edged sword, and the American public are the slaves that will pay for it.. that means us and our children and their children.
President Eisenhower tried to warn us of this in his 1960 farewell speech...
You can see it on you tube.
You coroporatons can take your bionic chicken and.... eat it.
- 1 vote
#22 - Thu Sep 18, 2008 7:07 PM EDTMayhaps superfoods could be used to feed the homeless masses you talk about? You're right, GM foods are all about money, but not just for the corporations. Organic foods cost so much more than their mass-produced counterparts because they're much less efficient to grow. If we allowed open marketing of GM foods, cost of overall production and the prices the consumer pays would decrease under a more efficient growth and production scheme. This process isn't that much different from cross-breeding. The only factor that's different is the vector of gene transfer. I understand how tempting it is to conclude that businesses would endanger customers for a quick profit, but that's why we have regulatory committees like the FDA. Studies on GM have been rigorous and the risks minimal. GM is already a commonplace procedure in laboratories. Why not in industry?
I stopped eating factory farmed meat and poultry after the beef recall fiasco last winter. It was obvious who was in control of this industry, not the government regulators, but big agribusiness. I eat much less meat now because I only eat it from local farmers that I have visited and trust. Yes, it costs more, but I feel so much better knowing that I support these hard working people with the same values as mine; they treat their animals humanely, feed the animals food they were meant to eat (not just to fatten the animals at record paces) and aren't pumping their animals full of antibiotics.
I don't trust the government, USDA and the like, to protect my safety, because most of them have been on the payroll of big agribusiness before and return to those jobs when their government tenure is over.
Genetically engineered food should ABSOLUTELY be labeled. I'm going over to the Consumers Union website right now to support them, by contacting whoever I need to or donate to the cause.
- 3 votes
#23 - Thu Sep 18, 2008 7:08 PM EDTAhhhh, what a wonderful post!!!!!! Support local farmers...do your research. Lisa for V.P.!!!!
- 3 votes
How far will the corporations go to stretch profits?
This is disgusting. There is something wrong about it, it is not natural.
How do we know how this will affect our bodies down the line. Who know what will be the result in 10-20-30 years?... or in a generation or two.
But as is always the case, key figures will be paid off in some offshore account and this too shall pass.
Instead of all this effort to help corporations we need to look at how we can make life livable for the have nots. Have not now means not being able to survive. Who will bail out the 10's of millions of people who will become homeless, the Federal Govt?
No they only look out for who will give something more than one vote back to them....
The point corporate and governmental America is missing is that our economy is like an organism and as such the bottom 95% needs to be able to afford a place to sleep and food before they can go out and buy all the products (the ones we used to make and now buy from china) which makes the economy roll along. STOP outsourcing, allow people an income only slightly above that which a slave earns, promote AMERICAN manufacturing, STOP throwing money to every country in the world, GET OUT of Iraq and Afganistan, mind our own business and get our country back. We are on the verge of another depression, we ARE in a recession, people cannot afford the basic necessities... Where is this all headed? Every level of GOVERNMENT has miserably failed the people MISERABLY!!!
How can it be that every time a dollar changes hands the government gets a piece of it on both ends and yet still, we are so deep in the red?
And at a recent political convention they held up placards which said SERVICE...
Service to what? The military industrial complex which lied to us and sold out 400 million American so a small clique can make hundred of billions of dollars?
Why is bush trying to pay for the modernization of Pakistan's F-16 fleet? Who will recieve the contract?
They loan money to the govt to pay for the arms and ammo to destroy a country, then award themselves the contracts to rebuild what they destroyed (hello cheyney and haliburton)...
A triple edged sword, and the American public are the slaves that will pay for it.. that means us and our children and their children.
President Eisenhower tried to warn us of this in his 1960 farewell speech...
You can see it on you tube.
You coroporatons can take your bionic chicken and.... eat it.
#24 - Thu Sep 18, 2008 7:08 PM EDTIt's a shame that science and the food industries continue to fleece the public. It's not an issue of feeding the world- putting food sources in places where it is difficult to replenish food supplies for the benefit of those who otherwise go hungry. This article serves the interests of the food industries.
In the United States, it's just another means for a system that creates so much excess that even poor people are fat and unhealthy. Nobody seems to care until somebody cries "obese children"! But what are we teaching them?
The social environment of American eating habits would dictate that we need healthier meats, but common sense dictates otherwise. Meat causes more health problems than cigarettes, and has more unhealthy consequences than health benefits.
No, I'm not an animal rights advocate at all. I don't speak for the animals or the humans who support their "rights". Only a human with a volitional conscience is capable of emotions; a matter of fact and not opinion.
I do, however, advocate a certain degree of eating raw and living foods. No, I'm not some crazy hippie either. I hate it when fanatical types tell you things like "you have cancer because you want to". It is these people who seem to have a bitter problem with the American Medical Association and pharmaceuticals.
The truth about nutrition is simple. If you eat dead things, you bring yourself closer to being a dead thing yourself. If you cook food, you destroy the vital living contents and nutritional value, as well as forcing chemical changes that create carcinogens. Since your body is mostly water, you will maintain optimal health by drinking about a gallon a day. If you are not a baby calf, you probably shouldn't drink what they drink unless you plan on someday becoming a 700 lb steer.
We keep seeing new ways of getting around the truth when it comes to eating, but we're lying to ourselves. We have the means whereby and the knowledge required to feed the world, but it always seemed to be wrapped up in red tape and social standards. Any human can condition themselves to eat healthier. Sure, it takes a bit of getting used to, but it's worth it.
Read the Dead Sea Scrolls or Anne Wygmore sometime. You'd be surprised.
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