Controversial kernels. The European Food Safety Authority is questioning the validity of a high-profile study that found an association between genetically modified corn and cancer in rats.
Credit: U.S. Department of Agriculture
Posted on 10/05/2012 7:03:13 PM PDT by neverdem
The European Food Safety Authority (EFSA) says a recent study on the toxicity of genetically modified maize and a common herbicide is inconclusive. The study, published on 19 September, claimed to find that rats fed genetically modified maize developed tumors at a higher rate than control animals. The study received wide press attention, although it was criticized by many scientists for its design and its statistical analysis.
At the request of the European Commission, EFSA set up a task force to evaluate the study. That group released its initial report today, concluding that the study "is of insufficient scientific quality to be considered as valid for risk assessment." The study used too few rats, didn't include sufficient controls, and the paper didn't report all relevant endpoints, the task force says. It invited that the study's lead author, Gilles-Eric Séralini of the University of Caen in France, to provide the agency with more information by 12 October.
It's not clear whether Séralini will comply with that request. He told reporters last month that he would not accept any review of the study by EFSA. "It cannot be that those who authorized [Monsanto's GM maize variety] NK603 carry out the review of my data, because there would be a conflict of interest with their authority and their careers," he said at a 20 September press conference at the European Parliament in Brussels.
In Germany, the Federal Institute for Risk Assessment also found the study wanting. It said on Monday that "due to deficiencies in the study design and in the presentation and interpretation of the study results, the main conclusions of the authors are not supported by the data." It said it found no reason, based on the study, to reevaluate either the maize strain used in the study or the herbicide glyphosate. (The Séralini paper also reported that rats exposed to the herbicide glyphosate-better known as Roundup-in their drinking water developed tumors at a high rate as well.)
In France, the High Council for Biotechnology and the Agency for Food, Environmental and Occupational Health & Safety (ANSES) have been asked to look into the study. ANSES has announced that it will make its findings public on 20 October.
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FReepmail me if you want on or off my health and science ping list.
Science Now is a joke.
You want to eat viruses, insects and bacteria?
I’ll pass, Thanks.
What makes you think that? Who eats raw food without washing and cleaning it or cooking it?
“The European Food Safety Authority is questioning the validity of a high-profile study that found an association between genetically modified corn and cancer in rats.”
Not surprising. Follow the money.
That is how they GMO seed, they inject them with all three things.
We all wash and cook but if you don’t know what you are eating, then you cannot protect your health or that of your family.
Monsanto is trying to take over the seed industry... guess who is one of Obambi’s guys? Michael Taylor ex CEO of Monsanto.
Try watching FoodInc. just for starters.
They used a breed of rats prone to breast cancer, and their statistical methods left much to be desired. The effect was not dose related, and one of the authors is a homeopath.
I too have had breast cancer, you want to eat that sh#t...feel free.
By the way all Californians who are still there... vote for GMO labelling please..
Prop 37.
If I double posted, my apologies.
The problem with a study like this is it is so bad it discredits any that come after that find a link. It poisons the well.
The study has been totally discredited, not by GMO advocates but by scientists. It is the kind of study that starts with a conclusion and then makes sure it finds it. Advocacy science is bad science.
I have a Masters in Chemistry.
Just curious....as a chemistry trained person...do you have any concerns about how they are breeding in certain things to corn, and other foods? Our doctor is very concerned.
Yes, but not for problems with our health but in increasing the resistance of the pests the changes are trying to control.
We have been eating GMO corn for more than ten years.
Where GMO plants will help is in heat and cold tolerance. We are more likely to go into a period of cold over the next 30 years (the normal cycle of the sun) which will lead to famine (not in the US) unless we make plants more adaptable to cold.
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