Describing the development as “a food revolution,” the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) on Wednesday declared lab-grown chicken meat developed by Berkeley, California-based food-tech firm Upside Foods is safe for human consumption. Upside Foods “will use animal cell culture technology to take living cells from chickens and grow the cells in a controlled environment to make the cultured animal cell food,” the FDA said. Read more.
Get Informed on Genetically Modified Organisms (GMOs)
What Grocery Stores Don’t Tell You About Stickers on Produce
You know those little stickers that come on your produce and seem to stick to everything when you pull them off and cause more irritation than anything? Those little stickers actually have more to say than you might think. Read more.
Why Can I Eat Bread in Europe, but not at Home?
Some people who avoid gluten in the US report being able to eat pasta and bread in Europe without the same issues. What’s going on? A recent article unpacked some of the reasons why Americans traveling in Europe are able to eat gluten abroad, but not in the US. Experts don’t know for sure, but possibilities include differences in the type of wheat used, a higher presence of chemicals in US foods, and lifestyle factors when you’re travelling. Read more.
GM Purple Tomatoes May Soon Appear in Your Local Grocery Store
Recently the US Department of Agriculture (USDA) approved the commercial production and sale of a new purple coloured genetically modified (GM) tomato, known as the “purple tomato”. The US Food and Drug Administration, which is responsible for food safety, has yet to approve it. Here, once again, we have an unnecessary food product, genetically engineered for patent protection – a financially motivated concept – and without human safety testing. Read more.
Exclusive Mexico to Proceed with GMO Corn Ban, Seeks International Grain Deals — Official
Mexico is considering direct agreements with farmers in the United States, Argentina and Brazil to secure non-genetically modified yellow corn imports, the country’s deputy agriculture minister said, adding that a 2024 ban on GM corn would not be amended. Read more.
With Great Power Comes Great Responsibility: Why “safe enough” is not good enough in Debates on GM Technologies
New genomic techniques (NGTs) are powerful technologies with the potential to change how we relate to our food, food producers, and natural environment. Their use may affect the practices and values our societies are built on. Like many countries, the EU is currently revisiting its GMO legislation to accommodate the emergence of NGTs. We argue that assessing such technologies according to whether they are ‘safe enough’ will not create the public trust necessary for societal acceptance. Read more.
Glyphosate Linked to Lower Birth Weight and More Intensive Care Cases in Study on US Mothers
Indiana University School of Medicine researchers are learning more about the effects of herbicide exposure during pregnancy, finding glyphosate in 99 percent of the pregnant women they observed in the Midwest. In the study, published recently in Environmental Health, higher glyphosate levels were associated with lower birth weight and may also lead to higher neonatal intensive care unit admission risk. Read more.
BREAKING: AquaBounty in murky water after accusations of safety violations at GM Salmon Plant
A former employee of genetically engineered (GE) salmon producer AquaBounty has alleged that the company has committed numerous worker and consumer safety violations at its Indiana production facility. Read more.
Zen Honeycutt Reveals National School Lunch Testing Results (Pesticides, Heavy Metals, Hormones)
Interview to highlight the problems that our children face each day with their school meals. View here.
Genetically Engineered Trees: the Growing Threat
The global release of genetically engineered trees is closer than it has ever been. Ironically, it could be the Forest Stewardship Council (FSC) — the organisation that claims to “promote the responsible management of the world’s forests” through its certification programme — that opens the door to the commercialisation of GMO trees (also referred to b as GE trees, i.e. genetically engineered trees). Read more.
