Consumer Rights for Safe Food

Food must be -

• Safe

• Nutritious

• Affordable

• Available

• Sustainable

What is more healthy?

• boiled banana Chippy

• kalamansi juice Coke / Coke Lite

• gatas ng kalabaw Birch Tree / Nesvita

• kaldereta hot dog

They are organisms, e.g., crops, which are altered by changing its gene sequence in order to induce a certain desired trait.

What are genetically modified organisms (GMOs)?

How GMOs are created

• The DNA is made up of genes. A gene from another individual or species is inserted in the DNA of the host organism. E.g., the gene of bacteria is inserted into the DNA of corn.

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Bacillus thuringiensis (Bt) corn, soya, canola

And now -

BT talong

Golden rice

Why are GMOs created?• to kill a crop’s pest, e.g.‘corn borer’ :

e.g., Bt corn • to make the crop herbicide-resistant: e.g.,Round-up ready corn• to kill the virus attacking the crop: e.g., Bt papaya• to add nutrients:

e.g., Golden rice • for bigger and faster growth:

e.g., salmon

Are GMOs safe to eat?

• No one knows for sure.

• No long term studies on safety of any GMO crop as human food has ever been done.

But there is growing evidence that GMOs are hazardous

From

-human epidemics

-animal nexperiments

- observations

Adverse effects of GMOs seen

in humans

• L-tryptophan epidemic• Starlink Corn epidemic• Bt pollen -allergies in Mindanao farms• Aspartame linked to MS Symptoms• GM Soya baby food -Infant deaths• GM insulin -- extreme fatigue and myalgia• GM hepatitis B vaccine - chronic fatigue and myalgia.• BT cotton - extreme allergies• 50% increase in soya allergies

Modern diseases linked to GMOs

• Cancer – Americans have a 41% chance of developing cancer. American Cancer Society

• Diabetes - There are 25.8 million people in the United States, or 8.3% of the population, who have diabetes. American Diabetes Association

• Attention Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder ADHD - Approximately 9.5% or 5.4 million children 4-17 years of age have ever been diagnosed with ADHD, as of 2007. American Psychiatric Association

Laboratory animals have shown growth, organ and immunity defects

Wildlife has been affected

• K ills also non-target species, e.g. monarch butterfly. Pollinators are affected.T he food chain / web is affected.

Tumors

How do GMOs get into our food supply?

• Processed food – Use flour, sugar and oil from Bt corn, soya, canola

• Seeds for planting

• Chickens, pigs and cows are fed GMOs

Countries which plant the most GMOs

U.S. – 55 million hectares

Soya - 91%

Maize – 73%

Cotton – 87%

Argentina- 18

Brazil - 12

Canada - 6

Consumers in countries or provinces that have rejected planting of GM crops

England Negros

Germany Bohol

Italy Mindoro

Leichenstein Ifugao

Austria

Japan

Peru

And many more…

MORAL ISSUES

• Because of Intellectual Property Rights agreements, only a handful of multinational companies will control the food of the world:

Monsanto

Bayer

Syngenta

Du Pont

Government denial

The Food and Drug Administration has announced that GMOs are safe. What is its basis?

Government supports GMO agriculture rather than organic farming, has resisted GMO labeling

• Consumers of the Philippines, of the world! –

UNITE!

What can we do as consumers?1. Avoid food with GMOs

• Guideline: foods with corn and soya derivatives, high fructose

2. Patronize organic food.3. Eat / buy local, unprocessed, organic4. Fight for our right to safe food5. Ask your congressmen to support the labeling

bill. 6. Campaign against the planting of GMOs on

Philippine soil

Let us all all work for Safe food, safe planet.