Greenpeace carves question mark on genetically engineered crop
Group calls on B.C. to require mandatory GMO labelling
CBC News
August 8, 2007
Greenpeace activists cut a 61-metre-long question mark inside a crop circle in an Abbotsford, B.C., cornfield Wednesday morning, in protest of the absence of genetically engineered food labelling in Canada.
The question mark was to signify all the questions around the safety of genetically engineered corn “” both from its consumption and its potential spread to nearby organic farms, said Josh Brandon, a genetic engineering campaigner with Greenpeace in B.C.
The cornfield Greenpeace targeted grows a variety of corn “” genetically engineered by the agricultural company Monsanto “” known as NK603 corn.
Brandon said they submitted a Greenpeace report to B.C. Health Minister George Abbott on Wednesday, pointing to new scientific evidence that they say highlights the dangers of genetically modified corn.
“These data were from a rat feeding study,” he said. “They showed that the rats that were fed with [genetically engineered] corn NK603 showed statistically significant differences compared to the rats that were fed the non-[genetically engineered] corn.”
The corn proved toxic to the rats’ liver and kidneys, and impaired their growth, he said.
The genetically engineered corn is being grown in B.C. primarily for the animal feed market, and even if it’s just fed to animals, it will work its way through the food chain to humans, Greenpeace said.
Greenpeace is calling on the B.C. government to require mandatory genetically modified organism labelling. Read the whole story here.