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THIRD WORLD NETWORK BIOSAFETY INFORMATION SERVICE

31 May 2005


Dear Friends and colleagues,

RE: SECRET STUDY REVEALS HEALTH HAZARD OF MON863

We wish to bring to your attention the results of research conducted by Monsanto on the GM maize MON 863, which shows that rats fed the modified corn had smaller kidneys and variations in the composition of their blood. Doctors said the changes in the blood of the rodents could indicate that the rat's immune system had been damaged or that a disorder such as a tumour had grown and the system was mobilising to fight it.

This piece of information was revealed by the Independent in the UK but which Monsanto refuses to release on the grounds that "it contains confidential business information which could be of commercial use to our competitors".

This has prompted the European Union's food safety authority (EFSA) to urge Monsanto to provide all its research results into MON 863 that may be a health risk.

The disclosures come as European countries are in the process of deciding whether MON 863 should go on sale to the public. A vote last week by a regulatory committee failed to secure agreement. The vote saw ten members in favour (including the UK and France), eight voting against (Greece and Italy for example) and six abstaining.

The proposal will now go to the Council of Ministers by June, which will then have three months to make a decision. If the gridlock continues, and in the absence of a vote, the Commission can actually adopt the proposal to permit the placing on the European market of MON 863.

In another case, member states last week failed to reach a qualified majority for a maize, known as 1507, made jointly by Pioneer Hi-Bred International, a subsidiary of DuPont, and Dow AgroSciences unit Mycogen Seeds. The application was for import and processing for animal feed use and will now pass to the Council.

With best wishes,

Chee Yoke Heong
Third World Network
121-S Jalan Utama
10450 Penang
Malaysia
Email: twnet@po.jaring.my
Website: www.twnside.org.sg


REF: Doc.TWN/Biosafety/2005/C

Item 1

Revealed: health fears over secret study into GM food
Rats fed GM corn due for sale in Britain developed abnormalities in blood and kidneys
By Geoffrey Lean, Environment Editor
Independent on Sunday, 22 May 2005
http://news.independent.co.uk/world/science_technology/story.jsp?story=640430

Rats fed on a diet rich in genetically modified corn developed abnormalities to internal organs and changes to their blood, raising fears that human health could be affected by eating GM food.

The Independent on Sunday can today reveal details of secret research carried out by Monsanto, the GM food giant, which shows that rats fed the modified corn had smaller kidneys and variations in the composition of their blood.

According to the confidential 1,139-page report, these health problems were absent from another batch of rodents fed non-GM food as part of the research project.

The disclosures come as European countries, including Britain, prepare to vote on whether the GM-modified corn should go on sale to the public. A vote last week by the European Union failed to secure agreement over whether the product should be sold here, after Britain and nine other countries voted in favour.

However, the disclosure of the health effects on the Monsanto rats has intensified the row over whether the corn is safe to eat without further research. Doctors said the changes in the blood of the rodents could indicate that the rat's immune system had been damaged or that a disorder such as a tumour had grown and the system was mobilising to fight it.

Dr Vyvyan Howard, a senior lecturer on human anatomy and cell biology at Liverpool University, called for the publication of the full study, saying the summary gave "prima facie cause for concern".

Dr Michael Antoniu, an expert in molecular genetics at Guy''s Hospital Medical School, described the findings as "very worrying from a medical point of view", adding: "I have been amazed at the number of significant differences they found [in the rat experiment]."

Although Monsanto last night dismissed the abnormalities in rats as meaningless and due to chance, reflecting normal variations between rats, a senior British government source said ministers were so worried by the findings that they had called for further information.

Environmentalists will see the findings as vindication of British research seven years ago, which suggested that rats that ate GM potatoes suffered damage to their health. That research, which was roundly denounced by ministers and the British scientific establishment, was halted and Dr Arpad Pusztai, the scientist behind the controversial findings, was forced into retirement amid a huge row over the claim.

Dr Pusztai reported a "huge list of significant differences" between rats fed GM and conventional corn, saying the results strongly indicate that eating significant amounts of it can damage health. The new study is into a corn, codenamed MON 863, which has been modified by Monsanto to protect itself against corn rootworm, which the company describes as "one of the most pernicious pests affecting maize crops around the world".

Now, however, any decision to allow the corn to be marketed in the UK will cause widespread alarm. The full details of the rat research are included in the main report, which Monsanto refuses to release on the grounds that "it contains confidential business information which could be of commercial use to our competitors".

A Monsanto spokesman said yesterday: "If any such well-known anti-biotech critics had doubts about the credibility of these studies they should have raised them with the regulators. After all, MON 863 isn't new, having been approved to be as safe as conventional maize by nine other global authorities since 2003."


Item 2

EU demands Monsanto's test results on controversial corn
23 May 2005
Agence France Presse English [via Agnet]

ROME -- Italy's professor Giorgio Calabrese, a member of the European Union's food safety authority (EFSA), was cited as saying Monday in an interview with the Italian daily La Stampa that Monsanto has been asked to provide all its research results into a genetically modified corn that may be a health risk, adding, "Monsanto must immediately transmit to EFSA its entire research into (the corn strain) MON 863."

The story notes that Sunday's edition of English newspaper The Independent said that guinea pigs fed on the corn developed serious abnormalities, an internal scientific report at the US-based company found.

Kidney malformations and changes to blood indicating damage to the immune system were the most worrying aspects of the report.

The company is said to have given only partial results of its tests on MON863 when first seeking backing for the strain from the EU.


Item 3

Monsanto denies rat research reports on GM corn Agence France Presse, 24 May 2005 http://www.forbes.com/business/feeds/afx/2005/05/24/afx2049419.html

ST LOUIS (AFX) - Monsanto Co discounted European reports that the company's internal research had found variations in the health of rats fed a genetically modified corn produced to protect against corn rootworm prior to European approval.

Monsanto reiterated that, contrary to published reports, it supplied all required information to the European Food Safety Authority (EFSA) prior to approval of MON 863 YieldGard(R) Rootworm corn.

''Published reports suggest that there is new information about MON 863 that has not been submitted to EU regulators. That is not the case,'' said Jerry Hjelle, vice president for Monsanto Worldwide Regulatory Affairs.

''Monsanto has provided all required data and studies, including the subject rat study, to European regulatory authorities, and EFSA reviewed these studies before issuing its opinion.''

Yesterday, the EFSA asked Monsanto to provide all its research results into the GM corn amid health risk concerns.

''Monsanto must immediately transmit to EFSA its entire research into (the corn strain) MON 863,'' said Italy''s professor Giorgio Calabrese, an EFSA member in an interview with the Italian daily La Stampa.

Rats fed on the corn developed serious abnormalities, with kidney malformations and changes to blood indicating damage to the immune system, an internal scientific report at the US-based company found, according to Sunday''s edition of English newspaper The Independent.

The company is said to have given only partial results of its tests on MON 863 when first seeking backing for the strain from the EU, said Calabrese.

''It seems the multinational gave its own conclusions to the scientists working on GMOs (genetically modified organisms) for the European Agency,'' he said.

''European researchers made their own tests and have found results that differ with those put forward by Monsanto'', he said.

newsdesk@afxnews.com


Item 4

http://www.foodanddrinkeurope.com/news/printNewsBis.asp? id=60119 GM sweetcorn from Monsanto rejected by EU states, again

20/05/2005 - Deep divisions over biotech food ingredients once again evident as member states fail to approve a gene-altered corn designed by US biotech giant Monsanto, reports Lindsey Partos.

Food and feed experts from member states failed to reach a qualified majority yesterday, that would have cleared the way for imports of Monsanto's Mon 863 maize into the European food chain.

Reflecting disparate opinions on biotech foods, the vote saw ten members in favour (including the UK and France), eight voting against (Greece and Italy for example) and six abstaining, an EU source tells FoodNavigator. com.

The outcome should come as no surprise. Since tough new labelling rules on GMOs entered into force last year, propelling an end to the moratorium on GM ingredients, only two products have been cleared for import: a GM sweetcorn supplied by Swiss biotech firm Syngenta and Monsanto's MON810 biotech maize, engineered to be resistant to the European corn borer.

By comparison, over ten dossiers for GM ingredients have failed to gain approval for use in foods.

But while the biotech companies are pushing forward their applications for approval, there is little chance the European food industry will actually use the GM ingredients in their formulations.

By all accounts, the business savvy food maker, who cannot afford to lose sales, will opt to skip the use of GM ingredients in their European food formulations: knowing, as they do, that the cynical European consumer will refuse to buy any GM food product.

Critics of the Commission believe Europe's executive body is caving into pressure from the US: last year the US, the leading producer of GM crops, filed a case against the EU at the World Trade Organisation claiming Europe's precautionary stance on GM food, including the national bans, is a barrier to free trade that harms their farmers.

But for Monsanto, all may not be lost for EU approval of its MON 863 maize. The proposal now goes back to the Commission, which will then send it to the Council. According to the EU official, the proposal should be with the Council by June, which will then have three months to make a decision.

If the gridlock continues at the Council level, and in the absence of a vote, the Commission can actually adopt the proposal under a legal loophole.

In a separate vote, this time by post, member states yesterday failed to reach a qualified majority for a maize, known as 1507, made jointly by Pioneer Hi-Bred International, a subsidiary of DuPont, and Dow AgroSciences unit Mycogen Seeds. The application was for import and processing for animal feed use and will now pass to the Council.

 


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