China okays GMO rice, doesn’t tell public

[bℓσωηG]

China okays GE rice, doesn't tell public

March 26, 2010 China passed GE corn and GE rice a year ago but didn't tell the public until a year later.

Beijing, China — Greenpeace is still reeling from a shocking fax it was sent yesterday. China has been keeping secret that more than a year ago it essentially approved genetically-engineered rice and corn.

The fax, from the Ministry of Agriculture, confirmed that on 24 December 2008 it led a multi-ministerial meeting passed GE rice and corn.

Yes that's 2008.

For a year, not a peep from the government. The decision is so controversial it looked like they just decided not to say anything.

Such a crucial decision and yet the Chinese public – more than a billion of whom eat rice everyday – has been kept in the dark all this time.

For its full commercialisation, GE rice and GE corn are now only required to pass through seed trials and registrations. There are no further mandatory food and environmental safety studies.

Greenpeace asks for GE rice clarification

The ministry's fax was sent after Greenpeace asked them to clarify the status of GE rice and GE corn.

Greenpeace has released a press statement urging the government to immediately stop the commercialisation and to respect the rights of the Chinese public to know about their most important food crop.

"The main decision maker, the Ministry of Agriculture, had hidden this important information from the public for a whole year. All this time, China's 1.3 billion people were kept completely in the dark," Greenpeace Campaigner Lorena Luo said in the statement.

"Rice is our life. Everybody who eats rice must be informed of all potential hazards, and all concerns must be addressed in the decision-making process."

GE rice is risky

There has simply not been enough research on the health risks of GE rice nor how it might damage the environment

While there are plenty of western scientists who oppose GE, there are also many Chinese scientists who are against this potentially dangerous technology.

Professor Jiang Gaoming, an ecologist at the Chinese Academy of Sciences, said, " There is no evidence that GE rice is safe and it would be a terrible experiment for China to become the first country in the world to commercialize GE rice."

http://www.greenpeac...ce-China-passed

 

Edited March 31, 2010 by blowng

[mr me]

The Chinese government doesn't really care what their citizens think unless those people are starving. China has more and more mouths to feed and have had drought in areas of the country. I feel bad for their neighbours who might also inherit GE/GM crops when they didn't even want them to begin with.

I agree that the whole GE/GM thing could rear its ugly head in years to come but the only way the "communists" will be kicked out of power would be from food riots.

[Mycot]

The GM lobbyists are determined to shove their filthy product down everyones throat worldwide without any democratic consent.

For china to approve GM rice is especially bad.

The whole history of GM has been one of underhandedness with this just being another instance of such.

The situation in Australia isn't exactly rosy either with many Australians having little idea of what they are ingesting.

The proven underhandedness of GM proponents should be all the reason needed for a total moratorium on anything GM.

[bℓσωηG]

Yeah they make it kinda difficult to tell what is and what isnt, I had been avoiding products containing soy and corn ingrediants as they are widespread GMO's , but if i extend that into rice there wont be a hell of alot left to eat

[Pala]

I first want to state that hiding the identity of a GM product, and/or not having proper regulation, are not things that I support.

However if I may be the devil's advocate in this instanced (don't bite!): Could people give me a feel for what it is they don't like about the use of GM in agriculture. Short answers are preferred. A sort of informal survey if you will.

[Quill]

The unknown

[bℓσωηG]

toxic, (they are engineered to be inedible by pests)

[C_T]

So you'd rather eat the pesticide than eat something engineered not to be eaten by pests... Until there's more data, i don't think GM is any worse than what we are currently using to stop pests.

How many people here, truthfully, only eat organic?

I tried it for a few months and my grocery bill went from already avg $150 a week to nearly $300. And thats just essential food (granted i am a bodybuilder so i do eat alot).

[bℓσωηG]

 

 

or my vagina

[Auxin]

Currently in almost all nations genetically modified crops require essentially no testing to prove safety. Their biochemistry is radically altered, their relationships to microbes, insects, and the environment is altered, and no one asks what ultimate effects that will have before licensing it for unregulated cultivation and human consumption.

There is some scientific evidence suggesting some genetically modified soy variants increase rates of birth defects and cancer more than normal soy. Is that true? We dont know GM soy was never properly tested.

And GM produces other problems too based on the rascality and greed of the industry. For instance virtually all of india was convinced to grow GM crops that were engineered for north america and engineered to produce non-viable seed. The impoverished farmers bit the bullet and bought the very expensive GM seed expecting a gold mine. The crops failed since they were not bred for the indian climate and the farmers couldnt even plant the seeds from the plants that did survive. This led to the suicide of 300,000 indian farmers.

I'm not against genetic technology, its saving peoples lives right now as I type, I am against abusing the technology to fuel unrestrained and irrational greed to the detriment of millions/billions and unfortunately that is the industry standard in agriculture.

[Mycot]

For anyone here who wants to be a ginea-pig for these greedy fuckers why don't you really make an effort and go out of your way to buy GM product for just yourself(we need lab rats), you might want to spare your kids.

Try going to the supermarket and look for foods that are clearly labeled as containing GM ingredients and you will have a hard time finding anything. I've never found any such thing.

This doesn't mean that foods containing GM ingredients are not on those shelves. Someones gotta be eating all that shit they are producing. So these "honorable companies" Ha Ha are hiding their shit in our food without our knowledge.

Nah they want us all to be ginea-pigs like it or not without informed consent and screw the consequences. These greedy don't give a fuck business-people are only interested in making money at everyone-elses expense.

Edited April 2, 2010 by Mycot

[Pala]

So the main issue is safety. Right? As in concern about unknown, or under-investigated, possibilities of toxicity (using that term broadly). And then, coming off that, the problem is that the GM-status of a product is not shown on packaging.

Would I be right that some of you would be OK with commerical GM agriculture if it were better tested and labeled?

For the record: I have absolutely no conflict-of-interest in this. At worst, consider me misinformed.

[Korky]

there are gm veg and grain grown by some where it would nt grow naturally giving some people access to food who would nt have it otherwise but even that is unnecessary we could support everyone with non gm food if greed was'nt at the steering wheel.

[Mycot]

There is some scientific evidence suggesting some genetically modified soy variants increase rates of birth defects and cancer more than normal soy. Is that true? We dont know GM soy was never properly tested.

 

There seems to be a moratorium on independent scientific research on GM foods so anyone awaiting on more data don't hold your breath.

That said I've heard of a couple of studies where serious health problems occurred in lab animals and the studies were quickly silenced.

High school science teaches that gene sequences code for critical protein sequences, splicing therefore to my mind would create proteins that are abnormal and unnatural and likely toxic.

Edited April 2, 2010 by Mycot

[Mycot]

So the main issue is safety. Right? As in concern about unknown, or under-investigated, possibilities of toxicity (using that term broadly). And then, coming off that, the problem is that the GM-status of a product is not shown on packaging.

Would I be right that some of you would be OK with commerical GM agriculture if it were better tested and labeled?

 

Ha, if it were clearly labeled who the hell would buy it. You?

It's such a turnoff that even at a super cheap price the product would have difficulty moving off the shelf and end up being withdrawn.

That's why they hide it, so we can all be unwitting ginea-pigs.

I've heard that even Monsanto employees in their canteens(GM free) don't eat the garbage they produce.

Edited April 2, 2010 by Mycot

[Pala]

Ha, if it were clearly labeled who the hell would buy it. You?

Well, to be honest. Yeah, I would. I've no reason to prefer it, but also no reason to treat it as pariah. I'd go for whatever was cheaper.

As a rule, I would be far more concerned with the use of artificial products in food, and their use in the prodcution of food, than I would by the use of GM tech.

[Quill]

yeah i hate seeing a number as an ingredient

[Mycot]

Auxin in a post above mentioned environmental problems and there are also problems with unwanted genetic contamination.

So the problems with GM appear to be many and everyone should not have to pay for the tastes of the few.

I believe our agricultural practices should be drifting more in the direction of permaculture rather than becoming more un-natural.

While numbers may be a pain in the ass to decipher at least they are there by law. Full and proper labeling of foods should be written into law so that we can make informed decisions whether for health concerns or religious reasons and this should not be infringed.

[bℓσωηG]

yeah i hate seeing a number as an ingredient

 

Same here ,ADHD is associated with artificial additives ,just watch kids when they eat some junk containing 10 or so numbers, most are completely unnecessary ingredients, heres a link to a code breaker , it helps when you know what they mean, even table salt has aluminium silicate added as a flow agent wtf? salt just flows fine without it........

http://www.additivealert.com.au/search.php?hid=3

[shortly]

I think that the rush to get a lot of these products on the market, the lack of independent research, the pissweak to non existent enforcement of labeling laws make ppl very nervous.

Given the track record of many of these company's, frankly the only way i would trust anything their media depts put out would be if the directors and all their descendants were all legally liable for the effects of their products in perpetuity.

Just say no to bull shit!

[shortly]

in the news

If i were preparing to plant i know how i would be hedging my bets.

Even if GMO yields are higher, its getting the point where non GMO's are commanding a premium. better for everyone except perhaps Monsanto & Pioneer.

http://www.abc.net.au/news/stories/2010/04/01/2862610.htm

[bℓσωηG]

Well theyre here , i once bought a bag of spuds from woolies, (i use these to plant organically) On the bag was a label that said ''DO NOT PLANT, GENETICALLY MODIFIED'' WTF? firstly why not plant them ? and secondly why is the label almost hidden ? [ heres an unrelated link about artificial additives ] http://www.naturalnews.com/022982.html

[mescalito]

Yeah they make it kinda difficult to tell what is and what isnt, I had been avoiding products containing soy and corn ingrediants as they are widespread GMO's , but if i extend that into rice there wont be a hell of alot left to eat

 

I'm with ya on that man.

Orgran stuff is mainly what I eat and spuds as well as vege's.

Don't leave much spending money hey?

This be the best source for current info in Aus

Fedupwithfoodadditives

I pretty much don't need to read labels anymore LOL...I've even downloaded Enumbers for my Ericsson phone,quite handy and the local IGA owner has food intolerances too,so I've been educating him

He's cool tho,hates all that crap and tries to keep things simple and local.I go there over Woolies,tho it cost more,but not in reality.

[Auxin]

label that said ''DO NOT PLANT, GENETICALLY MODIFIED'' WTF? firstly why not plant them ?

Because its illegal, theyre patented life forms.

Over here monsanto et al. send thugs into fields and grain silos to steal grain for genetic testing, if they can prove a single GM pollen grain fertilized one of the farmers plants they sue him and invariably win. They then buy his land when he sells it to pay them. Its how GM plants makes profit.

[Mycot]

Yeah. Monsanto are full on thugs without any ethics whatsoever.

Like suing a neighbour when the dog goes next door and attacks the neighbours chickens.

This is after trespassing over next door to check condition of said chickens.

Monsanto should rather be fully sued and held accountable whenever one of their organisms escapes.

Yet again another instance of underhandedness of the whole industry.

I wouldn't trust these guys as far as I could spit.