GMO
GMO
Whose information should be believed?
Monsanto’s Community Affairs Manager Alan Takemoto was quick to discredit Jeffery M. Smith and his book “Genetic Roulette” in his June 15 letter.
Mr. Smith has written the most comprehensive book on genetically engineered foods, and the information in the book is compiled from worldwide universities, scientists, researchers and doctors.
The books information is backed by 41 pages of references with 1,166 footnotes. To find out more about GMO foods, “Genetic Roulette” is available in the Hawaii State Public Library System.
GMO foods have yet to be proven safe. The FDA does not test GMO; it relies on in-house testing done by Monsanto and other biotech companies. Do you trust this biased information?
David and Ruth Rotstein
Hawi
GMO
Research finds disturbing trend at FDA
This is in response to Monsanto Community Affairs Manager Alan Takemoto’s letter to the editor on June 15. I too would like some accurately researched information, so I did some research. Here is an example of accurately researched information:
Except for the U.S., all other industrialized nations in the world have banned Monsanto’s rBGH as unsafe. But it is unlabeled and legal in the U.S. In order for the FDA to determine if Monsanto’s growth hormones are safe or not, Monsanto was required to submit a scientific report. Monsanto’s researcher, Margaret Miller, put the report together. Shortly before the report was submitted, Miller was hired by the FDA. It seems that her first job for the FDA was to determine whether or not to approve the report she wrote for Monsanto. Miller approved the report she wrote with the assistance of Susan Sechen, another Monsanto researcher hired by the FDA.
The decision to label or not to label rBGH-derived milk fell under the jurisdiction of Michael Taylor, a former lawyer and Monsanto lobbyist turned U.S. Department of Agriculture administrator and FDA deputy commissioner. In this case, he wrote the rBGH labeling guidelines that prohibit the dairy industry from stating that their products either contain or are free from rBGH. Even worse, the FDA ruled that labels of non-rBGH products must state that there is no difference between rBGH and the natural hormone.
Then there was Islam Siddiqui, a former Monsanto lobbyist, who wrote the USDA’s food standards allowing corporations to label irradiated and genetically engineered food as “organic.”
Bob Green
Waikoloa