Dr. Oz speaks out against GMO foods - the industry panics

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Beauty_pact
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Fnord
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23 Oct 2012, 10:03 am

Dr. Oz must be slipping in popularity to have taken such a backward stance on GMOs. Here's the proposal:

Proposition 37, a Mandatory Labeling of Genetically Engineered Food Initiative, is on the November 6, 2012 ballot in California as an initiated state statute.

If Proposition 37 is approved by voters, it will:

  • Require labeling on raw or processed food offered for sale to consumers if the food is made from plants or animals with genetic material changed in specified ways.
  • Prohibit labeling or advertising such food as "natural."
  • Exempt from this requirement foods that are "certified organic; unintentionally produced with genetically engineered material; made from animals fed or injected with genetically engineered material but not genetically engineered themselves; processed with or containing only small amounts of genetically engineered ingredients; administered for treatment of medical conditions; sold for immediate consumption such as in a restaurant; or alcoholic beverages."
James Wheaton (a lawyer, not a scientist), who filed the ballot language for the initiative, refers to it as "The California Right to Know Genetically Engineered Food Act."

I'm voting against it. Prop 37 is un-necessary due to the random and arbitrary nature of how it designates of what foods "need" to be labeled -- Milk, yes; Beer, no (for example).

What really bugs me about Prop 37 are the exemptions; there should be no exemptions to such a law - it should be applied equally, to every food, and all of the time. There is no science or sense to it at all; unless, of course, the Organic Food Producers are backing the proposition, then it becomes obvious why it is on the ballot, and who will benefit the most by it -- what with "organic" foods being more expensive than the rest, while also having been proven to have no real benefit over "non-organic" foods.


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Apple_in_my_Eye
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23 Oct 2012, 5:38 pm

I've seen ads on TV against it, but I am now wondering if the argument that "since there are exemptions the law is no good" was generated by the GMO industry and is really trying trick people into bad reasoning -- that since the law isn't absolutely perfect you should vote against it. Can't laws be improved in the future? Why the all-or-nothing argument?

But I haven't yet researched the origin of those ads yet, so I'm not sure if my suspicion is correct.



Fnord
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23 Oct 2012, 6:12 pm

Well, read the list of exemptions:

Foods that are certified organic. Organic farming systems rely on ecologically based practices such as cultural and biological pest management, exclusion of all synthetic chemicals, antibiotics, and hormones in crop and livestock production. Organic foods are more expensive than normal foods. This means that most shoppers on a budget will buy foods that are not organically certified. If Prop 37 goes into effect, foods that are both "organic" and genetically-engineered will not have any warning labels. Shoppers will then have to choose between expensive foods with an "Organic" label and economical foods with a "Genetically-Modified" label, even though both may contain genetically-modified materials. Benefits California organic food producers.

Foods that are unintentionally produced with genetically engineered material. Right now, about 85% of the corn produced in America is genetically modified (GMd). This includes corn starch, corn syrup, corn bread, and many other corn-based foods. If an organic farmer "unintentionally" uses cheap GMd corn syrup to sweeten his products, then he is doubly exempt, and may still use the "Organic" label on his expensive foods. Benefits California's Heat-And-Serve food producers.

Foods made from animals fed or injected with genetically engineered material but not genetically engineered themselves. If a farmer feeds his free-range organic chickens cheap GMd corn feed, he can still call his hens and their eggs "Organic" and charge higher prices for them. Same thing for cows and their milk. Benefits California meat, milk, and egg producers.

Foods processed with or containing only small amounts of genetically engineered ingredients. This clause does not define what fraction or percentage a "small amount" may be. The determination of what a "small amount" will likely be bantered about in civil courts for years to come. Benefits California's civil lawyers.

Foods that are administered for treatment of medical conditions. Obesity is a medical condition, making diet foods exempt from the GMd label. There is a multi-billion dollar a year industry in diet foods in America, and those who make diet foods want to be held exempt. Benefits California's diet food industry.

Foods that are sold for immediate consumption such as in a restaurant. Obviously, this Benefits California's Fast Food industry.

Alcoholic beverages. Equally obvious, this clause benefits the California wine producers and anyone running a distillery.

That's pretty much every California food producer. So who gets slammed? Anyone shipping food into California from out of state or overseas, that's who.

Prop 37 is a thinly-disguised attempt to limit competition for California's food producers by arbitrarily declaring that only foods produced in California are worth buying.

We don't need another Nanny Law.


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Beauty_pact
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23 Oct 2012, 7:07 pm

Apple_in_my_Eye wrote:
I've seen ads on TV against it, but I am now wondering if the argument that "since there are exemptions the law is no good" was generated by the GMO industry and is really trying trick people into bad reasoning -- that since the law isn't absolutely perfect you should vote against it. Can't laws be improved in the future? Why the all-or-nothing argument?


I think you have figured it out pretty well. After all, the GMO industry has ties high up in the government:

www.naturalnews.com/034847_Michael_Tayl ... o_FDA.html


A little more about the dangers of GMO:

http://gmo-awareness.com/all-about-gmos/gmo-risks/

www.geardiary.com/2012/04/24/monsanto-a ... hide-ills/


Here you can see what Sweden's third biggest party, Miljöpartiet, thinks about GMO (in Swedish):

www.google.se/search?q=%22GMO%22+OR+%22 ... Awww.mp.se


A law pretty much never starts out perfect. In a country such as the U.S., where the GMO industry is everywhere, one must take whatever chance one can to attempt to hinder their power. Otherwise, before you know it, all food you buy is patented, so they can get even richer - the only ones who wouldn't eat this poison (and severe environmental risk, including, but not limited to, cross-pollination) would be the "elite", for a severe lack of a better word. In fact, it's already happening:

www.infowars.com/government-raids-on-small-farmers/

www.naturalnews.com/035966_Rand_Paul_FD ... rship.html



starzo11
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05 Nov 2012, 3:36 pm

Actually, passing Prop. 37 would be a good thing. GMOs are not safe and labeling them in California would cause them to be labeled the same in all U.S. The GMO industry is running these ads that make it look ridiculous, but it is really common sense. Alcohol doesn't have an ingredient list anyway, for instance. Big food processing companies are donating thousands of dollars for it not to be passed, but GMOs really need to be labeled. The reason Monsanto doesn't want them labeled is because most people wouldn't buy them if they were labeled. GMOs are labeled in loads of other countries and it doesn't cause food to be ridiculously expensive. It doesn't affect farmers because they already know what they are growing. It only affects food manufacturers. GMOs have been linked to leaky gut, allergies, infertility, autoimmune diseases and cancer. Google Russian GMO study if you think I'm lying.



Beauty_pact
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05 Nov 2012, 7:52 pm

Indeed, starzo11...


Here is another good article, with many more valuable links on the subject:

www.anh-usa.org/genetically-engineered- ... e-systems/


Excerpt:

Quote:
The effects of other genetically modified products may not be as obvious so quickly, but can be even more devastating; as we have reported previously, GMOs are causing terrible genetic changes in mammal offspring. Scientists are seeing birth defects, high infant mortality rates, and sterility in hamsters, rats, and livestock fed GMO soy and corn, and some hamster pups even begin growing hair inside their mouths.


The late George Wald, Nobel Laureate in Medicine or Physiology in 1967 and Higgins Professor of Biology at Harvard University, was one of the first scientists to speak out about the potential dangers of genetic engineering:


Recombinant DNA technology [genetic engineering] faces our society with problems unprecedented, not only in the history of science, but of life on the Earth….Now whole new proteins will be transposed overnight into wholly new associations, with consequences no one can foretell, either for the host organism or their neighbors….For going ahead in this direction may not only be unwise but dangerous. Potentially, it could breed new animal and plant diseases, new sources of cancer, novel epidemics.



Will you be voting, tomorrow?



Beauty_pact
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05 Nov 2012, 8:42 pm

Here is another good article about what GE foods do to horses, and more:

http://aprilreeveshorsetraining.wordpre ... -survival/



Beauty_pact
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05 Nov 2012, 9:18 pm

About the GMO industry's many tricks to fool people on "why" they should vote no on Prop. 37:

www.organicconsumers.org/articles/article_26551.cfm


Some of the companies that support the use and spread of GE plants, and other GE organisms, and a bit more regarding Proposition 37:

http://abetterworld.tv/yes-on-propositi ... gmo-foods/



Beauty_pact
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06 Nov 2012, 10:23 am

Organic for the elite, GMO for everyone else:

www.motherjones.com/tom-philpott/2012/0 ... id=5965736

The article is not just about Mitt Romney.



Stargazer43
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06 Nov 2012, 11:56 am

I personally think there's far worse things in our every-day food to worry about than GMOs.



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06 Nov 2012, 2:58 pm

Fnord wrote:
what with "organic" foods being more expensive than the rest, while also having been proven to have no real benefit over "non-organic" foods.


Is that because foods labelled as organic are most often not 100% organic anyway?



Fnord
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06 Nov 2012, 3:20 pm

smudge wrote:
Fnord wrote:
what with "organic" foods being more expensive than the rest, while also having been proven to have no real benefit over "non-organic" foods.
Is that because foods labelled as organic are most often not 100% organic anyway?

More likely that when "organic" foods are produced, the lack of fertilizer, herbicide, and pesticide residues is largely offset by the loss of nutritional value from poor soil, plant diseases, and plant pests. Sure, you're getting no DDT in your apples, but those apples may have less flavor and decreased nutritional value.

Organic foods are more expensive because their production is more labor-intensive, and because any "Organic" certification seems impressive enough to consumers that they're willing to pay as much as five times what they would normally pay for the same products without the "Organic" label.

Overall, it's just the same old piece of fruit.


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Fnord
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07 Nov 2012, 12:13 am

California Proposition Results

With only 16.9% of the votes counted, Proposition 37 - Label Genetic Foods - is trailing:

Proposition 37 - Label Genetic Foods

Yes: 1,597,877 (42.3%)

No: 2,175,423 (57.7%)

I predict that Proposition 37 will be DEFEATED, once all the votes are tallied.


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07 Nov 2012, 9:04 pm

Stargazer43 wrote:
I personally think there's far worse things in our every-day food to worry about than GMOs.


Trans fats ?


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09 Nov 2012, 11:30 pm

Prop 37: Voted down through voting fraud, combined with who has more money above democracy. What a surprise.

www.infowars.com/did-prop-37-really-los ... ote-fraud/

www.alternet.org/food/did-monsanto-win- ... -our-lives

www.aljazeera.com/indepth/opinion/2012/ ... 32830.html

I wonder how many more will get terminally ill, over time, due to this, and how many more babies will be born deformed, and otherwise physically and mentally damaged, because of this. How much more cross-pollination will take place, due to these lost years of information, with permanent damage to the environment, and to organisms that feed on the plants that grow, including the bees that are needed for pollination to be able to even take place.... how much more genocide and crime against nature are these monstrously evil GMO companies going to be allowed to continue with before people wake up? One can only speculate.