By Rady Ananda
Food Freedom

In addition to the global Occupy Monsanto action on March 16-17, organizers are asking folks to gather outside their local WalMart store urging it not to sell genetically modified corn. The health consequences will be catastrophic.

Gilles-Eric Seralini, named 2011 International Scientist of the Year, has linked GM foods and their attendant pesticides to organ damage, including the liver, intestines, and testes of lab animals; and the transgenes have been found in the blood of pregnant women and their fetuses, as well as in non-pregnant women. (See his and other studies linked at bottom.)

The Sum of Us writes:

In just a few weeks, farmers will begin planting Monsanto’s largest genetically modified corn crop in history marketed directly to consumers. This is not just any corn — it is genetically engineered to include Bt toxin, a pesticide that ruptures the stomach of the insects that eat it.

Monsanto has never tested its Bt corn on humans, yet it insists it is safe.

Monsanto’s sweet corn could be on dinner plates soon — sold unmarked, unlabelled, and untested on humans. Monsanto’s first foray into the selling this potentially toxic GM corn straight to consumers is in the US. But if it succeeds, they won’t stop there — they’re already started growing cotton, eggplant and potatoes with the same toxin.

Monsanto is relying on supermarkets to sell its product to American consumers — and the biggest of those is global megacorporation WalMart. If we can stop WalMart from selling the Monsanto corn, we can send a clear signal to Monsanto that consumers around the world won’t stand for untested GMO food on their dinner plates — and take a big bite out of the profits they’re expecting.

Along with our partners at Food and Water Watch, we’re already making progress on this campaign — more than 60,000 American SumOfUs members have signed the petition, and under pressure a WalMart spokesperson recently told the press that “the decision has not been made.”

As the world’s largest corporation by revenue, WalMart operates 8,500 stores in 15 countries under 55 names — including Asda in the U.K., Pali in Costa Rica, Seiyu in Japan, Walmex in Mexico, Todo Dia or Bompreço in Brazil, Despensa Familiar in Central America, Bharti Walmart in India, and Massmart in sub-Saharan Africa.

WalMart wants to be the world’s supermarket. If consumers around the world send a strong message now that selling Monsanto’s toxic crop will give them a toxic brand, WalMart will back down.

The Evidence:

Bt Toxin Kills Human Kidney Cells
March 2012 The Bt protein, Cry1Ab, used to genetically modify corn, kills human cells at low doses as does Roundup herbicide. http://www.i-sis.org.uk/Bt_Toxin_Kills_Human_Kidney_Cells.php

Pro-biotech bug docs tell EPA US should not plant GM crops
March 2012 Because the rootworm has developed resistance to genetically modified corn, the best way to stop or slow increasing numbers of resistant insects is to stop planting GM crops, say 22 entomologists. http://foodfreedomgroup.com/2012/03/12/bug-docs-urge-epa-non-gmo-corn/

Glyphosate Kills Rat Testicular Cells
Dec. 2011 At low doses, glyphosate-based herbicides, used on genetically modified crops, reduces testosterone by 35% in mature rats; at high doses, it destroys testicles. See Emilie Clair, et al. (2011). A glyphosate-based herbicide induces necrosis and apoptosis in mature rat testicular cells in vitro, and testosterone decrease at lower levels. Toxicol In Vitro. 2012 Mar;26(2):269-79. http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0887233311003341

GM Feed Toxic, New Meta-Analysis Confirms
Sept. 2011 A meta-analysis on 19 studies confirms kidney and liver toxicity in rats and mice fed on GM soybean and maize, representing more than 80 percent of all commercially available GM food; it also exposes gross inadequacies of current risk assessment. http://www.i-sis.org.uk/GM_Feed_toxic_new_metaanalysis_confirms.php

Transgenic genes from GM corn found in pregnant women
May 2011 The Bt protein, CryAb1, used to genetically modify corn to kill pests who eat the plant, was found in the blood of pregnant women, their fetuses and in non-pregnant women in Canada. The pesticides glyphosate and gluphosinate were also found in the women’s blood. See Aris A, Leblanc S. Maternal and fetal exposure to pesticides associated to genetically modified foods in Eastern Townships of Quebec, Canada. Reprod Toxicol. 2011 May;31(4):528-33. Epub 2011 Feb 18. http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/21338670

Scientists link dangerous new pathogen with Monsanto’s Roundup
Feb. 2011 A new, self-replicating, micro-fungal virus-sized organism which may be causing spontaneous abortions in livestock, sudden death syndrome in Monsanto’s Roundup Ready soy, and wilt in Monsanto’s RR corn has been linked to the use of Roundup. http://foodfreedom.wordpress.com/2011/02/20/roundup-new-pathogen/

Monsanto’s Roundup linked to human birth defects
http://globalresearch.ca/index.php?context=va&aid=21251
Sept. 2010 Engdahl cites Paganelli, A., et al. (2010). Glyphosate-based herbicides produce teratogenic effects on vertebrates by impairing retinoic acid signaling. Chem. Res. Toxicol. http://pubs.acs.org/doi/abs/10.1021/tx1001749

Corn pops on the stalk: GM side effect?
Sept. 2010 A Kentucky corn farmer found his corn popped in the field, meaning the internal temperature was so great that it vaporized the water molecules. What is this stuff doing to us? http://foodfreedom.wordpress.com/2010/09/09/corn-pops-on-the-stalk-gm-side-effect/

Three Approved GMOs Linked to Organ Damage
http://foodfreedom.wordpress.com/2010/01/01/three-approved-gmos-linked-to-organ-damage/
Jan. 2010 Researchers have linked organ damage with consumption of Monsanto’s GM corn, citing Joël Spiroux de Vendômois1, et al. (2009). A Comparison of the Effects of Three GM Corn Varieties on Mammalian Health. Int J Biol Sci 2009; 5(7):706-726. http://www.biolsci.org/v05p0706.htm

Bt Brinjal Unfit for Human Consumption
Feb. 2009 Monsanto’s GM eggplant produces a protein in the vegetable cells that induce antibiotic resistance, and in rats causes blood clots, diarrhea, and decreased liver weight. http://www.i-sis.org.uk/Bt_Brinjal_Unfit.php

GM Eggplant Contains Bt Toxin Linked to Hundreds of Allergy Cases and Thousands of Sheep Deaths
July 2006 The GM brinjal contains the same Cry1Ac toxin from the soil bacterium Bacillus thuringiensis as the widely cultivated GM cotton that has been implicated recently in major health controversies in India. Hundreds of farm workers and cotton handlers developed allergic reactions. http://www.i-sis.org.uk/GMeggplant.php

Mass Deaths in Sheep Grazing on Bt Cotton
May 2006 At least 1 820 sheep were reported dead after grazing on post-harvest Bt cotton crops; the symptoms and post-mortem findings strongly suggest they died from severe toxicity. http://www.i-sis.org.uk/MDSGBTC.php