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South Korea Is Latest To Suspend US Wheat Imports In Aftermath Of Monsanto Rogue Wheat Discovery
The global Monsanto genetically modified wheat scandal is getting worse.
As a reminder, recently news broke out that a rogue genetically modified strain of wheat developed by Monsanto, had been found in an Oregon field late last month. But while modified food has long been a diet staple, this particular breed was the first discovery of an unapproved strain, and what made things worse is the lack of any information how the rogue grain had escape from a field trial a decade ago. As Reuters reports, "even after weeks of investigation, experts are baffled as to how the seed survived for years after Monsanto had ceased all field tests of the product. It was found in a field growing a different type of wheat than Monsanto's strain, far from areas used for field tests, according to an Oregon State University wheat researcher who tested the strain."
The USDA was quick to deny any suggestion of public danger:
The USDA said the GM wheat found in Oregon posed no threat to human health, and also said there was no evidence that the grain had entered the commercial supply chain.
But the discovery threatens to stoke consumer outcry over the possible risk of cross-contaminating natural products with genetically altered foods, and may embolden critics who say U.S. regulation of GMO products is lax.
This is compounded by the still fresh memory of the glaring and repeated lies by the Japanese government in regards to the Fukushima explosion, making some wonder just how far the government is willing to go to cover up potential threats if the alternative is widespread panic.
It is all the more alarming because the wheat strain was thought to have been eliminated after test trials ended in 2005, as Monsanto abandoned efforts to secure regulatory approval due to worldwide opposition. While there have been more than 20 majors violations of U.S. regulations on handling or co-mingling biotechnology crops, none have ever involved wheat before.
Ironically, it was that master hypocrite Japan, which is now feeding its population rice grown in the Fukushima evacuation zone, that was first to halt US grain shipments,
[M]ajor buyer Japan canceled plans to buy U.S. wheat while the Europe Union said it would step up testing.
Some analysts feared a potentially damaging blow to the $8 billion wheat export business, recalling the more than yearlong disruption to corn sales following a similar discovery in 2000.
"Unless there's a quick resolution, this is not going to be good for the export market," said Art Liming, grain futures specialist with Citigroup.
And as the global concern about just what consumers are putting into their mouths spreads, South Korean millers were the latest to just announce a suspension of US wheat imports:
South Korean millers suspended imports of U.S. wheat on Friday and some Asian countries stepped up inspections after the discovery of an unapproved strain of genetically modified wheat in the United States, but stopped short of imposing import bans.
South Korea - which last year sourced roughly half of its total wheat imports of 5 million metric tons from the U.S. - has also raised quarantine measures on U.S. feed wheat, while Thailand put ports on alert.
As more countries follow South Korea's example, Asia may suddenly find itself with a major wheat shortage:
Asia imports more than 40 million metric tons of wheat annually, almost a third of the global trade of 140-150 million metric tons. The bulk of the region's supplies come from the U.S., the world's biggest exporter, and Australia, the No. 2 supplier.
But Australia will struggle to soak up extra demand as its supplies tighten in the wake of unsustainably brisk exports and growing demand from domestic livestock farmers.
"The bulk of grain suppliers (in Australia) are cancelling shipping slots and selling grain to domestic feed mills and feedlots," said Stefan Meyer, a manager for cash markets at brokerage INTL FCStone in Sydney.
Japan is not rushing to find alternative sources of wheat, however, with the county's flour milling industry body saying they have sufficient stocks for the short term.
"We haven't thought about alternatives to the grade or proposed candidates to the farm ministry (at this stage)," said Masaaki Kadota, executive director of the Flour Millers Association of Japan.
Perhaps just as well: what better way to avoid even more soaring food import costs than due to an embargo on foreign grain imports. It is unclear if the proposed alternative will be five-eyed fish caught off the Fukushima coast.
Another country even more reliant on the US for wheat is the Philippines:
An industry official in the Philippines, which buys about 4 million metric tons of wheat a year and relies mainly on U.S. supplies, said the country could turn to Canada if it decides not to import from the U.S.
Hopefully Monsanto's GMed strain didn't mysteriously cross the Canada border as well. Which it very well may have: as of now the source of the spread of the rogue wheat is completely unknown:
Bob Zemetra, the Oregon State researcher, said a local farmer contacted the university in late April after noticing that some wheat plants survived an application of herbicide that was being used to kill off unwanted plants in the fallow field.
Most plants died, but a few wheat plants unexpectedly emerged after the spraying. Researchers determined the wheat is a strain of Roundup-Ready tested by Monsanto in Oregon fields from 1999 to 2001.
GM crops tolerate certain pesticides, allowing farmers to improve weed control and increase yields.
Zemetra said Monsanto had been field-testing spring wheat, while the "volunteer" plants discovered in the eastern Oregon field were winter wheat. The two varieties pollinate at different times, making it unlikely for the GMO traits to have been carried into the field by wind.
"That's why it's a mystery," he said.
Farmers, wondering whether their wheat could unknowingly be genetically modified, have flooded farm bureaus with questions. They should not spray crops with Roundup to check whether they will survive, said Mike Flowers, extension cereals specialist for Oregon State University.
The final word is not surprising: keep calm and keep eating.
"The recommendation right now is to not panic," he said. "We really need
to let the investigators do their jobs and get more information before
people panic. We don't know if it's widespread. Right now, we know it's
in one field."
There's that... And let's not forget the government is always there to help you.
But while the potential dangers are clear for all, one wonder: in a world in which millions of people eat the mystery meat contained in McNuggets, not to mention KFC, each and every day, isn't it a little too hypocritical to be worried about the genetic make up of a loaf of bread?
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Probably the most interesting comment. Point missed by a kilometer.
Have you an idea to undo what can not be undone?
Solve this paradox, tell how what was done can be undone. Until you did that, well, only hot air.
It's no surprise that so many of the chemical and pharma companies are either Swiss or are controlled by the Swiss, who are without doubt the world's leader in their belief in the practice of eugenics. One only has to look at the behavior of Nestle to see that the Swiss have a eugenics agenda. An awful lot of people here on ZH are very concerned about the nefarious schemes of Jews, but somehow the Swiss are never mentioned. It's easy to see why - they have centuries of practice at staying below the radar while pulling every string worth pulling. And, when you look at almost any man-made disaster in the world, if you look closely enough and ask "Qui bono?" the answer very often comes back - the Swiss. Now I understand that Monsanto isn't strictly a Swiss company, but do some digging and you'll find a host of cross-connections with Swiss companies and wealthy, anonymous Swiss bankers. For my money, the Swiss are by far the greatest villians ever to plague mankind, bar none.
Swiss are 'american' and as such, are attracted to eugenics.
'Americanism' and eugenics, a lasting love story...
AnAnonymous, once again, goes full excretard:
Others would be extremely alerted by that unexpected cocktail.
Again, another totally blank statement founded on nothing.
Rhetorical question: do you realize how cheap your argumentation is and contemptful of others it shows you are?
Now if Chinese citizenism citizens are led to repudiate that part, it would really show how messed their stuff was.
the removal of First Nations people from America is very much the proof backing the claims of AnAnonymous on this comment.
Yes, of course, how could I have forgotten the atrocities of the Swiss Cavalry, especially in Oklahoma Territory.
Walking through a wheat field and hungy, I found myself in search of something nutritious to eat.
Monsanto
"not ground-up ready"
"The USDA said the GM wheat found in Oregon posed no threat to human health"
Details of testing that prove there's no human danger from ingesting this wheat, please.
I'm not against GMO's per se, shit we've been doing it for thousands of years know aka selective breeding with plants and animals like dogs but there is difference between tinkering with a natural selection process and this....
Dynamite! the usual confusing working with nature's choices directed by selected choices in the natural cellular environment, with explosive introduction of genetic material. Dr. Frankenstein used lightning, Moninsanto uses dynamite.
Silent Year...the sequel to Silent Spring
And if you don't think GMO crops are not playing with fire. Read this. Everyone can draw their own conclusions.
http://www.gmwatch.org/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=1471...
NOTE: The briefing document below is a summary for the lay person of the paper published yesterday, "A comparative evaluation of the regulation of GM crops or products containing dsRNA and suggested improvements to risk assessment" by Professor Jack Heinemann, Sarah Agapito-Tenfen and Adjunct Associate Professor Judy Carman.
Press release/abstract here:
http://www.gmwatch.org/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=14713
The paper is open access (free download), thanks to sponsorship of the open access fee by the Safe Food Institute of Australia:
http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/journal/01604120/55
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A briefing document for non-specialists describing the lack of regulation of a new class of products and GM crops based on dsRNA technology
by
Adjunct Associate Professor Judy Carman, Professor Jack Heinemann and Sarah Agapito-Tenfen
21 March 2013
This is a briefing about the contents of a new, peer-reviewed scientific paper: "A comparative evaluation of the regulation of GM crops or products containing dsRNA and suggested improvements to risk assessment" by Professor Jack Heinemann, Sarah Agapito-Tenfen and Adjunct Associate Professor Judy Carman.
To date, most[1] genetically modified (GM) plants have been made by inserting a new piece of DNA into a plant so that the GM version makes a new protein. Most of these new proteins are designed to either kill insects that try to eat the plant or to make the plant resistant to a herbicide. The process works like this: the DNA is changed so that when a section of the DNA is read and copied, a new piece of messenger RNA (mRNA) is made. The mRNA then goes to another part of the cell and is read to make the new protein.
However, there is a new type of GM plant now being made. These are not designed to make a new protein, but to just make a new RNA molecule. However, the RNA molecule made is different to the single-stranded mRNA described earlier, because it is either double-stranded (dsRNA) or it is designed to find another single-stranded RNA molecule and bind to it to create a dsRNA molecule. These dsRNA molecules have important roles in cells. For example, they can silence or activate genes. For this to happen, the order of the nucleotide units in the dsRNA molecule is crucial. A different sequence can result in the dsRNA having different effects, and silencing or activating a different gene, or multiple other genes.
A number of GM plants have now been made using this technology. For example, Australia's CSIRO has developed GM wheat and barley varieties where genes have been silenced in order to change the type of starch made by the plant. Another example is biopesticide plants, which are designed to silence a gene in insects that eat the plant. That is, the insect eats the plant, the dsRNA in the plant survives digestion in the insect, travels into the tissues of the insect to silence a gene in the insect so that the insect dies as a result.
There is evidence that the gene silencing may be inherited by the offspring of some organisms that eat the dsRNA.
Furthermore, there is massive, ongoing investment occurring to develop products that directly transfer dsRNA into the living cells of plants, animals and microbes via their food or by being absorbed through their "skin". This allows dsRNA molecules to be sprayed onto fields of crops to kill insects or to be delivered to beehives as oral medicine for bees.
Last year, a high profile scientific paper was published that showed that dsRNA molecules produced in non-GM plants can be taken into the bodies of people who eat the plant. The dsRNA from the plant was found circulating in blood, indicating that it survives cooking and digestion. Research has also shown that:
*at least one dsRNA produced in plants (called mir168a) can change the expression of genes in mice; and
*dsRNA (mir168a) can change the expression of a gene in human cells growing in tissue culture. Therefore, there is a real risk that the dsRNA produced by these new GM crops could survive digestion in people and change how those people's genes are expressed. These effects of dsRNA were predicted long ago by some scientists. The proof has now arrived.
So, are all dsRNA molecules safe?
A new paper has just been published in Environment International by Professor Jack Heinemann of New Zealand, Sarah Agapito-Tenfen of Brazil and Adjunct Associate Professor Judy Carman of Australia. These authors looked at how the safety of some plants, designed to produce new dsRNA, was determined. They reviewed their experience with three government safety regulators (for either food or the environment) in three different countries over the past ten years. They found that the safety of dsRNA molecules was usually not considered at all, and if it was considered in any way, the regulator simply assumed that any dsRNA molecules were safe, rather than requiring proof that they were safe.
The authors found that government regulators:
*dismissed any need for any assessment of the sequence of the nucleotides in the dsRNAs produced by GM plants;
*seemed to assume that dsRNAs produced by these plants are much the same as the more fragile single-stranded RNAs (eg mRNA), and therefore would not survive cooking and digestion; and
*claimed that these new dsRNA molecules are safe because humans and non-target animals would simply not be exposed to them.
However, the authors found many scientific studies showing that these assumptions were incorrect.
As a result, the regulators did not assess whether the dsRNAs could cause adverse effects in people or in the environment by, for example, silencing or activating genes in people that come into contact with the plant when it is grown commercially. Contact could include eating the crop or processed products derived from it, inhaling dust from the crop when harvesting it, or inhaling flour from the crop when baking with it. And regulators made that decision regardless of whether the dsRNA was generated intentionally or unintentionally by the crop. All three regulators decided that there were no risks to be considered, based on their own unproven and incorrect assumptions, rather than the scientific evidence.
As a result of their analysis, the authors developed and provided a safety testing procedure for all GM plants that may produce new dsRNA molecules, as well as for products where the active ingredient is dsRNA.
It is important to realise that our current understanding of dsRNA in GM plants is in its infancy and we are still trying to understand how dsRNA molecules may work and therefore how they may affect humans, animals and the environment. Even so, some GM plants using this technology have already been approved for human consumption, using the sorts of assumptions described earlier. Of these crops, several have been withdrawn from the market, while others are about to enter it.
Meanwhile, spraying dsRNAs directly onto crops can be expected to result in large exposures to dsRNA molecules in the environment. For example, we know that existing agricultural sprays can travel for several miles on the wind and can enter surface water and ground water due to run-off after rain. This will also happen with dsRNA molecules if they are sprayed onto crops. We also know that dsRNAs can persist for a long time in the environment.
GM plants and products based on dsRNA technology need a thorough, fit-for-purpose safety evaluation before we use them commercially. The authors provide a step-by-step procedure of how this could be done.
After all, we don't want to learn that one or more of these crops or sprays is toxic after millions of people have been exposed to them for years.
Notes
1. There are some extremely minor exceptions to this, such as virus-resistant papaya, some nutritionally- altered soybeans, and some other plants that are not yet on the market.
And more detailed information on this if your curiousity is piqued.
http://www.gmfreecymru.org/pivotal_papers/crucial36.html
Too many people don't even a purpose in life and they worry about GMO food? Give me a fucking break!
Why the fuck is the USDA defending Monsanto's crappy products?
I know the answer but just wanted to ask the question publicly.
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Wild guess: because the USDA is run by people from Monsanto?
> the USDA is run by people from Monsanto
Surprisingly, not everyone is aware of this simple fact.
It looks like Monsanto is taking a step back from trying to spread its poisons in Europe. Austria, Bulgaria, France, Greece, Hungary, Luxembourg and most recently Poland are among other EU member states enforcing the ban on GMOs.
It is only in the U.S. that corporate power comes before the welfare of its citizens.
http://rt.com/news/monsanto-stop-lobbying-eu-084/
Jews who hate Christians, Jews trying to destroy the United States.
I call dibs on the movie rights when it starts attacking people in their sleep, or worse yet, trading in the stock market.
Me gusta all that armageddon BS. Mi luchadors have always known that wheat, whether GMO or not is poison to the human body, su cuerpo. Tequila, chicas, manteca, blood sausage and souls are what a powerful hombre feeds himself. Aye aye aye!
So amigos, te sabes que 'Armageddon' is mi tool. I can see your sweat pendejos.
All those know-it-all babosos on TV’s ‘Coming Destruction Channel’, suggesting a combine is coming through your wall tomorrow are making mucho dinero on su continued destruction porn appetite - CUIDADO - ALL THE BEES ARE DYING! NO ES VERDAD... Only those stinkin' European honeybees, the rest of the plant have wild bees. But here, sientense and tome una cervesa, OK? These ‘do as their told’ clowns are in most cases, not even aware that they’re working for me. Mira, I want the public, uh, audience to place their attention on these possibilities for quite a few unsavory reasons… which I’ll get to later (the grande palabra crowd calls what I'm doing predictive programming, distraction, and conditioning).
I like to cover all angles, so comprende when I tell that everything I do is for many razones. Uno mas vez, I use your labor, and stolen labor (the $ I steal from savers, gold paper pendejos y rehypothacatees), to pay for it all. As long as you use my carnival tokens, take loans from my game booth, and generally get sucked into pay per views of all my fights with no perception that there’s an outside of the ring, you're gonna continue to find yourself cleaning out the bathroom stalls for more lucha libre tickets.
Entonces, monsanto is distraction, redirection of your focus upon futures that will likely never arrive. It’s a tricky balance, because if I get the audience to focus too much, it can cause the event to occur.
Si, you’ve got a long long time, a slow trudgery of painful desperation coming your way if you're rope-a-doping around este cuadrilatero, this ring. This ‘world’ is going nowhere! GMO or organic, hyperinflation or deflation, fascism or 'free' markets, flood or no flood, asteroid impact or none, tsunami or toilet flush, planetary expansion or not, killer solar flare or a sleepy sun, no killshots, no nada! Comprende? Your Armageddon most likely occurs when you're plowed down by un autobus, ran over by a parking lot sweeper, or gored by a bull!
That’s right, if you’re not moving past that Peter North, Jorge Washington, that AJ hombre, Tyler amigo, Jaime Rickards, Jaime Willie, etc , then it’s time you realize that even the well intentioned can take you too far down certain roads (they’re still kicking because of what the academics with their fancy palabras call ‘useful controlled opposition’). Your ZH, su disclosure project, su Thrive, su dinero, su pais, yer Suspicious Observer, su free energy, su religions, su saviours, su lingua, su re-written history, su smarts, su science, su math, and even what most Pastor’s, Priests, and Mullah’s call su soul… todos is smoke from cigaretes caballo cangada.
While the audience es doing nada because you think the world is going to ‘end soon anyways’, Me n mi pals are making new rules, putting you on buses to ship you to my Lucha Libre wrestling ring in Mexico (where there ain’t any laws), stealing your stored salted bacon, and squeezing su novias rear end when you’re not looking. All these ‘disasters’ are in front of su ojos, your eyes, because they’re a tool to get you to fight back the incorrect way.
Escucha, whether these disasters occur or not means as much as how long a steers cuerno is AFTER it’s had it’s way with your culo.
Entiendes, I win both ways… that is amigos, whether the disasters do or don’t happen. Oh, and within the fighting ring, it’s true that mis amigos are now protected from any ‘disaster’ because I used your labor to construct safety facilities for our miserable selves. Es verdad, I'm more flexible than a contortionist at a freak show. If the earth’s vibrates too much, then I’ll send you into the caves (located under most fighting arenas) that once were built to save ourselves. I'm gonna laugh just thinking of you sealing your fate in the tomb of your ignorance. If no disaster, then I have enough time to slowly end your life with rotten tamales and sterilizing horchata. Si… those who still remain in the arena as 'innocent' bystanders can look forward to a soiled mat surrounded with invisible barbed wire.
Que? I can hear you saying, ‘I’m having these prophetic dreams of disaster, it must be god telling me the future’.
Me y mi luchador cohorts are the ones who have been putting all sorts of chicharones into your subconscious (without you knowin’ that most your thoughts y fears have been placed there purposefully). Hard to handle, si, pero we’ve all been programmed to some extent, and we all have ‘temporary’ brains that are meant to be programmed like a cheap clocks, or in for you ZH'r...algos. Oh, did I mention that the primero tool that I use, es nombre goes under the real fancy 3 letters of NLP.
For as long as you uncritically watch and listen to the cangada that is spewed knowingly y unknowingly from ALL of your trusted lucha libre newscasters and info sources, you will continue to be the bots I desire.
Viva El Luchador!
Eat or be eaten.
+1. Sad, but true. Oh...and you know too much.
And a pox on the house to all who invest with them!
anyone else find it fascinating that the GMO issue has caught so much attention across the globe? almost like human DNA instinctively knows when to say no when its code is fucked with too much.
sorry boyz, but even blackwater can't save ya on this one.
Yeah ... and all in the MSM, too. It's almost like 'somebody' wants to make it an issue, eh? I wonder why?
</rhetorical question>
excellent questions, my bone-sniffing friend.
how to kill a trade deficit 101.
welcome to the currency war