Genetic Engineering News List Food companies petitioned to ban new Monsanto GMO corn Carey Gillam Reuters,  October 27 2011 http://www.reuters.com/article/2011/10/27/us-food-monsanto-idUSTRE79Q71O20111027 Opponents of Monsanto's new genetically modified sweet corn are petitioning national food retailers and processors to ban the biotech corn, which is not labeled as being genetically altered from conventional corn. A coalition of health, food safety and environmental organizations said they have collected more than 264,000 petition signatures from consumers who do not want to buy the corn. The coalition includes the Center for Environmental Health, the Center for Food Safety, and Food & Water Watch. It said it is pressing 10 of the top national retail grocery stores to ban the corn, including Wal-Mart, Kroger and Safeway. It is also asking top canned and frozen corn processors including Bird's Eye and Del Monte to ban the modified corn. The coalition said General Mills and Trader Joe's have already indicated that they will not be using the Monsanto biotech sweet corn in their products. The coalition said the biotech corn would be used in canned and frozen foods as well as sold fresh, but will be indistinguishable to consumers from conventional corn because the U.S. government does not require genetically altered food products to be labeled. "Consumers deserve to know what's in their food, especially when there is a pesticide in every bite," said Charles Margulis of the Center for Environmental Health. "This whole, unprocessed corn has been spliced with genes that produce a risky, untested insecticide. Parents should be informed when food on supermarket shelves has been genetically altered." Monsanto, the world's largest seed company and a developer of genetically altered corn, soybeans, cotton and other crops, said in August it was preparing to launch a genetically altered sweet corn that marks Monsanto's first commercial combination of its biotechnology with a consumer-oriented vegetable product. The sweet corn seed has been genetically altered to tolerate treatment of Monsanto's Roundup herbicide, and to fight off insects that might attack the plants. Monsanto officials said they were surprised their new product was generating so much controversy, as a rival seed company has already been marketing a biotech sweet corn for more than a decade. "The safety and benefits of biotech sweet corn products -- as well as other biotech crops -- is well established," said Monsanto spokeswoman Danielle Stuart. Stuart said the new sweet corn is a fresh-market product that will be sold on the ear, with or without husk, in the produce section of grocery stores. Sweet corn makes up about 1 percent of total corn acreage in the United States. Critics say they are worried that genetically altered crops, including the new sweet corn, pose environmental and health risks that include food allergies and unknown long-term health effects. They also say the herbicide-resistant crops are fueling a rise in "super weeds" that are hard to control because they are resistant to herbicide, and in many areas of the country the weeds are so prevalent they are limiting crop production. (Reporting by Carey Gillam; editing by Andrea Evans and Jim Marshall) --- --- 2.Enough Tricks: Consumers Speak Up Against Monsanto's GE Sweet Corn Press release, October 27 2011 http://www.centerforfoodsafety.org/2011/10/27/enough-tricks-consumers-speak-up-against-monsanto's-ge-sweet-corn/ With the threat of genetically engineered sweet corn hitting grocery stores next year looming, 264,000 people petition top retailers and food makers In response to Monsanto's release of the company's first genetically engineered sweet corn for human consumption, a coalition has collected more than 264,000 petition signatures from consumers who refuse to purchase the corn and are asking retailers and food processors to reject it. Today the coalition, including the Center for Environmental Health, Center for Food Safety, CREDO Action, Food Democracy Now!, and Food & Water Watch, announced that they have delivered the signed petition to 10 of the top national retail grocery stores including Wal-Mart, Kroger and Safeway, and top canned and frozen corn processors including Bird's Eye and Del Monte. Two major national food companies, General Mills and Trader Joe's, have already indicated that they will not be using the Monsanto GE sweet corn in their products, according to replies the companies sent to a request from the Center for Environmental Health. "The overwhelming number of people who have signed this petition once again reiterates the fact that consumers don't want genetically engineered food on their plates," said Wenonah Hauter, Executive Director of Food & Water Watch. "Consumers should be outraged that as early as next year, GE sweet corn in cans, frozen and fresh off the cob could show up in grocery stores across the country and we will have no way of telling it apart from other corn." "These grocery and food processing companies are the last link in the chain before this corn reaches consumers and they have a financial incentive to keep this unlabeled GE sweet corn off their shelves because their customers won't buy it," said Andrew Kimbrell, Executive Director of The Center for Food Safety. "Two major food companies have already said they will reject this risky new corn. If they can do it, so can these other companies." In August, Monsanto announced that its Roundup Ready GE sweet corn - as opposed to corn that has been used primarily in animal feed and highly processed foods since 1994 - would be available for the fall planting season. Although the sweet corn is the first GE vegetable of this type to be commercialized by Monsanto, it received swift approval from the USDA since the agency does no independent testing of GE crops and the seed's three distinct traits were previously approved, each separately, in 2005 and 2008. The three traits are corn borer resistance, rootworm resistance and tolerance for glyphosate - the primary ingredient in Monsanto's herbicide Roundup. "It's not surprising that the company responsible for producing nearly 90 percent of all GE seeds around the world now wants to sell its toxic crops directly to consumers, but it is clearly very scary to a lot of people" said Elijah Zarlin, Campaign Manager at CREDO Action. "We had an overwhelming response from over 160,000 CREDO Action members. It's shocking that, absent sufficient study of GMO corn, government regulators could be so cavalier in the approval of a product that raises significant concerns for so many people." "Monsanto continues to produce genetically engineered food that Americans have no interest in eating," said David Murphy, Founder, Food Democracy Now! "It's clear, with the increasing approvals of these untested products, that President Obama needs to live up to his campaign promise to label foods that have been genetically modified, because, as he said to farmers in Iowa, 'Americans should know what they're buying.'" Monsanto is aiming to grow its GE Sweet Corn on 250,000 acres next year, which is roughly 40 percent of the sweet corn market. They believe the corn will be used primarily in frozen and canned corn products, but could also be sold as fresh corn on the cob through retailers. "Consumers deserve to know what's in their food, especially when there is a pesticide in every bite," said Charles Margulis of the Center for Environmental Health. "This whole, unprocessed corn has been spliced with genes that produce a risky, untested insecticide. Parents should be informed when food on supermarket shelves has been genetically altered." The potential health and environmental risks associated with GE crops include increased food allergies and unknown long term health effects in humans; the rise of superweeds that have become resistant to GE-affiliated herbicides; the ethical and economic concerns involved with the patenting of life and corporate consolidation of the seed supply; and the contamination of organic and non-GE crops and through cross-pollination and seed dispersal. A sample of the cover letter sent to the food companies can be found at http://www.centerforfoodsafety.org/wp-content/uploads/2011/10/sweet-corn-cover-letter.pdf # # # The Center for Environmental Health has a fifteen-year track record of protecting communities from the health impacts of toxic pollution and has uncovered lead and other toxic health threats to children from wood playground structures, toys, vinyl baby bibs and lunchboxes, and many other products. CEH also works with major industries and leaders in green business to promote healthier alternatives to toxic products and practices. In 2010 the San Francisco Business Times bestowed its annual "Green Champion" award to CEH for its work to improve health and the environment in the Bay Area and beyond. The Center for Food Safety is national, non-profit, membership organization, founded in 1997, that works to protect human health and the environment by curbing the use of harmful food production technologies and by promoting organic and other forms of sustainable agriculture. CFS has nearly 200,000 members across the country. On the web at www.centerforfoodsafety.org and www.truefoodnow.org CREDO Action has 2.2 million members across the U.S. who fight for progressive change and raise money for organizations like Food Democracy Now and Rainforest Action Network.    Since 1985, CREDO and its membership have donated over $65 million to progressive causes. www.credoaction.org Food Democracy Now! is a grassroots movement of more than 250,000 American farmers and citizens dedicated to reforming U.S. food and agricultural policy to improve farmer competition in the marketplace, protect our environment and promote organic and sustainable food for all. www.fooddemocracynow.org Food & Water Watch works to ensure the food, water and fish we consume is safe, accessible and sustainable. So we can all enjoy and trust in what we eat and drink, we help people take charge of where their food comes from, keep clean, affordable, public tap water flowing freely to our homes, protect the environmental quality of oceans, force government to do its job protecting citizens, and educate about the importance of keeping shared resources under public control. www.foodandwaterwatch.org The Genetic Engineering Blog is produced by Thomas Wittman and EcoFarm, and supported by a generous donation from the Newman's Own Foundation.