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2012-09-30 07:55:47 UTC
Author defends Monsanto GM study as EU orders review
Posted 2012/09/20 at 11:56 am EDT
BRUSSELS, Sep. 20, 2012 (Reuters) — The French author of a study
linking a type of genetically modified corn to higher health risks in
rats dismissed criticism of his research methods on Thursday,
describing the work as the most detailed study to date on the subject.
Gilles-Eric Seralini of the University of Caen and colleagues said on
Wednesday that rats fed on Monsanto's genetically modified corn or
exposed to its top-selling weed killer suffered tumors and multiple
organ damage and premature death.
But experts not involved with the study were skeptical, describing the
French team's statistical methods as unconventional and accusing them
of going "on a statistical fishing trip".
Speaking at a news conference in Brussels on Thursday, Seralini
defended the peer-reviewed study, which was published in the journal
Food and Chemical Toxicology.
"This study has been evaluated by the world's best food toxicology
magazine, which took much more time than people who reacted within 24
hours without reading the study," he told Reuters Television.
"I'm waiting for criticism from scientists who have already published
material in journals... on the effects of GMOs and pesticides on
health, in order to debate fairly with peers who are real scientists,
and not lobbyists."
Earlier, the European Commission said it had asked the EU's food safety
authority, EFSA, to verify the results of the French study and report
their findings.
"EFSA's mandate is to verify what this group of scientists has
presented, to look at their research conditions, look at how the
animals were treated," Commission health spokesman Frederic Vincent
told a regular news briefing.
"We hope that by the end of the year we will have an EFSA opinion on
this piece of scientific research."
In 2003, EFSA published a safety assessment of the GM corn variety
known as NK603, which is tolerant to Monsanto's Roundup weed killer.
The assessment concluded that NK603 was as safe as non-GM corn, after
which the European Union granted approval for its use in food and feed.
Seralini said EFSA's assessments were less rigorous than his team's
study.
"GMOs have been evaluated in a extremely poor and lax way with much
less analysis than we have done. It's the world's most detailed and
longest study. Therefore, some people are responsible and guilty of
authorizing this GMO after only three months," he said.
(Reporting by Clement Rossignol; Writing by Charlie Dunmore; Editing by
Hugh Lawson)
http://www.newsdaily.com/stories/bre88j0wg-us-eu-gmo-safety/
Posted 2012/09/20 at 11:56 am EDT
BRUSSELS, Sep. 20, 2012 (Reuters) — The French author of a study
linking a type of genetically modified corn to higher health risks in
rats dismissed criticism of his research methods on Thursday,
describing the work as the most detailed study to date on the subject.
Gilles-Eric Seralini of the University of Caen and colleagues said on
Wednesday that rats fed on Monsanto's genetically modified corn or
exposed to its top-selling weed killer suffered tumors and multiple
organ damage and premature death.
But experts not involved with the study were skeptical, describing the
French team's statistical methods as unconventional and accusing them
of going "on a statistical fishing trip".
Speaking at a news conference in Brussels on Thursday, Seralini
defended the peer-reviewed study, which was published in the journal
Food and Chemical Toxicology.
"This study has been evaluated by the world's best food toxicology
magazine, which took much more time than people who reacted within 24
hours without reading the study," he told Reuters Television.
"I'm waiting for criticism from scientists who have already published
material in journals... on the effects of GMOs and pesticides on
health, in order to debate fairly with peers who are real scientists,
and not lobbyists."
Earlier, the European Commission said it had asked the EU's food safety
authority, EFSA, to verify the results of the French study and report
their findings.
"EFSA's mandate is to verify what this group of scientists has
presented, to look at their research conditions, look at how the
animals were treated," Commission health spokesman Frederic Vincent
told a regular news briefing.
"We hope that by the end of the year we will have an EFSA opinion on
this piece of scientific research."
In 2003, EFSA published a safety assessment of the GM corn variety
known as NK603, which is tolerant to Monsanto's Roundup weed killer.
The assessment concluded that NK603 was as safe as non-GM corn, after
which the European Union granted approval for its use in food and feed.
Seralini said EFSA's assessments were less rigorous than his team's
study.
"GMOs have been evaluated in a extremely poor and lax way with much
less analysis than we have done. It's the world's most detailed and
longest study. Therefore, some people are responsible and guilty of
authorizing this GMO after only three months," he said.
(Reporting by Clement Rossignol; Writing by Charlie Dunmore; Editing by
Hugh Lawson)
http://www.newsdaily.com/stories/bre88j0wg-us-eu-gmo-safety/
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