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Altered Genes, Twisted Truth

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Altered Genes, Twisted Truth
Genetically engineered foods may be one of the most devastating threats we are in contact with today not only to our environment but to the health and very survival of future generations. Typically, the blame to get genetic engineering (GE) foods into the market place is placed on chemical companies or the biotech industries. However, the unseen nor unheard mystery of how genetically engineered foods were able to reach the dinner plates of millions throughout North America and several other parts of the world is revealed in the book, Altered Genes, Twisted Truth, written by Steven M. Druker. According to Jane Goodall, UN Messenger of Peace, Druker has, without doubt, written one of the most important books of the last 50 years. Steven M. …show more content…
And not only has the research on GE foods failed to show they’re safe it as actually confirmed that they should be off the market. Which is better explained in chapter 10 of this novel, For example, the first commercially grown genetically engineered food to be granted a license to get onto the American market was the Flavr Savr tomato which was developed by Calgene in 1992 which aimed to keep the tomato after it was picked to stay firm throughout the shipping process. And at that time, the FDA thought it would help the image of GE foods if they did a few tests to check their safety. However, on two of the three major tests done on rats with the Flavr Savr tomato turned out to be bad news for the company as close to 20% of the rats developed gross lesions in their stomachs. But in the third test some rats which were not fed the Flavr Savr also developed lesions which Calgene thought was encouraging enough to were the FDA would agree the tomato was safe. Which was not the case as many scientists were not won over. However, just like the FDA did in 1992 to issue a statement that clashed with its experts to declare that GE foods can be presumed safe it twisted the information again but in this case it declared that the first bioengineering whole food had actually been proven safe. Not only was it clear that many experts did not agree with the tomato being regarded as safe, and therefore it could not be Generally recognized as safe (GRAS) the tomato was associated with outcomes more severe that lesions as 7 out of 20 rats that ate the GE tomato died within 2 weeks. The FDA ended up announcing the fraudulent claim that Flavr Savr

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