October 4, 2012 -

In November, Californians will be voting on Proposition 37: A Mandatory Labeling of Genetically Engineered Food Initiative, that will require labeling of raw or processed food if the food is made from plants or animals with genetic material changed in specified ways.

Gail McDonald-Tune advocates for the labeling law and believes the food-buying public is being used as guinea pigs.

Her research has shown that genetic engineering transfers genes across natural species barriers, either by shooting genes into a plate of cells or by using bacteria to invade the cell with foreign DNA. The altered cell is then cloned into a plant.

There are eight food crops that are genetically engineered and five major varieties corn, canola, cotton, soy and sugar beets have bacterial genes inserted that allow the plants to survive an otherwise deadly dose of weed killer. Farmers use considerably more herbicides on these Genetically Modified (GM) crops, so the food has higher residues. About 68 percent of GM crops are herbicide tolerant.

The second GM trait is a built-in pesticide, found in corn and cotton. A gene from the soil bacterium is inserted into the plants DNA, where it secretes the insect-killing Bt-toxin in every cell. About 19 percent of GM crops produce their own pesticide. Another 13 percent produce a pesticide and are herbicide tolerant.

FDA scientists repeatedly warned that GM foods may create unpredictable, hard to detect side effects, including allergies, toxins, new diseases and nutritional problems. and urged long-term studies, but were ignored.

For more information when selecting food, download a free non-GMO Shopping Guide: http://www.ResponsibleTechnology.org.

Read more here:
The Dangers of Genetic Engineering

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