Genetic Modification/Engineering and Allergy:

One thing in this whole process for me that has been INCREDIBLY frustrating is the lack of oversight and regulation that the FDA, CDC and USDA have over our health. I really should call it selective oversight and regulation, because it is there for the right price ;) There is very little needed to prove a product safe for consumption (another post another day). It has turned into our job, as the consumer, to either die or get sick in great numbers to prove the product otherwise, once the product is on the market. Even after this occurs, if the producer has enough money/power it may still be consumed. Case in point would be GMO’s. The United States is one of a few countries that allow GMO’s to be sold without labeling. Coca Cola and many other big names produce a different product without GMO’s for places like Europe that required labeling, because the product won’t sell if GMO’s are used. Crazy right?!?!

The process of GM, in its simplest terms, is the extraction of one organisms’ DNA for injection into another organism. This is done to control certain aspects of the production of the desired final product. At times this is done with pesticides, such as round up, to produce a seed that is resistant to round up.  This process is a HUGE step with very limited research into its safety by the FDA. There are many people who believe this is one reason for an increase in allergies, not to mention the even more severe implications this process has on our health. Here are just a few articles on the topic:

http://www.organicconsumers.org/articles/article_5296.cfm

http://www.livestrong.com/article/230667-gmo-allergy-concerns/

http://www.livestrong.com/article/230667-gmo-allergy-concerns/

The problem here is that when research is done, the majority of Americans want it to come from a big name to motivate them to move in a passionate direction. This will not happen if the research being done is being done by biased sources. Monsanto’s roots spread far and wide and their interests affect the interests of many powerful people. When a third party does come out with shocking revelations such as this study:

http://articles.chicagotribune.com/2012-09-19/lifestyle/sns-rt-us-gmcrops-safetybre88i0l0-20120919_1_monsanto-s-roundup-nk603-female-rats

They are contradicted and discredited by people, who appear to be the authority, read the bottom of the article for the “top scientists” who disagree. But I urge you to follow up any anti GMO reading that has been contradicted by “leading scientists” with a Google search for that “leading scientist” with the name Monsanto following it. I am sure you will find at least one link to tie them to the leading producer of GMOs. Here is an example of the links between the “leading scientists” from the above article to their beloved GMO roots.

http://redgreenandblue.org/2012/09/30/yes-scientists-are-attacking-the-latest-monsanto-study-but-not-because-of-the-science/

It is not hard to do; you just have to want to see the connection. GMOs should at the very least be labeled so that I can choose not to purchase them. I believe that the allergy epidemic, to name one, is tied to the mass consumption of foreign proteins and organisms!