THIS PAGE IS DEDICATED TO WHAT THE GOVERNMENTS &  

BIG BUSINESS OF THE WORLD ARE DOING WITH OUR FOOD 

AND OFFERING UP POISONS

HORSE MEAT AND MUCH MUCH WORSE.


 

WHAT YOU NEED TO KNOW - ABOUT GMO

Written by Oiwan Lam



Thousands of Dead


Pig Found Floating


in Shanghai River




 

A two-day clean-up effort has recovered 3,323 dead pig bodies from the Huangpu River, which cuts through the middle of Shanghai. Local media are reporting that the pigs came from Jiaxing, in Zhejiang province, where over 20,000 pigs have been found dead in villages since the beginning of the year because of swine flu [zh]. While the public is very anxious about the potential pollution caused by the decaying pig carcasses, local authorities quickly asserted that the dead pigs had not polluted the water supply. Shanghai’s water comes from Yangtze River and authorities claim the pigs died of cold weather, not a virus. However, most netizens are skeptical of these claims.

Testing Paper (验算纸) invited [zh] the leaders to prove to the public that the water is safe:

The Zhejiang Agriculture Department said that the dead pigs floating in the Huangpu River died of cold weather rather than swine flu. The experts also said that the water quality has not been affected. Does that mean that the pigs are safe to eat? Why don’t we serve the leaders some of the Huangpu river pigs’ meat?

Liu Junluo (劉軍洛）wondered [zh] why the local authorities did not release the details concerning the dead pigs in advance:

[Responsibility concerning the dead pigs incident] According to Jiaxing Daily, the dead pigs in Huangpu River came from a virus in Jiaxing. In January, 10,078 pigs were found dead in a village. In February 8,325 more were dead. In the past few days, on average 300 pigs were dead everyday. The village has kept digging holes to bury the pigs. So far around 1,200 were found in the river. Had other dead pigs been served at people’s dinner tables? Why doesn’t the government alert people about this news?

Weibo user Changan Xianling (@长安县令) added more background information about the incident:

Many people have raised questions concerning the dead pig incident in Huangpu River. How did the 3,000 pigs make it to Shanghai? Usually, they would have ended up in people’s stomachs. The reason is that not long ago, people who had sold pork from dead pigs were tried and convicted. Last November, a court case in Jiaxing tried 17 people who had sold 77,000 dead pigs for 8.65 million RMB (1.4 million USD). The main perpetrators, Dong, Chen and Yao have received life imprisonment.

Many questioned why there were so few reports concerning the dead pigs incident. @I Am Zuo Anlong (我是左安龙) looked to [zh] the authorities to be accountable for the incident:

Such big news and there isn’t any government authority to take responsibility and comment on the incident. Now we have the Two Congress, but no representatives to be accountable. What has happened to our society? Is there anything left apart from power struggle?

Li Mingseng (李鸣生) mocked the nature of news in China:

More than 2,000 dead pigs entering Huangpu River is not news. More than 20 million Shanghai people drinking dead pig soup for half a month is not news. That the Shanghai Water Supply Bureau claimed that Huangpu River’s water quality is up to the national drinking water standard is news.

Brother Excellence (卓越兄) wondered [zh] why there hadn’t been any discussion in social media until the dead pigs appeared in the Huangpu River:

[Sad news: Pigs have beaten the Chinese media] We have information distribution tools like micro-blogs, mobile chat, web portals, SMS, websites, television, and newspapers. Yet the swine flu that killed thousands of pigs in Jiaxing has to rely on the dead pigs for spreading the news — not until the dead pigs floated into Shanghai did the public learn the news. In the new media era, we still depend on pigs to obtain information, isn’t that sad?

Environmentalist Dong Liangjie wanted [zh] to know the truth:

The incident has caught the public attention. I urge the authorities to reveal the truth and the water supply factory should look into the bio-toxicity data. Don’t cover up the truth because of the Lianghui. Don’t risk your credibility. If anything goes wrong, the consequences would be too heavy to bear.

This post was originally published by Global Voices.

Read more: http://www.care2.com/causes/thousands-of-dead-pigs-found-floating-in-shanghai-river.html#ixzz2NVyR5tOp

 

JB COMMENTS: 

Horse meat seems almost innocent after this story and this is not the first time such a thing has happend.  We cannot trust our government and most of all - BIG BUSINESS - to be honest and above board when it comes to our food and our safety.      If you believe these pigs died from the cold then you are naive as noi farmer wants his whole herd of pigs to freeze to death as then he has lost his income,  dying from disease is much mor elikely a truth and if this is the case, then the feed they are feeding these animals is largely responsible.  We must all scream and scream loud and clear that we will not tollerate what is being done to our food and companied like MONSANTO must be held accountable and we must demand change.
 

FOOD FRAUD



1. White Tuna

What the heck is white tuna? Well, you might not have to worry, because that’s probably not what’s in your sushi anyway. Many markets are using escolar, a cheaper fish that, by the way, can cause food poisoning thanks to the waxy esters it contains (it’s also known as ex-lax fish if you want an idea of the symptoms you’ll experience). Escolar is such a concern that some nations have banned it from the market.

2. Pomegranate, Apple, Orange Juices and More

Fruit juice is a big hit these days thanks to the antioxidant punch it packs, and it’s also pretty expensive. So if you see some pomegranate juice with a price tag that seems too good to be true, it probably is; apple juice and other less costly fillers may have been used to bring production costs down. Other juices like apple and orange may include pesticides, sugars and other added ingredients that most definitely don’t appear on the label. Juices may also contain ‘clouding agents’ to make them look fresh, and some of these could make you sick.

3. Olive Oil

Olive oil’s a biggie in a world where many people are trying to eat a heart-healthy Mediterranean diet. In addition to being cut with less expensive oils that can alter its nutritional profile, flavor and performance in the kitchen, olive oils can also be mislabeled in terms of processing and origin. That ‘extra-virgin Italian olive oil,’ in other words, may be a secondary pressing from somewhere else entirely.

4. Honey and Maple Syrup

Ah, natural sweeteners. Think again! Honey and maple syrup may be processed with corn syrup and other sugars to increase their sweetness, and to dilute them; both products are expensive to produce and process, and a low-cost filler can make them stretch further.

5. Milk

Even milk?! Yes. Cow milk may be cut with sheep, goat, and other species, along with various filler materials, some of which aren’t so great for human consumption — like melamine in infant formula. If you’re avoiding cow milk for ethical or allergy reasons, be aware that contaminants have also been found in goat and other species.

6. Spices

Saffron, an extremely expensive spice, is a common culprit, but it’s not alone. Many packaged spices contain adulterants, especially if they’re sold in powdered form, because the original spice is so costly. Borate, glycerin, barium sulfate, and a variety of other unpleasant visitors have been found in spice jars.

7. Coffee and Tea

Before you brew a cup, you might want to think about what you’re drinking, because ground and instant coffee along with teas may contain twigs, paper, malt, chicory, starch and various grains. Wondering why you get an upset tummy after drinking coffee? If you’re gluten intolerant, you may have just unwittingly downed a cup of gluten.

8. Fish

Mislabeling of fish is a recurrent issue; a 2012 study by Oceana discovered that almost 40% of fish sold in New York City was mislabeled. It may be advertised as wild caught when it’s farmed, or as a totally different species. And when fish is sold in fillet or frozen form, it’s hard to tell what it is and where it came from without genetic testing.

9. Kalimari

If you love deep-fried squid as much as I do, this is a real blow. In This American Life, Ira Glass recently explored the fact that pig anus (“bung” in industry terms) can be seamlessly interchanged for the real deal on a seafood platter. He was reacting to a tip that a meat plant was doing just that with its products and it makes you wonder what other pig parts might be passed off as something else.

10. Grains

Love rice, lentils and baking with a variety of grains? You’ll shudder at the adulterants that have been discovered in them, including herbicides and pesticides along with other toxins like melamine. Many are also mislabeled, with incorrect information about their region of origin reflected on the label. Yum!

What can you do about food fraud as a consumer? Well, one piece of advice is to buy whole and close to the source. It’s harder to pass adulterated food when you’re looking at the fresh product; for example, pepper is frequently cut with fillers like millet when it’s ground, but you know what whole black peppercorns look like, so you can inspect the pepper you see for sale to see if it’s authentic. Buying from local farms, fisheries and butchers can also increase the chances of getting what you actually pay for.

Don’t be seduced by cheap prices, either. If something is radically on sale or is consistently priced lower than competing products, that might be a sign that it’s not what you think it is. If you have questions, contact the company and demand information. Want to know if those “free-range” eggs are really produced in humane conditions? Contact the company and the certifying agency, and think about asking for a farm visit so you can see for yourself.

Monsanto Now Unstoppable Thanks to Congress


If genetically modified seeds and foods cause health problems, should biotech companies be held legally responsible? Don’t think too hard because Congress and President Barack Obama have already decided for you – and the answer is a frightening no.

Almost any industry that puts its consumers in harm’s way is subject to lawsuits, but the U.S. government has granted corporations that genetically alter food an exemption by sneaking it into the Agricultural Appropriations Bill. The bill, which was quickly signed into law, included this particular provision, HR 933, which activists are not so lovingly referring to as the Monsanto Protection Act.

Monsanto, of course, is the agricultural biotechnology giant constantly surrounded by controversy. Considering the company had the most to gain from this law’s passage, surely it played some role in lobbying. It begs the question: if Monsanto genuinely believes its approach to agriculture is not harmful, why would it go to such great, secretive lengths to grant itself immunity from litigation?

Perhaps it’d be less alarming if Monsanto had built a respectable reputation, but one word can continually be applied to the corporation’s business practices:

Untrustworthy

Similarly untrustworthy? Senator Barbara Mikulski, a Democrat from Maryland and the chairperson for the Senate Apporpriations Committee who quietly added the amendment to the Agricultural Appropriations Bill. Usually such provisions are given a hearing and review, but this one was tacked on anonymously as the bill was rushed to a vote. The Center for Food Safety has been particularly critical of Mikulski, saying, “In this hidden backroom deal, Sen. Mikulski turned her back on consumer, environmental and farmer protection in favor of corporate welfare for biotech companies such as Monsanto.”

Obama has also received criticism for signing the bill into law. To be fair, the President was in a sticky situation since not signing it would have left the United States without a federal budget and effectively shut down the government. That said, it wouldn’t be the first time Obama has approved a dubious provision because it is part of a larger bill that is supposedly essential (see the NDAA and indefinite detention).

Senator Mikulski is using a similar excuse. A press release from her office declared that she neither wrote nor supported the Monsanto Protection Act, adding, “[Her] first responsibility was to prevent a government shutdown. That meant she had to compromise on many of her own priorities to get a bill through the Senate that the House would pass.”

Meanwhile, other members of Congress are trying to avoid the blame altogether. According to Salon, the provision was so secretive that many Senators and Representatives claim they were unaware they were voting on that part of the bill. However, it seems pretty inexcusable for Congresspeople (and their staffs) to not read bills in full before voting on them, no matter the stakes. At some point, it doesn’t matter whether the politicians are corrupt or just incompetent: both yield terrible results.

If there is any good news about this whole debacle, it is that since the entire bill was passed on an emergency basis, the law is only effect for six months. The real question will be now that the formerly “oblivious” members of Congress have been made aware by concerned Americans, will they put a stop to this dangerous precedent or renew it to continue to protect their negligent corporate friends?

Read more: http://www.care2.com/causes/monsanto-now-unstoppable-thanks-to-congress.html#ixzz2PmBFzxB6

http://www.care2.com/causes/monsanto-now-unstoppable-thanks-to-congress.html

absolute madness


 

Tumors Linked to Genetically-Modified Corn




In a study published in Food Chemical Toxicology, scientists at the University of Caen, Institute of Biology, in France found severe effects of Round-up tolerant genetically modified (GM) corn, even when the pesticide Round-Up was not used.

The study was done on rats to determine whether there are any health effects of eating genetically-modified corn. The rats were studied for two years. In both males and females, the death rate was two to three times higher in those eating the genetically-modified corn, compared to the controls.

Females developed large mammary tumors more often than controls and experienced pituitary gland abnormalities. The pituitary gland is found in the brain and aids hormonal balancing. The scientists also found that hormone balance was negatively affected by eating genetically-modified corn without Roundup and with Roundup alike.
Males experienced liver damage and premature death of liver cells that were 2.5 to 5.5 times higher than controls. Males eating the genetically-modified corn also suffered from severe kidney damage. There were four times more tumors in rats that ate either genetically-modified corn or Roundup-sprayed GM corn.
Scientists link the hormonal effects and tumors to the known endocrine-disrupting effects of Roundup but also to metabolic effects related to the overexpression of the genes used in the genetic-engineered corn.

While I’m never a fan of animal tests, I thought it was important to share this study with you, particularly because GM corn (among other food) was unleashed on an unsuspecting public and is now in widespread use in our food supply. GM corn is found in most prepared and packaged foods in various forms including as corn starch, corn, and corn syrup (high-fructose corn syrup).

Considering the commercial stakes and the threat to GM-food giant Monsanto’s seeming attempts at food totalitarianism, it is no surprise to me that the scientists came under attack for their study.    For me, the important message that comes out of the study is the importance of eating organic and avoiding genetically-modified foods at any cost. We simply don’t know enough about the long-term effects of eating food that has been artificially tampered with using the genes from other species. GM foods should never have been “grandfathered-through” as “generally-recognized as safe” (GRAS) by the FDA, Health Canada, and other organizations, when there was insufficient research on their safety.
 

For more information about genetically-modified foods, read the excellent books by Jeffrey M. Smith Seeds of Deception and Genetic Roulette. I’ll discuss more of the problems linked with GMOs in upcoming blogs.

Subscribe to my free e-magazine World’s Healthiest News to receive monthly health news, tips, recipes and more. Follow my blog on my site HealthySurvivalist.com, Twitter @mschoffrocook and Facebook.
 

Read more: http://www.care2.com/greenliving/tumors-linked-to-genetically-modified-corn.html#ixzz2PmH9WaC9
 

MONSANTO IS AT IT AGAIN

It’s unbelievable, but Monsanto and Co. are at it again. These profit-hungry biotech companies have found a way to exclusively ‘own’ something that freely belongs to us all -- our food! They’re trying to patent away our everyday vegetables and fruits like cucumber, broccoli and melons, forcing growers to pay them and risk being sued if they don’t.

But we can stop them from buying up Mother Earth. Companies like Monsanto have found loopholes in European law to get away with this, so we just need to close them shut before they set a dangerous global precedent. And to do that, we need key countries like Germany, France and the Netherlands -- where opposition is already growing -- to call for a vote to stop Monsanto’s plans. The Avaaz community has shifted governments before, and we can do it again.

Many farmers and politicians are already against this -- we just need to bring in people power to pressure these countries to keep Monsanto’s hands off our food. Sign now and share with everyone to help build the biggest food defense call ever:

http://www.avaaz.org/en/monsanto_vs_mother_earth_loc/?bEzahbb&v=23909

Once a patent exists in one country, trade agreements and negotiations often push other countries to honour it as well. That's why these food patents change everything about how our food chain works: for thousands of years, farmers could choose which seeds they’d use without worrying about getting sued for violating intellectual property rights. But now, companies launch expensive legal campaigns to buy patents on conventional plants and force farmers to pay exorbitant royalty fees. Monsanto and Co. claim that patents drive innovation -- but in fact they create a corporate monopoly of our food.

But luckily, the European Patent Office is controlled by 38 member states who, with one vote, can end dangerous patents on food that is bred using conventional methods. Even the European Parliament has issued a statement objecting to these kinds of destructive patents. Now, a massive wave of public outcry could push them to ban the patenting of our everyday food for good.

~The situation is dire already -- Monsanto alone owns 36% of all tomato, 32% of sweet pepper and 49% of cauliflower varieties registered in the EU. With a simple regulatory change, we could protect our food, our farmers and our planet from corporate control -- and it's up to us to make it happen:

http://www.avaaz.org/en/monsanto_vs_mother_earth_loc/?bEzahbb&v=23909

The Avaaz community has never been afraid to stand up to corporate capture of our institutions, from pushing back the Rupert Murdoch mafia, to helping ensure that telecoms keep their hands off our Internet. Now it’s time to defend our food supply from this corporate takeover.

With hope and determination,
 

Dear Avaazers,

One mega-company is gradually taking over our global food supply, poisoning our politics and putting the planet’s food future in serious danger.To stop it we need to expose and break up Monsanto’s worldwide grip.

Monsanto, the chemical giant that gave us poisons like Agent Orange and DDT, has a super-profitable racket. Step 1: Develop pesticides and genetically modified (GM) seeds designed to resist them, patent the seeds, prohibit farmers from replanting their seeds year to year, then send undercover agents out to investigate and sue farmers who don’t comply. Step 2: Spend millions lobbying government officials and contributing to political campaigns, get former Monsanto bigwigs into top government jobs, and then work with them to weaken regulations and push Monsanto goods into markets across the world.

As long as US law allows corporations to spend unlimited sums to influence policy, they can often buy the laws they want. Last year, Monsanto and biotech giants spent a whopping $45m to kill a ballot initiative that would have labelled GMO products just in California, despite 82 percent of Americans wanting to know if they are buying GM. And just this month, the company helped ram through the "Monsanto Protection Act,” that blocks courts from stopping the sale of a product even if they’ve been wrongly approved by the government.

Monsanto’s power in the US gives them a launch pad to dominate across the world. But brave farmers and activists from the EU, to Brazil, to India and Canada are resisting and starting to win.

We’re at a global tipping point. If enough of us pledge just £5 now, we can join forces to break Monsanto’s grip on our politics and our food and help stop the corporate capture of our governments. Avaaz will only process the pledges if we get enough to make a real difference:

https://secure.avaaz.org/en/stop_monsanto_nd4/?begsObb&v=24248

Monsanto is driving an industrial farming takeover -- trampling small farmers and small businesses as vast ‘monoculture’ farms of single crops leech the land of nutrients, diminish genetic diversity, and create dependency on fertilizers, pesticides and other chemicals. The irony is, it’s not clear that the decimation of natural, sustainable farming has brought any boom in crop yields. Just more profit for the corporations. Our governments should step in, but Monsanto’s lobbying obstructs them.

Monsanto’s near monopoly is breath-taking, with patent rights over 96% of the GM seeds planted in the US. And despite concerns about health and safety, the same patents allow Monsanto to prevent any farmer or scientist from testing their seeds! Still, a few countries have banned or restricted Monsanto products.

They claim their products cost less, but often farmers are lured into multi-year contracts, then seed prices rise, and they have buy new seed each season and use more herbicides to keep out ‘superweeds’. In India, the situation is so dire that one cotton area has been called ‘the suicide belt’, as tens of thousands of the poorest farmers have taken their lives to escape crippling debt.

But farmers and scientists are also fighting back -- and winning. One group in India has helped win three patent battles against the corporations, and in Brazil five million farmers sued Monsanto for unfair collection of royalties, and won a $2 billion payout! Scientists are campaigning for sustainable agriculture models, and just last week 1.5 million of us joined the fight against conventional patents in the EU.

Only a massive, global, united force can stand up to Monsanto and the corporate capture of our governments. Let’s expose this dominance of our democracies, help farmers speak out, challenge unjust laws and patents, and go head to head with the corporate lobbies. Pledge £5 to support action now:

https://secure.avaaz.org/en/stop_monsanto_nd4/?begsObb&v=24248

We are running out of time. As we confront massive environmental, climate and food crises, we need sustainable agriculture and innovation, but that is best done by multiple farmers and scientists who know what works best in different ecosystems, rather than one monolith driven by their own profit, taking control our food future.

This corporate Goliath is increasing in power across our world. But if our 21 million strong community stands together, we have a chance. Avaaz members have repeatedly stood up against the world's biggest bullies, and won. Now it is time for us to go big to save our policies from special interests, protect our food supply, and get justice for poor farmers.

With hope and determination,

Alice, Oli, Joseph, Ricken, Pascal, Chris, Michelle, Emily, and the whole Avaaz team

MORE INFORMATION

Seeds of discontent (Texas Observer):
http://www.texasobserver.org/seeds-of-discontent/

Monsanto sued small farmers to protect seed patents, report says (The Guardian):
http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/2013/feb/12/monsanto-sues-farmers-seed-patents

Political contribution discloslures (Monsanto):
http://www.monsanto.com/whoweare/Pages/political-disclosures.aspx

The Real Monsanto Protection Act: How The GMO Giant Corrupts Regulators And Consolidates Its Power (ThinkProgress):
http://thinkprogress.org/health/2013/04/10/1832621/monsanto-protection-act-power/

Monsanto Protection Act put GM companies above the federal courts (The Guardian):
http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/blog/2013/apr/04/monsanto-protection-act-gm

Biodiversity for food and agriculture (UN Food and Agriculture Organization):
http://www.fao.org/sd/EPdirect/EPre0040.htm

Monsanto’s harvest of fear (Vanity Fair):
http://www.vanityfair.com/politics/features/2008/05/monsanto200805

Wikileaks shows US pushes GM on EU (The Guardian):
http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2011/jan/03/wikileaks-us-eu-gm-crops

USDA Greenlights Monsanto's Utterly Useless New GMO Corn (Mother Jones):
http://www.motherjones.com/tom-philpott/2012/01/monsanto-gmo-drought-tolerant-corn

Crop Scientists Say Biotechnology Seed Companies Are Thwarting Research (New York Times):
http://www.nytimes.com/2009/02/20/business/20crop.html?_r=0

Additional sources (Avaaz):
http://www.avaaz.org/en/stop_monsanto_sources/