September 20, 2012, Press Release : Unprecedented Safety Study Finds Harm from GM Corn The first GM animal feeding trial conducted over the lifetime of laboratory rats to test Monsanto's GM corn NK603 and their herbicide Roundup found tumours, multiple organ damage and premature death. (Séralini, G.-E., et al. "Long term toxicity of a Roundup herbicide and a Roundup-tolerant genetically modified maize." Food Chem. Toxicol. (2012) NK603 was approved in Canada in 2001 and is grown for animal feed and processed food ingredients. For more information click here.

Consumer Advisory: GM Sweet Corn

Write to your grocery store! Ask at your farmers’ market, roadside stand and grocery store.

Genetically modified (GM) sweet corn is now being grown by some farmers who are selling at roadside stands, at Farmers’ Markets, and through some grocery stores. This a new GM crop from Monsanto - the sweet corn is designed to be insect resistant (its toxic to insects!) and herbicide tolerant (its used with Roundup herbicide!).

Take Action

1. Write to your grocery store and ask them if their fresh sweet corn supply is non-GM and ask them to make sure that all their sweet corn is non-GM for next year. The major grocery chains need to hear from you!
2. Buy organic sweet corn. Organic farming prohibits the use of genetic modification. Certified organic is your guarantee that your sweet corn is not genetically modified (and is also pesticide-free).
3. Ask your local farmer or manager at the farm stand or grocery store if the sweet corn they are selling is genetically modified (also called genetically engineered). Please send your responses to CBAN. Below is some information to help you get an answer. Please also write to your grocery store so your concerns go to head office!

More Information

Monsanto’s new GM sweet corn is engineered to be toxic to particular insects. The GM technology transforms the corn plant into a pesticide. In fact, the toxin, from the soil bacteria Bacillus thuringiensis or Bt, is expressed in every cell of the plant including the corn kernels. If certain insects, including the European corn borers, corn earworms, fall army worms and corn rootworm larvae, try to eat the corn, they will die. The Bt toxin attaches to receptors in the gut of some insects, rupturing the gut and killing the insect.

New Article!"GM Sweet Corn Kils Bugs But is it Also Tasty on the BBQ?" by Lucy Sharratt, CBAN Coordinator, September 2012, Common Ground Magazine

Ask at Your Store or Farmers' Market

Below is some extra informationand a questionnaire to help you get an answer to your question.

• Some farmers may be growing GM sweet corn but not be aware that it is GM.
• Staff at the grocery store, or even the farm stand, will probably not be able to immediately answer your question and are very likely to be misinformed about GM foods.

GM corn is one of 4 GM crops grown in Canada: canola, soy, and white sugar beet (for sugar processing) are the others. The GM corn grown in Canada has been, until recently, all hard corn used for processed food ingredients and animal feed. The Canadian government does not label GM foods and does not keep statistics on how much GM is grown or where. CBAN researches and monitors GM foods for you: for more information please see http://www.cban.ca/gmfoods

• For Farmers: Does your sweet corn have insect protection? Monsanto and Syngenta both have GM sweetcorn varieties engineered to be toxic to insects such as the European corn borer and corn earworm.
• For Farmers: Is your sweet corn Roundup Ready? Monsanto's new insect resistant sweetcorn is also herbicide resistant- it is resistant to Monsanto's brand name herbicide.
• For Farmers: What company did you buy your corn seed from? GM sweet corn is available from seed dealers but sometimes seed companies do not clearly label the seeds as GM. For example, US seed company Seedway sells GM sweetcorn as “Genetically Enhanced” hybrid sweet corn seed. The sweet corn varieties are also called “insect protected hybrids” - the corn is a hybrid but it is also genetically modified. (Seedway also sells organic and untreated sweet corn seed.)
• CBAN has made a questionnaire that you can leave with your grocery store, produce or farm stand manager if necessary. Ask them to fill it out and get back to you.
• Download the PDF Questionnaire Here - or Download the Word Document Questionnaire here.
• You can also print “CBAN’s Quick Guide to GM Foods” to hand to them. (If you have this information from CBAN, you will most likely have more information than your grocery store manager.)

Please contact us:

If you find GM sweet corn, please inform CBAN of the location and of any details from your conversation with the farmer, farm stand manager or grocery store manager. Please send your information to coordinator@cban.ca or leave a message at 613 241 2267 ext 25. Fax 613 241 2506 Thank you for your action!

Stop "SmartStax" Eight-Trait GE Corn

June 28, 2011: German group Testbiotech released a critical new report that exposes unstudied questions in confidential industry documents from Monsanto and Dow AgroSciences on their genetically modified (GM) eight-trait corn called “SmartStax”, approved in Canada in 2009. The GM SmartStax corn produces six different insecticidal toxins and is tolerant to two herbicides. It was allowed onto the market in Canada without a safety evaluation from Health Canada.

June 28, 2011 - Press Release: Report Exposes Unstudied Risks of Monsanto's Genetically Modified "SmartStax" Corn: EU Member State critiques and leaked industry documents uncover safety questions

Backgrounders:

• Selected Comments from EU Member States and Listing of Studies Recommended
• Summary and Background on SmartStax corn and risk questions, CBAN.

Tell the Minister of Health its unacceptable that Health Canada did not assess the safety of 'SmartStax' before it was approved. Click here to send your instant email letter.

Action Resources:

• Instant email letter.
• Postcards to print and send to the Minister.
• Flyer on SmartStax for printing and folding.
• Talking points for calling or writing the Minister.
• Factsheet: Why 'SmartStax' is Dumb

  

Background: Health Canada did not assess the safety of “SmartStax” GM corn. Health Canada does not classify “SmartStax” as a “Novel Food” because it has previously approved the eight single GM traits in “SmartStax”, individually in earlier crops. Health Canada says that combining eight GM traits together does not create any new risks and does not need any safety evaluation. Health Canada did not even bother to rubber-stamp “SmartStax” – it was approved for release by the Canadian Food Inspection Agency, without Health Canada.

Summary: On July 15, 2009 Monsanto and Dow AgroSciences announced that they received approval to introduce their new eight-trait GM corn 'SmartStax' in Canada and the US. But Health Canada did not assess 'SmartStax' for human health safety and did not even bother to authorize it. The Canadian Food Inspection Agency authorized the environmental release of 'SmartStax' but never conducted an environmental risk assessment and actually substantially weakened its environmental stewardship rules for the crop. Because the eight traits were previously approved in separate crops, Canadian regulators do not see anything new in combining the eight together - despite the fact that the Codex international food safety guidelines that Canada helped to negotiate clearly state that stacked traits can lead to unintended effects and should be subject to a full safety assessment.