http://www.gmfreecymru.org/news/Press_Notice9Nov2009.htm
Monsanto pulls GM corn amid serious food safety concerns. Applicant's dossiers contained wide-ranging fraudulent research
http://www.i-sis.org.uk/HighLysineGMMaize.php
A much touted second generation "nutritionally enhanced" GM crop bites the dust, as company fails to address serious health concerns. In a dramatic move, Monsanto has withdrawn its genetically modified (GM) maize, LY038 from commercial approval in Europe after safety concerns prompted the European Food Safety Authority (EFSA) to request further evidence from the company.
Scientists cite safety
The high lysine maize was also submitted to Food Standards Australia New Zealand (FSANZ) in 2004 and approved as safe for human consumption in December 2007, despite strong scientific objections from the Centre for Integrated Research in Biosafety (INBI) at Canterbury University, Christchurch, in New Zealand [9, 10]. Among the issues raised were risks of cancer, diabetes and Alzheimer's disease. FSANZ maintains there is no safety issue with LY038, and that it was withdrawn from Europe purely for commercial reasons.
Monsanto spokesman Jonathan Ramsay said [1] "changes in the overall corn market" were among the factors resulting "in a shift of the overall value to customers of this product at this time."
Geneticist Dr. Jack Heinemann, an associate professor at Canterbury University and director of INBI, believes it was a tactical, rather than purely commercial withdrawal on Monsanto's part, and demands to know why FSANZ still considers it would be safe for "Kiwis" to eat the maize [1].
"Personally, I don't believe the withdrawal of LY038 was for economic reasons," Heinemann said. "Monsanto estimated the street value of LY038 was going to be US$1 billion a year. Do we really believe that a market of US$1bn a year is too small for Monsanto? I don't. The European Food Safety Authority requested more safety data from Monsanto."
Heinemann also indicated that from comments released to him, it appears that Finland for example, was not satisfied with either the number or the of animal-feeding studies, and Malta voted to reject the maize on the basis of the INBI submission, "the same science that FSANZ attempted to bury down here."
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