[Sustain] Fwd: Obama Appoints Pro Franken-Foods Michael Taylor Food Safety Czar

Thu Jul 23 16:57:41 PDT 2009

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/**/Spilling the Beans/, July 22, 2009* 

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 *The following is also available on **_Jeffrey Smith’s Huffington Post 
blog_* 
<http://www.huffingtonpost.com/jeffrey-smith/youre-appointing-who-plea_b_243810.html>*.* 

*You’re Appointing WHO? Please Obama, say it’s not so!* 

The person who may be responsible for more food-related illness and 
death than anyone in history has just been made the US food safety czar. 
This is no joke. 

Here’s the back story. 

When FDA scientists were asked to weigh in on what was to become the 
most radical and potentially dangerous change in our food supply—the 
introduction of genetically modified (GM) foods—_secret documents_ 
<http://biointegrity.org/list.html> now reveal that the experts were 
VERY concerned. Memo after memo described toxins, new diseases, 
nutritional deficiencies, and hard-to-detect allergens. They were 
adamant that the technology carried “Serious health hazards,” and 
required careful, long-term research, including human studies, before 
any genetically modified organisms (GMOs) could be safely released into 
the food supply. 

But the biotech industry had rigged the game so that neither science nor 
scientists would stand in their way. They had placed their own man in 
charge of FDA policy and he wasn’t going to be swayed by feeble 
arguments related to food safety. No, he was going to do what 
corporations had done for decades to get past these types of pesky 
concerns. He was going to lie. 

*Dangerous Food Safety Lies* 

When the FDA was constructing their GMO policy in 1991-2, their 
scientists were clear that gene-sliced foods were significantly 
different and could lead to “_different risks_ 
<http://biointegrity.org/FDAdocs/01/view2.html>” than conventional 
foods. But _official policy_ 
<http://www.huffingtonpost.com/jeffrey-smith/obamas-team-includes-dang_b_147188.html> 
declared the opposite, claiming that the FDA knew /nothing/ of 
significant differences, and declared GMOs substantially equivalent. 

This fiction became the rationale for allowing GM foods on the market 
/without any required safety studies /whatsoever! The determination of 
whether GM foods were safe to eat was placed entirely in the hands of 
the companies that made them—companies like Monsanto, which told us that 
the PCBs, DDT, and Agent Orange were safe. 

GMOs were rushed onto our plates in 1996. Over the next nine years, 
_multiple chronic illnesses_ 
<http://www.reuters.com/article/domesticNews/idUSTRE5050S920090106?sp=true%20was%207%25> 
in the US nearly doubled—from 7% to 13%. _Allergy-related emergency room 
visits_ 
<http://yosemite.epa.gov/opa/admpress.nsf/0/ed584ff1c2e1162a852575fc00536790?OpenDocument> 
doubled between 1997 and 2002 while food allergies, especially among 
children, skyrocketed. We also witnessed a dramatic rise in asthma, 
autism, obesity, diabetes, digestive disorders, and certain cancers.  

In January of this year, Dr. P. M. Bhargava, one of the world’s top 
biologists, told me that after reviewing 600 scientific journals, he 
concluded that the GM foods in the US are largely responsible for the 
increase in many serious diseases. 

In May, the _American Academy of Environmental Medicine_ 
<http://www.aaemonline.org/gmopost.html> concluded that animal studies 
have demonstrated a _causal relationship_ 
<http://www.responsibletechnology.org/utility/showArticle/?objectID=2989> 
between GM foods and infertility, accelerated aging, dysfunctional 
insulin regulation, changes in major organs and the gastrointestinal 
system, and immune problems such as asthma, allergies, and inflammation 

In July, a _report_ <http://www.biolsci.org/v05p0438.htm> by eight 
international experts determined that the flimsy and superficial 
evaluations of GMOs by both regulators and GM companies “_systematically 
overlook the side effects_ 
<http://www.gmwatch.org/latest-listing/1-news-items/11303-re-study-criticises-testing-on-gmos>” 
and significantly underestimate “the initial signs of diseases like 
cancer and diseases of the hormonal, immune, nervous and reproductive 
systems, among others.”  

*The Fox Guarding the Chickens* 

If GMOs are indeed responsible for massive sickness and death, then the 
individual who oversaw the FDA policy that facilitated their 
introduction holds a uniquely infamous role in human history. That 
person is Michael Taylor. He had been Monsanto’s attorney before 
becoming policy chief at the FDA. Soon after, he became Monsanto’s Vice 
President and chief lobbyist. 

*This month Michael Taylor became the senior advisor to the commissioner 
of the FDA. He is now America’s food safety czar. What have we done?* 

*The Milk Man Cometh* 

While Taylor was at the FDA in the early 90’s, he also oversaw the 
policy regarding Monsanto’s genetically engineered _bovine growth 
hormone_ <http://yourmilkondrugs.com/> (rbGH/rbST)—injected into cows to 
increase milk supply. 

The milk from injected cows has more pus, more antibiotics, more bovine 
growth hormone, and most importantly, more insulin-like growth factor 1 
(IGF-1). IGF-1 is a huge risk factor for common cancers and its high 
levels in this drugged milk is why so many _medical organizations_ 
<http://action.psr.org/site/PageServer?pagename=Oregon_rBGHFactSheetsandDownloads> 
and _hospitals_ 
<http://docs.google.com/gview?a=v&q=cache:063SblHxCSUJ:www.themilkweed.com/Feature_06_July.pdf+healthcare+without+harm+rbgh&hl=en&gl=us> 
have taken stands against rbGH. A former Monsanto scientist told me that 
when three of his Monsanto colleagues evaluated rbGH safety and 
discovered the elevated IGF-1 levels, even they refused to drink any 
more milk—unless it was organic and therefore untreated. 

Government scientists from Canada _evaluated_ 
<http://www.nfu.ca/gapsreport.html> the FDA’s approval of rbGH and 
concluded that it was a dangerous facade. The drug was banned in Canada, 
as well as Europe, Japan, Australia and New Zealand. But it was approved 
in the US while Michael Taylor was in charge. His drugged milk might 
have caused a significant rise in US cancer rates. Additional _published 
evidence_ <http://www.nytimes.com/2006/05/30/health/30twin.html> also 
implicates rbGH in the high rate of fraternal twins in the US. 

Taylor also determined that milk from injected cows did not require any 
special labeling. And as a gift to his future employer Monsanto, he 
wrote a white paper suggesting that if companies ever had the audacity 
to label their products as /not/ using rbGH, they should also include a 
disclaimer stating that according to the FDA, there is no difference 
between milk from treated and untreated cows. 

Taylor’s disclaimer was also a lie. Monsanto’s own studies and FDA 
scientists officially acknowledged differences in the drugged milk. No 
matter. Monsanto used Taylor’s white paper as the basis to successfully 
sue dairies that labeled their products as rbGH-free. 

*Will Monsanto’s Wolff Also Guard the Chickens?* 

As consumers learned that rbGH was dangerous, they refused to buy the 
milk. To keep their customers, a tidal wave of companies has publicly 
committed to not use the drug and to label their products as such. 
Monsanto tried unsuccessfully to convince the FDA and FTC to make it 
illegal for dairies to make rbGH-free claims, so they went to their 
special friend in Pennsylvania—Dennis Wolff. As state Secretary of 
Agriculture, Wolff unilaterally declared that labeling products 
rbGH-free was illegal, and that all such labels must be removed from 
shelves statewide. This would, of course, eliminate the label from all 
national brands, as they couldn’t afford to create separate packaging 
for just one state. 

Fortunately, consumer demand forced Pennsylvania’s Governor Ed Rendell 
to step in and stop Wolff’s madness. But Rendell allowed Wolff to take a 
compromised position that now requires rbGH-free claims to also be 
accompanied by Taylor’s FDA disclaimer on the package. 

President Obama is considering Dennis Wolff for the top food safety post 
at the USDA. Yikes! 

_Rumor_ 
<http://www.grist.org/article/usda-may-get-dennis-wolff-for-food-safety-post-because-ed-rendell-doesnt-wa/> 
has it that the reason why Pennsylvania’s governor is supporting Wolff’s 
appointment is to get him out of the state—after he “screwed up so 
badly” with the rbGH decision. Oh great, governor. Thanks. 

*Ohio Governor Gets Taylor-itus* 

Ohio not only followed Pennsylvania’s lead by requiring Taylor’s FDA 
disclaimer on packaging, they went a step further. They declared that 
dairies must place that disclaimer on the same panel where rbGH-free 
claims are made, and even dictated the font size. This would force 
national brands to re-design their labels and may ultimately dissuade 
them from making rbGH-free claims at all. The Organic Trade Association 
and the International Dairy Foods Association filed a lawsuit against 
Ohio. Although they lost the first court battle, upon appeal, the judge 
ordered a mediation session that takes place today (July 23, 2009). 
Thousands of Ohio citizens have flooded Governor Strickland’s office 
with urgent requests to withdraw the states anti-consumer labeling 
requirements. 

Perhaps the governor has an ulterior motive for pushing his new rules. 
If he goes ahead with his labeling plans, he might end up with a top 
appointment in the Obama administration. 

To hear what America is saying about GMOs and to add your voice, go to 
our _new Facebook group_ 
<http://www.facebook.com/groups/edit.php?gid=121443803326>. 

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Jeffrey M. Smith is the author of publication /Genetic Roulette: The 
Documented Health Risks of Genetically Engineered Foods/, which presents 
65 risks in easy-to-read two-page spreads. His first book, /Seeds of 
Deception/, is the top rated and #1 selling book on GM foods in the 
world. He is the Executive Director of the Institute for Responsible 
Technology www.responsibletechnology.org 
<http://www.responsibletechnology.org/>, which is spearheading the 
Campaign for Healthier Eating in America. Go 
to www.responsibletechnology.org 
<http://www.responsibletechnology.org/> to learn more about how to avoid 
GM foods.

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*/Spilling the Beans/* is a monthly column available 
at www.responsibletechnology.org 
<http://www.responsibletechnology.org/>. The website also offers 
eater-friendly tips for avoiding GMOs at home and in restaurants.

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The Institute for Responsible Technology is working to end the genetic 
engineering of our food supply and the outdoor release of GM crops. We 
warmly welcome your donations and support.

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<http://www.responsibletechnology.org/> or click here 
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