[Imc-radio] Re: [Imc] UIUC's GMO pigs in food supply

Thu Feb 6 12:49:59 CST 2003

There's also a U of I reseach team that is studying the DePue (sp?) area 
because it has one of the biggest populations of Multiple Schlerosis 
sufferers per capita in the country. The research team got a grant from the 
government to study if mercury coming from some industries nearby are 
causing the MS cases. I think FSRN would be interested in this story...

sorry I dont have a link to share but if you do a search on google news 
you'll find the story...

-Pauline

>From: Sascha Meinrath <sascha at ucimc.org>
>To: Sehvilla Mann <smann at stu.parkland.edu>
>CC: radio at ucimc.org
>Subject: [Imc-radio] Re: [Imc] UIUC's GMO pigs in food supply
>Date: Thu, 6 Feb 2003 12:35:03 -0600 (CST)
>
>has anyone pitched this to FSRN?  it's a local issue of national
>importance.
>
>--sascha
>
>On Thu, 6 Feb 2003, Sehvilla Mann wrote:
>
> >
> >
> >
> > FDA Investigates University's Sale of Pigs From Biotech Experiment; Pigs 
>Should
> > Have Been Destroyed
> >
> > The Associated Press
> >
> > WASHINGTON Feb. 5 —
> > Pigs that were supposed to be destroyed after a genetic engineering 
>study may
> > have entered the nation's food supply, federal health officials said 
>Wednesday
> > although they insisted the incident posed no risk to people's health.
> >
> > The Food and Drug Administration said it was investigating whether 
>scientists
> > at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign violated regulations
> > requiring them to destroy all pigs involved in the research. Instead, 
>the
> > university may have sent 386 of the animals to a livestock dealer who in 
>turn
> > may have sent them to slaughter, the FDA said.
> >
> > "We do not believe that there is a public health risk," said FDA Deputy
> > Commissioner Lester Crawford.
> >
> > The research involved increasing pigs' natural levels of some growth 
>proteins
> > present in meat anyway, Crawford explained. Also, none of the pigs 
>originally
> > genetically manipulated were sold; it was their offspring, which 
>purportedly
> > passed multiple tests verifying the piglets hadn't inherited changed 
>genes,
> > something FDA is trying to verify.
> >
> > While playing down concern about food safety, the FDA characterized the 
>problem
> > as a serious one of scientists possibly breaking rules necessary to 
>ensure that
> > bioengineering research is done properly. If the agency determines those 
>rules
> > were indeed broken, it could impose fines or suspend other university 
>research.
> >
> > The University of Illinois called the FDA's investigation a surprise to
> > researchers who thought they were following federal rules indeed, had 
>openly
> > discussed how they tested and sold the pigs and characterized it as a
> > misunderstanding quickly rectified.
> >
> > "Whatever requirements the FDA says are now in place, we'll take it from 
>here
> > and we'll meet them. We've done our best to exceed them," said 
>university
> > spokesman Bill Murphy.
> >
> > The investigation was the third scare in recently years about potential 
>food
> > contamination from unapproved biotechnology products. Two years ago, the
> > StarLink brand of genetically engineered corn, approved solely for 
>animal feed,
> > turned up in taco shells, prompting a massive recall. Last year, a Texas
> > biotechnology company was ordered to burn 500,000 bushels of soybeans 
>rather
> > than sell them for food because they were contaminated with genetically
> > engineered corn once grown in the same field.
> >
> > "It's another example where the United States government's system for 
>dealing
> > with this new technology has failed the public," said Carol Tucker 
>Foreman,
> > head of the Consumer Federation of America's Food Policy Institute.
> >
> > The Illinois experiment involved giving two genes, a cow gene and a 
>synthetic
> > one, to sows in hopes of increasing the mother's milk production and her
> > piglets' ability to digest milk so they would grow faster, the 
>university's
> > Murphy explained.
> >
> > Shortly after new piglets are born, the university does extensive 
>testing to
> > see which of litter inherited that ability. In 2001, researchers told 
>the FDA
> > those pigs that multiple tests showed were not transgenic normal pigs 
>that were
> > the grandchildren or great-grandchildren of the originally engineered 
>sows were
> > being sent to market, while those that did inherit genetic changes were 
>kept
> > for study, Murphy said.
> >
> > The researchers reported their testing and market practice in scientific
> > journals, he added. The university expressed surprise when FDA 
>inspectors last
> > week objected to the practice.
> >
> > FDA's Crawford said as a result of the incident, "we will be 
>intensifying these
> > inspections" of biotech researchers.
> >
> >
> >
> > ---------------------------------------------------------
> > Sehvilla Mann
> > smann at stu.parkland.edu
> >  *** LISTEN TO THE FINAL RADIOGIRL! PROGRAM, 10-11am on Sunday, Feb. 9th 
>ON
> >      WEFT 90.1 FM, COMMUNITY RADIO FOR EAST CENTRAL ILLINOIS ***
> >
> > Monsanto Watch: www.organicconsumers.org/monlink
> >
> > _______________________________________________
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> > IMC at www.ucimc.org
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> >
>
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