ANH-Intl News Alerts: Week 47, 2013

UK Government to defend Monsanto in EU GMO court case

The UK government has confirmed its intention to support the highly controversial biotech giant Monsanto in the European court case brought by civil society groups. In a written Parliamentary Answer yesterday, Earl Howe claimed the UK had “a strong interest in the science-based system”.

Monsanto want to import their GMO soy, Intacta, into the EU for food and feed purposes. GM-Free Cymru report “Civil society groups (including ENSSER, Testbiotech, the Foundation on Future Farming, and the German Family Farmers Association) filed a lawsuit in March 2013, claiming that the European Food Safety Authority (EFSA) had recommended approval for the “stacked” GMO variety without carrying out proper risk assessments as required by law”. 

Spread of GMO plants out of control in many countries

Last week, Testbiotech published the first ‘global overview’ showing how genetically engineered plants such as maize, rice, cotton, oilseed rape, bentgrass and poplar trees are “spreading uncontrollably” in the USA and Canada, Middle America, Japan, China, Australia and Europe. They report “In many cases, the plants have escaped far beyond the fields into the environment. In some regions, the transgenes have already moved into populations of wild relatives.”

The report was published to coincide with the Conference on Coexistence between Genetically Modified (GM) and non-GM based Agricultural Supply Chains (GMCC-13) in Lisbon, Portugal. Christoph Then of Testbiotech stressed “We need regulations to ensure that the release of genetically engineered organisms is prohibited unless they can be removed from the environment if required.”

Cholesterol screening for children and big statins push

It’s being widely reported that the new cholesterol ‘risk calculator’ will over-estimate cardiovascular disease risk and will result in even more over-prescription of statins. This has caused astonishment in the medical community and amongst the general public!

Meanwhile, $tatin Nation are reporting that the childhood obesity problem is being used as an excuse to monitor the cholesterol levels of children. The US National Heart Lung and Blood Institute (NHLBI) guidelines, recommending universal screening of 9 to 11-year-old children, were endorsed by the American Academy of pediatrics back in 2011, but there is now a real concern that children are to become the next cash cow for statin drugs.

Watch the award winning vaccine documentary: “The Greater Good”

The producers of an award-winning documentary “The Greater Good” are allowing a full and free preview until the 23rd November.  Mercola.com has highlighted the video in an article entitled “How Vaccine Policy & Law Threatens Parental Rights in America”. You may view the entire film from the article for the next 2 or 3 days.

Mercola says of the video: “THE GREATER GOOD looks behind the fear, hype and politics that have polarized the vaccine debate in America today. The film re-frames the emotionally charged issue and offers, for the first time, the opportunity for a rational and scientific discussion on how to create a safer and more effective vaccine program.” The film received a “Koroni Award for a documentary feature addressing an issue of importance to public  health” at the Sidewalk Film Festival.

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