– World renowned scientist lost his job when he warned about GE foods:
Dr Arpad Pusztai evoked world wide media attention in August 1998, when he said in British TV that he would not eat genetically engineered food because of the insufficient testing procedures they have undergone.
Pusztai is a world renowned expert on food safety, who worked at UK’s leading food safety research lab, the Rowett institute. His statement obviously threatened to damage the then ongoing multimillion PR campaign of the Biotech industry to create public confidence in GE foods. A few days after his public appearance he was suspended and gagged by the research institute where he worked.
Pointed out weakness in present food regulations
Dr Pusztai’s pointed out that substances in Genetically Engineered (GE) foods that have a slow acting effect would not be detected because present regulations do not require long term safety testing. The regulations prescribe an approval procedure based on the principle of substantial equivalence. In practice this procedure allows very superficially tested foods to be approved. As an illustrative example, he mentioned fresh results from his research on certain pesticidal Lectins (Pusztai is recognized as a world leading expert on Lectins). Pusztai found that rats developed immune system defects and stunted growth after a time period corresponding to 10 years of human life.
Read moreWorld Renowned Scientist Dr. Arpad Pusztai Lost His Job When He Warned About GMO Foods