WORLD'S LARGEST RICE COMPANY HALTS ALL IMPORTS FROM USA

[Jcrowley]

World’s Largest Rice Company Halts All Imports from USA
Bayer’s illegal GE rice continues to inflict damage on US rice industry
 
AMSTERDAM - September 29 - In yet another blow to the US rice industry, the world’s largest rice processing company, Ebro Puleva,(1) which controls 30% of the EU rice market, has confirmed to Greenpeace International that it has stopped all imports of rice from the USA to the EU due to the threat of contamination by genetically engineered (GE) rice.

The move follows a summer of scandals, with illegal GE contamination found in rice products all over Europe. As a result of Bayer’s recklessness, the global food industry is facing massive costs associated with this contamination, including testing costs, product recalls, brand damage, import bans and cancelled imports and contracts.

http://www.commondreams.org/news2006/0929-12.htm

[napi21]

1. Hmmm, does Shrub have his prints on this too?

I've blambedthe deteroriation of all the mfg. inds. on him and his global BS, may as well step right into the AG industry too!

[Jcrowley]

2. The syndicate is larger than a shrub

Just an errand boy.

http://www.i-sis.org.uk/PPGMR.php

Contaminated Chinese rice found in Europe
Health risks require immediate recall and import ban
06 September 2006

Products found to contain illegal and untested genetically engineered rice.

London, United Kingdom — The genetic engineering industry sank to a new low when it was revealed recently that US company Bayer's field trials of genetically engineered (GE) rice had contaminated rice exports. Japan moved fast and banned the US rice from coming into its ports. The EU quickly followed and placed import restrictions and testing regimes in place. Now, Greenpeace research has uncovered a new example of contamination of the world's most important staple food.

We recently uncovered, and independently verified, that illegal GE rice from China has contaminated food products in France, Germany and the UK. We've notified authorities that the illegal GE rice poses serious health risks and we're calling upon European governments to take immediate action to protect consumers.  

Greenpeace offices and Friends of the Earth in the UK tested samples of rice products such as vermicelli, rice sticks and other processed foods. Five positive samples were found containing an illegal GE organism not approved anywhere in the world. However this may only be the tip of the iceberg. Rice products are included in everything from baby food to yoghurt.

http://www.greenpeace.org/international/news/contaminated-chinese-rice090506

[tocqueville]

3. does it mean a travel ban on Condi ? nt

[cui bono]

9. lol. She certainly is contaminated.

And at the very lesat genetically deficient, if not engineered.

[LunaC]

4. What are the "serious health risks"?

And how much of this illegal rice is in our food?

[SoyCat]

5. From what I've read, I think we just don't know what risks there could be

and that all American long grain rice has been contaminated with the genetically modified DNA. I also read that they are quickly gearing up to approve the rice for human consumption so that Bayer won't get sued.

[Jcrowley]

6. Here's a start

European rice cultivars were transformed with synthetic Cry1Aa or synthetic Cry1B toxin genes under a constitutive ubiquitin promoter, which turns on the gene in all the tissues all of the time, or synthetic Cry1B gene under a wound inducible maize promoter, which responds to stresses such as insect predation. The constitutive promoter-driven toxin genes produced high toxin levels that prevented striped stem borer predation but left toxin in all the rice tissues and seeds, while the wound inducible strain produced toxin mainly at the site of insect attack.

Research has established that Bt toxin was introduced into soil by root exudates of transgenic rice. The toxin released into the soil affected the enzymes of soil microbes, increasing soil acid phosphatase and decreasing soil urease.

The benefit of insect protection from Bt rice is offset by the potential harmful effects of high levels of toxin protein in the rice grain. As rice is such an important food crop, the safety of Bt rice must be concretely established. It has been found that food irradiation improved the "quality" of GM rice modified with the Cry1Ab toxin, by selectively removing the toxin protein. However, study of the radiation products and adducts created during destruction of the toxin is essential. Furthermore, it is clear that food irradiation may be used to disguise GM rice.

A number of projects have studied the use of snowdrop lectin, Galanthus nivalis agglutinin (GNA) alone or in conjunction with other genes to control rice pests. Lectins are proteins that interact with human blood cells (agglutinin) and also act as anti-predator chemicals in plants or microbes. A GNA gene was driven by a phloem specific promoter accompanied by a hygromycin antibiotic resistance gene and was used to transform japonica rice strains. The modified rice controlled sap-sucking insects that spread rice viruses. However, Ewen and Pusztai showed that potatoes modified with GNA affected different parts of the rat digestive system. Similar research on the in vivo effects of rice genetically engineered with GNA has not been reported.

Rice plants containing both the GNA gene and the unlinked Cry1Ac gene were reported to be resistant to the major rice insect pests, striped stem borer and brown leaf hopper (rice with only Cry1Ac resisted striped stem borer while rice with GNA resisted brown leaf hopper). Rice transformed with a single vector containing Cry1Ab along with GNA and the bar gene for herbicide tolerance was intended to be resistant to yellow stem borer and three sap sucking insects, and also tolerant to the herbicide glufosinate. This huge package of genes was integrated at a single chromosomal site. No account has been taken of the interaction of the various toxins in the human food supply and in the environment.

http://www.i-sis.org.uk/PPGMR.php

No way to know how much. The estimate was 1/5th of US rice was contaminated but no crystal clear picture of how that was distributed.

[mom cat]

11. Thanks for the info!

[fed-up]

7. Don't forget Kucinnich was the only pres candidate against GE crops n/t

[lonestarnot]

8. Nope haven't forgotten! Love that Dennis!

[wiley]

10. This is spectacularly bad news and yet another blow by Republicans

......and their corporate masters to the economy and integrity of this country.