Tag: GMO
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Kansas Governor Urged to Veto Milk Hormone Bill
The Institute for Responsible Technology (IRT) has urged Governor Kathleen Sebelius (D-Kansas) to veto a bill passed by the Kansas Legislature on April 3, 2009, that restricts U.S. dairies from labeling their milk products free from genetically engineered bovine growth hormone (rbGH or rbST). Sebelius, who is vying to become the new U.S. Secretary of…
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USDA Retains Bush Administration Position on GM Sugar Beets
According to a news source, the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) has elected not to change its position on the deregulation of genetically modified (GM) sugar beets. The Center for Food Safety and Earthjustice apparently requested that USDA reconsider its deregulation decision pertaining to Monsanto’s Roundup Ready® sugar beets, and the agency’s lawyers apparently chose…
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Court Refuses Remand in GM Rice Litigation
A federal court in Missouri has determined that Texas plaintiffs alleging injury from the contamination of conventional rice crops with genetically modified (GM) rice had no reasonable basis to join non-diverse defendants and thus denied their motion to remand to state court. In re Genetically Modified Rice Litig., MDL No. 1811 (E.D. Mo., decided March…
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Union of Concerned Scientists Criticizes FDA Approval of GE Goats
The Union of Concerned Scientists recently criticized the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) for failing to solicit public and scientific input before it approved “the first commercialization both of a drug from a genetically engineered [GE] animal and of the animal itself.” According to the Union, FDA has allowed a Massachusetts company to raise a…
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German Beekeeper Seeks Compensation for GM-Contaminated Honey
German courts in Bavaria have reportedly been considering issues raised in a lawsuit filed by an amateur beekeeper who was forced to destroy his honey after it was found to be contaminated with pollen from a nearby field trial of genetically modified (GM) corn. Beekeeper and handyman Karl Heinz Bablok, aware that his hives were…
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European Union Upholds the Right of Member States to Refuse GM Crops
EU environment ministers have reportedly upheld the sovereign right of nations to outlaw genetically modified (GM) crops even when approved by the European Food Safety Authority (EFSA). The European Commission (EC) had asked the ministers to overturn Austria’s and Hungary’s ban on a GM maize produced by Monsanto, but 22 states backed the countries’ measures…
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Scientists Complain to EPA About Thwarted Research on GM Crops
The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), which will hold hearings on genetically modified (GM) crops during the first week of March 2009, has reportedly received a statement submitted anonymously by 26 corn-insect specialists who apparently contend that biotechnology companies are preventing them from fully researching the effectiveness and environmental impact of the industry’s GM crops. To…
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EU Continues to Grapple with GM Crop Dispute; U.S. Food Co-ops and Organic Companies Pledge to Avoid GM Beet Sugar
The European Commission’s (EC’s) Standing Committee on the Food Chain and Animal Health reportedly deadlocked on February 16, 2009, over whether France and Greece should be forced to lift their bans on a genetically modified (GM) corn seed that is the only one approved for planting in the European Union. According to a biotechnology industry…