A new report written by some top scientists has stated – without caveats – that Monsanto’s Roundup brand herbicide causes birth defects.

Monsanto’s business model is based entirely on Roundup – including the genetically modified (GMO) crops that are dominant in the United States and, to a lesser degree, Canada. So far, Europeans have been slow to adopt the so-called Frankenfoods; but Monsanto owns the Third World.

The recent report was prepared by a diverse group of scientists from various countries and their findings are damning. The report is very long, so it is not reproduced here, but a link is provided below. Some of the key accusations in the report include:

• Monsanto (and other providers) have known since at least the 1980s that glyphosate (the active ingredient in this stuff) causes malformations in test animals when used at high dosage. They’ve also known since 1993 that these same deformities can occur at low and mid-level doses
• The government of Germany has known since at least 1998 that glyphosate causes malformations
• The European Union Commission’s expert scientific review panel knew as early as 1999 that glyphosate causes malformations
• The EU Commission itself – not just the scientists – has known about this since 2002

The new report, entitled Roundup and birth defects: Is the public being kept in the dark?, includes technical detail to show how regulators went out of their way to discount the studies that produced those early findings, and to make it appear there were no problems with Roundup.

Part of the problem is that governments have frequently relied on testing conducted or sponsored by manufacturers themselves. The studies are done as cheaply as possible, so they use only a few test animals and very high doses. Companies like Monsanto can then claim the doses were so high that ‘of course there would be toxicity, but there is no evidence of toxicity at low doses’. That’s similar to the tobacco companies arguing their products are safe because of all the smokers who don’t die from them.

So how much of an issue is this? Well, in North America Roundup and Roundup Ready crops are everywhere. Substantial residues have been detected in various crops, farmworkers are exposed in the fields, homeowners who try to have golf-green lawns expose themselves and their neighbours, roads departments spray it in ditches to control weeds.

Farmers use Roundup Ready seeds because they are less work than conventional seeds. Despite Monsanto’s advertising, the crop yields aren’t any greater, just less work for the farmer and more profit for Monsanto. Of course, Monsanto doesn’t mention in their advertising that superweeds have already developed immunity to Roundup.

For the full report – highly recommended reading – click here. In the meantime, you might want to put some effort into trying to convince the agri-industry shills – like the Monsanto-infested Obama administration – to rethink their support for companies like Monsanto.

Paul Richard Harris is an Axis of Logic editor and columnist, based in Canada. He can be reached at paul@axisoflogic.com

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