Jeffrey Smith, author of the best-selling book Seeds of Deception,
recently released another book called Genetic Roulette. Both books are
about the dangers of genetically modified (GM) foods. Although it
wasn't his intention, Jeffrey Smith's passion has led him to become a
leader in the health and food industries, meeting with world leaders to
discuss the dangers of this risky science.
In his effort to change the way the world views genetically modified
(GM) foods, Jeffrey Smith ran for congress, worked at a Genetically
Modified Organisms (GMO) detection laboratory as Vice-President of
Marketing, and traveled the world speaking to political leaders about
his book, Seeds of Deception. After all that work, Jeffery Smith still
felt his message wasn't reaching its target audience. His book read too
much like a novel, and political leaders didn't have time for that.
Jeffrey Smith knew there must be some way to get his message out. He
met with over 30 scientists during the course of a two year period to
gather materials for Genetic Roulette. Genetic Roulette is a unique
book that has facts for political leaders on one side of the page and
references for scientists on the other side of the page. The book
documents 65 of the health risks associated with GM foods. So what ARE
GM foods, exactly?
When someone takes the DNA from one species and inserts it into another
species to get an unnatural result, they are genetically modifying it.
For example, scientists have tried to put the DNA of spiders into goats
with the hope that they can milk the goat for spider proteins and use
that milk to create bullet proof vests. In foods, the DNA of certain
bacteria and viruses can be put into crops so that they won't die when
sprayed with herbicide, and they can even be used to produce pesticides.
Eating foods like wheat bread or corn chips that are produced from GM
wheat and corn crops presents a health crisis. The digestive tract of
humans can quickly become the breeding ground for new pesticides. The
goal of GM food scientists is to create new crops that are resistant to
hazards. Better crops means more food for a starving world. The problem
is that the research is still in a primitive stage. Eating these foods
can be like playing roulette with your health.
GM food companies seem to be more concerned about profits than about
the long-term health and well being of populations eating their
products. Jeffrey Smith spends as much time as possible trying to get
that point across to world leaders. Getting a product to market quickly
generates profits, but at the same time, it reduces the amount of time
spent in health research.
Isn't the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) supposed to protect us
from unsafe foods? The FDA's policy written in 1992 claims that the
agency is "Not aware of any information showing that the foods created
from these methods differ in any meaningful or uniform way." In short,
the FDA is taking a hands-off approach to the whole subject, and
they're not requiring any special testing.
Many of the FDA's own scientists have come forward to say that GM foods
cause allergies, toxins, new diseases, and nutritional problems. Some
even reported their findings to superiors, but they were ignored.
Jeffrey Smith has made it his passion to spread the word about the
hidden dangers of eating GM foods.
