To avoid having to answer questions asked by CRIIGEN on the health risks of GMOs and on the toxicity of the Roundup included in a large number of GMOs, M. Le Déaut prefers trying to question CRIIGEN’s independence on the grounds that we might have received funds from Carrefour Group. Beside the pathetic and overused character of this procedure, repeating the behaviour of those who tried to conceal the dangers of asbestos and other dangerous products, it goes without saying that CRIIGEN, which is formed by totally independent experts from the GMO lobby, is a recognized expertal body. This is the reason why CRIIGEN conducted studies on behalf of Carrefour and Auchan, as well as on behalf the Italian and Quebecker governments, the Biosafety Committee of China, the University of Montreal, the Tunisian and Egyptian Universities, the Directorate-General for Agriculture of the European Commission and several professional unions in the food-processing industry and in agriculture. The fact that M. Le Déaut is trying to present CRIIGEN in an ill-intentioned and truncated manner clearly demonstrates, if it were needed, that the work accomplished by CRIIGEN to make the GMO studies transparent is clearly disturbing him and that his report, which had been exposed by CRIIGEN on the grounds of the method used even before the content was revealed is solely written in the defence of GMOs. We would very much like that the transparent approach displayed by CRIIGEN where the addressees of the studies are concerned should be applied by all the experts who expressed themselves in the Parliamentary Mission.

The group of Pr. Gilles-Eric SERALINI in Caen University has just published an original research work on the toxicity of Roundup, one of the most sold herbicides worldwide and most often used with GMO plants. Most of the commercialized GMOs in the world are intended for food, and have been genetically modified in order not to die when they absorb this herbicide after it is spread on crops. This procedure makes it easy to use Roundup, and also generates Roundup residues in the food chain. This herbicide is suspected of being a major pollutant of rivers. It was demonstrated in this research work that human placenta cells are very sensitive to Roundup, at much lower concentrations than in agricultural uses. This might explain why there are so many miscarriages and premature births in the United-States among farmers. Furthermore, below the toxic threshold, the effects of Roundup are measured on the synthesis of sexual hormones. This allows to classify this herbicide as a potential endocrine disruptor. In short, the effects of Roundup are always greater than that of glyphosate, which is known as its active principle.

This research was conducted with the support of CRIIGEN ( www.crii-gen.org ) and of the Fondation pour une Terre Humaine (Foundation for a Humane Earth) http://www.terrehumaine.org