WARNING!
This is an older article that may not reflect Dr. Mercola’s current view on this topic. Use our search engine to find Dr. Mercola’s latest position on any health topic.
By Dr. Mercola
The Monsanto Investigation Part 1―the Bayer Investigation
Monsanto and Bayer Crop Science have entered into a series of licensing agreements for technologies in the field of plant biotechnology. Monsanto will provide Bayer with a royalty-bearing license to Genuity Roundup Ready 2 Yield and Genuity Roundup Ready 2 Xtend technology in soybeans in the U.S. and Canada, as well as a royalty-bearing license to Intacta RR2 PRO in soybeans in Brazil with an option to a royalty-bearing license in other Latin-American countries in the future. Under the agreements, Bayer will grant Monsanto license to evaluate enabling technologies for corn rootworm control and herbicide tolerance as options for Monsanto’s future pipeline development work.
Aspartame & Monsanto―the Monsanto Investigation Part 2
It’s in just about everything: you know it as NutraSweet. From drugs to foods to beverages, aspartame is in just about everything, and it’s making a lot of people sick, even if they don’t realize that’s the reason. Dozens of web pages warn against the dangers of aspartame, which became a Monsanto product in 1985 when Monsanto bought G.D. Searle and created a separate subsidiary to sell NutraSweet and Equal. According to the Monsanto website, in 2000 the company sold its interests in NutraSweet to J.W. Childs and Equal to Merisant.
Diacetyl & Monsanto―The Monsanto Investigation Part 3
A dangerous chemical found in butter flavoring such as that used in microwave popcorn has sickened and killed hundreds of factory workers around the country. It also has been linked to Alzheimer’s. The government has known about this over a decade, but nothing’s been done to regulate it, even though hundreds of lawsuits are connected with it. While ConAgra produced the chemical (diacetyl), the company has strong ties to Monsanto: in 1999 they teamed up to market Monsanto’s genetically-modified corn. What most people don’t realize is that Monsanto acquired the patent for the diacetyl-making process in 1948.
GMOs Investigated―The Monsanto Investigation Part 4
Don Huber, a noted plant scientist who spent much of his career at Purdue University, sent a letter to the USDA informing the agency that he’d discovered a mysterious new disease-causing organism in Monsanto’s (MON) genetically engineered Roundup Ready corn and soybeans. Now Huber has written a follow-up letter to USDA, presenting an even worse picture of the damage he claims Monsanto’s herbicide chemical glyphosate (the main ingredient in Roundup) is doing to both plants and the animals who eat them. Huber’s issue is not with genetic engineering per se, but with the huge amounts of glyphosate being used on GE crops. According to Huber, glyphosate effectively “gives a plant AIDS,” weakening its defenses and making it more susceptible to pathogens. Glyphosate also prevents plants from absorbing vital nutrients, particularly the mineral manganese.
Children & Animals―The Monsanto Investigation Part 5
Autism among children is skyrocketing, and behaviors observed with rats, pigs, and cattle fed genetically modified (GM) foods are very similar, experts say. These experts believe that GM foods, including soy infant formulas, should be removed from children’s diets. Bt toxin, Roundup, BGH… Scotts acquired the Ortho and Roundup brand from Monsanto Chevron in 1999. On January 27, 2012, Scotts Miracle-Gro agreed to plead guilty in federal court and pay $4.5 million in fines for selling 73 million units of bird seed coated with pesticide known to be deadly to birds and fish. Some veterinarians are reporting that animals are getting sick on genetically engineered corn and soybeans, and possibly glyphosate residue. Birth defects, endocrine changes, and infertility are also connected with GMO products.
George Bush & Monsanto―The Monsanto Investigation Part 6
The connections between Monsanto and both Bush administrations are clear. Bush Sr. appointed Clarence Thomas, a Monsanto attorney, to the Supreme Court. Attorney General John Ashcroft was the top recipient of Monsanto contributions. Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld was president of Searle Pharmaceuticals, which Monsanto acquired. And the list goes on.
RBGH & FDA Corruption―The Monsanto Investigation Part 7
Conflicts of interest within the FDA abound over the FDA’s pro-rBGH activities. rBGH was first developed by Monsanto to increase milk production in dairy cows. It failed to gain approval in Europe but the US FDA approved it. It was later discovered that Monsanto altered documents and actual studies to make rBGH look safe. According to Jeffrey Smith, the world’s leading consumer advocate promoting non-GMO choices, hormone-treated cows can develop birth defects, reproductive disorders, udder infection, and a slew of other medical problems. When some disgruntled FDA employees wrote an anonymous letter to Congress saying that the whole rBGH process was embroiled in fraud and conflict of interest―such as having Dr. Margaret Miller work for FDA after working for Monsanto researching rBGH. In October 2008, Monsanto sold its rBGH business to Eli Lilly and Company.
PCBs & Pollution―The Monsanto Investigation Part 8
Monsanto responded to adverse reactions from its toxic chemical PCBs by claiming they were “singularly free of difficulties.” But internal files obtained from a lawsuit revealed that this was a cover-up that lasted decades. Company memos referred to liver disease, skin problems, and even deaths in workers associated with exposure to its PCBs. Monsanto’s medical department wanted to prohibit employees from eating at the factory because research showed that PCBs were toxic materials by ingestion or inhalation. And the US Navy refused the product because in their safety study, all exposed animals died. Until it stopped production in 1977, Monsanto was the source of 99 percent of PCBs used by US industry. PCB production was banned by Congress in 1979 and by the Stockholm Convention on Persistent Organic Pollutants in 2001.
Political Corruption & rBGH―The Monsanto Investigation Part 9
Michael Taylor was an assistant to the FDA commissioner before he left to work for a law firm on gaining FDA approval of Monsanto’s artificial growth hormone in the 1980s. Taylor then became deputy commissioner of the FDA from 1991 to 1994. He was re-appointed to the FDA in August 2009 by President Barack Obama. Dr. Michael A. Friedman was a deputy commissioner of the FDA before he was hired as a senior vice president of Monsanto. And the revolving doors and political conflicts of interest continue with numerous other names and positions.
UN & Agenda 21―The Monsanto Investigation Part 10
In February 2013 Monsanto announced that it had officially joined the World Business Council for Sustainable Development, a group of powerful interests including major banks and Big Oil backing the United Nations’ “Agenda 21” scheme for so-called “sustainable development.” In 2012 a UN report said that 90 percent of water and fish samples from aquatic environments are contaminated by pesticides. Many people claim the UN is pushing Agenda 21 to create a global dictatorship through a one-world government in the name of protecting the environment.
The Bilderberg Connection & Monsanto ― The Monsanto Investigation Part 11
Dixoins are highly toxic unwanted byproducts of certain industrial operations including the manufacture of some pesticides. There was evidence that Monsanto had falsified scientific studies on the carcinogenicity of dioxin, but the EPA failed to investigate it. Some of the allegations included: Monsanto failed to notify and lied to its workers about the presence and danger of dioxin at its chlorophenol plant; Monsanto lied to EPA that it had no knowledge that its plant effluent contained dioxin; that Lysol―which is recommended for cleaning babies’ toys―was contaminated with dioxin with Monsanto’s knowledge; and that Monsanto did not tell the manufacturer of Lysol for fear of losing its business, as well as other allegations.
The Bilderberg Group holds “by invitation only” annual meetings of the world’s rich and powerful. Monsanto’s CEO Robert Shapiro from 1995-2000 was a member the Bilderberg group.
March against Monsanto―the Monsanto Investigation Part 12
Citizens around the world are beginning to realize that genetically engineered foods could be promoting disease, environmental destruction, and death, and are organizing to get GMOs either more tightly regulated, or at the least, labeled so people can make a choice as to whether they want to consume them. What’s alarming is that it’s become obvious that plants and animals are sick too, including bees. In 2012 it was announced that three new studies linked bee decline to Bayer’s pesticide. Bayer has an agreement to work together with Monsanto and its specialty Roundup Ready products.
Acetaldehyde & Monsanto―the Monsanto Investigation Part 13
Acetaldehyde is a possible cancer-causing compound that occurs naturally in alcoholic beverages and many foods such as bananas and yogurt. It may also be added to fruit-flavored foods. Acetaldehyde and benzaldehyde are used as solvents in air fresheners, but they also are easily volatilized at room temperature and pressure, and both have proven to be a health risk to humans through inhalation. Monsanto has a patent on the process for recovering acetaldehyde. The Wacker process or the Hoechst-Wacker process originally referred to the oxidation of ethylene to acetaldehyde by oxygen in water in the presence of a tetrachloropalladate catalyst. The same basic reaction is currently used to produce aldehydes and ketones from a number of alkenes with the Monsanto process for producing acetic acid.