25/November/20

 

The newly developed partnership between the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) and the global agrochemical industry is a cause for great concern, says an editorial in the Bangkok Post. The collaboration shows the industry's tentacles reach deep even into organisations whose job it should be to insist upon rigorous standards and practices within the global food supply chain, both in terms of health and ethics. Bangkok Post; comment by GMWatch

 

 

Newly published scientific papers illustrate the ubiquitous nature of the weed killing chemical glyphosate and a need to better understand the impact exposure to the popular pesticide may be having on human health, including the health of the gut microbiome. In one of the new papers, researchers from the University of Turku in Finland said that they were able to determine, in a “conservative estimate", that approximately 54 percent of species in the core of the human gut microbiome are “potentially sensitive” to glyphosate. The researchers said they used a new bioinformatics method to make the finding. US Right to Know; comment by GMWatch

 

 

Soybeans in Brazil are feeding the UK's insatiable chicken addiction – and certification systems are not preventing continued forest destruction [GMW: These soybeans are GMO]. In the last decade, more of the Cerrado has been lost than the Amazon. It is estimated that only half of the original habitat remains. Most of it has been cleared — by burning and cutting — to make way for agriculture. The main crop is soy that is a key ingredient in animal feed. Tesco, Asda, Lidl, Nando’s and McDonald’s source chicken produced in the UK by the agribusiness giant Cargill – America’s biggest private company. ITV News