www.checkbiotech.org ; www.raupp.info ; www.czu.cz

The European Food Safety Authority (EFSA) has revealed that it will review
the new data presented by French scientists that revealed toxicity concerns
in rats fed the MON863 variety of GM maize from Monsanto, March 2007 by
Stephen Daniells.

The new data, from a 90-day rat study and published in the peer-review
journal Archives of Environmental Contamination and Toxicology, indicated
liver and kidney toxicity in the rats, as well as differences in weight gain
between the sexes as a result of eating the transgenic maize.

Alun Jones, EFSA spokesperson told FoodNavigator.com that the authority has
not yet had the opportunity to look at the new study in detail but this will
be done by their scientific experts before any decisions is made regarding
the maize.

The GMO panel will meet on March 22nd and 23rd to consider and discuss the
new study.

Jones also stated that this was not the first time that EFSA have been
requested to look at MON863. Indeed, the authority released a statement in
October 2004 following a request by the German authorities following a
13-week rat study that suggested kidney toxicity.

"Following [the GMO Panel's] investigation of the report, and of the
retrospective evaluation of renal tissues and data derived from the 13-week
rat feeding study performed by independent peer reviewers, the GMO Panel
concludes that there is no evidence presented in the report that changes the
conclusions already reached by the GMO Panel earlier this year in its
Opinions on the safety of the insect-protected genetically modified maize
MON 863 (EFSA 2004a, b)," read the October 2004 statement.

"These opinions state that the results of the rodent toxicity study with MON
863 maize did not indicate concerns about its safety for human and animal
consumption."

The researchers behind the new study, led by Professor Gilles Eric Séralini
from the independent CRIIGEN (Committee for Independent Research and Genetic
Engineering) based at the University of Caen questioned the methods used by
Monsanto to initially show the safety and non-toxicity of the corn, saying
that the statistical methods used were insufficient to observed any possible
disruptions in biochemistry.

"Monsanto's analyses do not stand up to rigorous scrutiny - to begin with,
their statistical protocols are highly questionable. Worse, the company
failed to run a sufficient analysis of the differences in animal weight.
Crucial data from urine tests were concealed in the company's own
publications," said Séralini during a joint press conference with
environmental group Greenpeace in Berlin.

Monsanto have continued to defend the safety record of their corn.
Spokesperson, Lee Quarles, told FoodNavigator.com: "The important thing to
note in all of this is the fact that the overwhelming opinion of expert
authorities is that MON 863 is safe for human and animal consumption. This
includes experts in Europe as the European competent authorities concur that
MON 863 YieldGard Rootworm maize is safe for human and animal health and the
environment.

"Please also note that MON 863 YieldGard Rootworm maize has completed full
regulatory review and has been grown commercially in the United States and
Canada since 2003. This product has also been approved for import and food
use in many countries around the world, including Japan, Korea, Taiwan, the
Philippines, Russia and Mexico," he added.

MON863 is a transgenic maize genetically modified to express the Bt-toxin
(Cry3Bb1) which enables the plant to be insect repellent against the corn
rootworm pest. It is different from other GM corns of the market since these
express the Cry1Ab toxin which is toxic to the European corn borer.

It received European approval for use in animal feed in 2005 and for human
consumption in 2006.

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