Daily Food & Ag Digest
Every day, the staff of the Genetic Literacy Project scours the Web for stories on a range of agricultural and food issues, including the GMO debate, conventional and organic farming, regulations, new breeding technologies and sustainability. We publish excerpts of those stories and encourage our readers to visit the original publications for the complete stories.
Crops produced with mutagenesis misleadingly labeled ‘non-GMO’ in Germany, biotech industry trade group says
According to research by [Germany's Free Democratic Party] and the genetic engineering-friendly association “Forum Grüne Reason” (FGV), many foods labeled ...
Facing escalating legal costs defending Monsanto’s Roundup, Bayer invests $5.6 billion in alternative herbicide research
Germany's Bayer sought to repair its reputation on [June 14] after damage caused by U.S. litigation over claims its glyphosate ...
Viewpoint: Consumers shouldn’t trust paid anti-GMO activists over independent biotech experts
Despite the benefits of GMOs, 80% of respondents to the 2018 Food and Health Survey Report from the International Food Information ...
GMO corn doesn’t harm gut microbiome of rats, study team associated with anti-biotech geneticist Gilles-Eric Séralini finds
Safety concerns arising from the consumption of foods derived from genetically modified (GM) crops remains a controversial subject. We report ...
Kind Bar attacks pro-organic rival Clif Bar for ‘disguising’ sugar in its recipe
Kind’s latest salvo against Clif Bar is another sign that their ongoing rivalry for a bigger slice of the $5 billion ...
How do we stem climate change? Suck a trillion tons of CO2 underground
[In May], carbon dioxide levels in the atmosphere surpassed 415 parts per million, the highest in human history. Environmental experts ...
Varroa destructor mite attacks on honeybees threaten wild bumblebees, too, research shows
A mite that spreads a dangerous virus among honeybees also plays an indirect role in infecting wild bumblebees, new research ...
Switzerland greenlights field trial of GMO fungus-resistant barley
On 18 December 2018, the University of Zurich submitted .... a request for the experimental release of genetically modified barley ...
Impossible Foods defends use of GMO soy in plant-based burger to stand out from competitors
As ingredient choices made by ‘next-generation’ plant-based meat brands attract more scrutiny, with some making a virtue of using peas ...
GMO Bt corn cultivation in EU poses no threat to ‘human, animal health or the environment,’ food safety officials confirm
Following a request from the European Commission, [The European Food Safety Authority] assessed the 2017 post‐market environmental monitoring (PMEM) report ...
Guatemalan coffee growers battling deadly plant fungus, stiff competition abandon farms for US
Guatemala’s coffee farmers are at the mercy of one of the world’s most volatile commodity markets. Over the past two ...
Austria considers ban on Bayer’s weed killer Roundup as heated glyphosate-cancer debate continues
Austria is heading toward a likely ban of glyphosate this year after the far-right Freedom Party (FPÖ) backed the Social ...
Dannon Yogurt accused of misleading consumers about its sustainability commitment with ‘non-GMO’ claim
Dannon announced with great fanfare last year a “sweeping commitment for sustainable agriculture, more natural ingredients, and greater transparency,” with ...
Savagnin Blanc: The 900-year-old grape still used in wine making today
DNA from ancient grape seeds shows the grapevine behind a local vintage has been cultivated continuously for 900 years. Ancient ...
Plant extinction occurring up to 500 times faster than naturally expected, study claims
Almost 600 plant species have been lost from the wild in the last 250 years, according to a comprehensive study ...
Never swayed by science? Why arguing with anti-GMO activists could strengthen their skepticism
Genetic engineering is revolutionizing crop farming, bringing benefits to farmers, the environment and consumer health. Its opponents, however, are not ...
Swaziland (eSwatini) finds success with GMO cotton
The chief executive officer of the Swaziland Cotton Board is urging African leaders to put their political egos aside and ...
How biotech could help save rice, staple crop consumed by half the world daily, from climate change
For more than half the world’s population, rice is on the menu every single day. As a crop that can ...
Nestlé poised to launch plant-based ‘Awesome Burger’ to compete with Impossible Foods, Beyond Meat
Nestlé’s new ‘cook from raw’ plant-based Awesome Burger (launching in the fall under the Sweet Earth brand in retail and ...
Entomologists say urban hobby beekeepers are serious threat to wild bees
There is a downside to the urban beehive boom in Montreal. Entomologists say honey bee hives are a growing threat ...
10% of India’s 12.2 million cotton hectares came from illegal GMO seeds in 2018
A farm group said its members had planted a variety of genetically modified cotton seeds which have not been approved ...
Wheat producers urge EPA to reject activist petition banning pre-harvest glyphosate use on oats
The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is seeking public comment on a September 2018 petition from several special interest groups to ...
Arkansas must reconsider Monsanto lawsuit challenging dicamba herbicide rules, state Supreme Court says
A lawsuit by Monsanto against the state’s restrictions on the use of dicamba raised valid points and should be reconsidered, ...
Meat company turns 20,000 tons of discarded carrots into animal feed to cut food waste
A West Australian company converting thousands of tons of carrots destined for landfill into animal feed is hoping to produce ...
Maine, largest salmon farming state, won’t produce GMO AquAdvantage fish
Genetically engineered salmon is heading to store shelves in the U.S., but it won’t be coming from the biggest salmon ...
Unapproved GMO wheat discovered on Washington state farm, USDA says
The USDA is investigating the discovery of genetically engineered wheat found in an unplanted Washington state farm field. The exact ...
Mike Adams’ Natural News anti-GMO and conspiracy site banned from Facebook
Natural News has nearly 3 million Facebook followers, more than Infowars and Alex Jones combined before Facebook banned them from ...
