No more GMO: Monsanto drops bid to approve new crops in Europe

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30. More.

FINALLY, PUBLIC AWARENESS AND UNSTOPPABLE GRASSROOTS PUSHBACK:

http://www.robynobrien.com/speaking.html

“Robyn’s analysis is a startling revelation of the corruption of our food supply and our failure to protect two of our country’s most valuable assets, our children and our environment. Her message of courage, tenacity and hope is a beacon of light in our toxic world." —Robert F. Kennedy, Jr.

Robyn recently addressed a crowd of 600 at TEDx Austin and received a standing ovation for her presentation, "Patriotism on a Plate" as seen in the VIDEO:

Business Section NYT: 'The Epi-Pen's Maker Invests in Expansion As Allergy Rates in Children Rise'
EXCERPT: A study last year in the journal Pediatrics found that about one in 13 children had a food allergy, and nearly 40 percent of those with allergies had severe reactions.

http://www.nytimes.com/2012/09/08/business/mylan-invests-in-epipen-as-child-allergies-increase.html?pagewanted=all

September 7, 2012
Tiny Lifesaver for a Growing Worry
By KATIE THOMAS

It has become an all-too-familiar story in schools across the country: a child eats a peanut or is stung by a bee and suffers an immediate, life-threatening allergic reaction known as anaphylaxis.

If parents and school authorities know about the allergy and a doctor’s prescription is on file, a nurse can quickly give an injection of epinephrine, saving the child’s life.

But school nurses in many districts face an agonizing choice if a child without a prescription develops a sudden reaction to an undiagnosed allergy. Should they inject epinephrine and risk losing their nursing license for dispensing it without a prescription, or call 911 and pray the paramedics arrive in time?

After a 7-year-old girl died in January in a similar case in Virginia, the state passed a law that allows any child who needs an emergency shot to get one. Beginning this month, every school district in Virginia is required to keep epinephrine injectors on hand for use in an emergency. Illinois, Georgia and Maryland have passed similar laws, and school nurses are pushing for one in Ohio. A lobbying effort backed by Mylan, which markets the most commonly used injector, the EpiPen, made by Pfizer, led to the introduction last year of a federal bill that would encourage states to pass such laws.

Mylan has also lobbied state legislatures around the country directly and is passing out free EpiPens this fall to any qualifying school that wants them.

“When a child is having an anaphylactic reaction, the only thing that can save her life is epinephrine,” said Maria L. Acebal, the chief executive of the Food Allergy and Anaphylaxis Network. “911 doesn’t get there fast enough.”

The efforts are an acknowledgment of the rising rates of food allergies among children and a handful of deaths from allergies across the country. In many schools, children carry their own epinephrine injectors in their backpacks to use themselves, if they’re old enough, or the devices are stored on their behalf in nurses’ offices.

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[font style=color:blue]Although no one knows exactly why, the rate of food allergies among children appears to be on the rise.[/font] One survey found that in 2008, one in 70 children was allergic to peanuts, compared with one in 250 in 1997.

“I don’t think it’s overdiagnosis,” said Dr. Scott H. Sicherer, the author of the report and a researcher at the Jaffe Food Allergy Institute at Mount Sinai Medical Center in Manhattan. “There really seems to be a difference.”

A study last year in the journal Pediatrics found that about one in 13 children had a food allergy, and nearly 40 percent of those with allergies had severe reactions. A recent survey in Massachusetts, where schools are permitted to administer epinephrine to any student, found that one-quarter of students who had to be given the drug for a reaction did not know they had an allergy. But in many schools, employees are not allowed to use epinephrine injectors on children who do not have a prescription.

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http://www.nydailynews.com/news/politics/maine-legislature-easily-passes-gmo-labeling-bill-article-1.1370871

Monsanto argues that no valid, peer-reviewed studies have shown any ill health effects related to consuming genetically engineered foods.

“We oppose current initiatives to mandate labeling of ingredients developed from GM seeds in the absence of any demonstrated risks,” the company says on its website. “Such mandatory labeling could imply that food products containing these ingredients are somehow inferior to their conventional or organic counterparts.”

http://fooddemocracynow.org/blog/2013/mar/12/labeling_of_gmo_baby_food_and_baby_formula/

Labeling of Genetically Engineered Baby Food and Baby Formula
Posted by Dave on March 12, 2013

Hartford CT – The labeling of genetically engineered foods is one step closer to being a reality in Connecticut. Today the Committee on Children voted 11 to 1 in favor of House Bill 6527,“An Act Concerning Genetically Engineered Baby Food”, that would require the labeling of foods fed to infants that contain genetically engineered ingredients.

Amanda Wendt, the social media director of GMO Free CT, the grass roots organization advocating for GMO labeling in CT, stated that: “We are thrilled that HB 6527 bill has passed the committee. We are firm believers in the consumer's right to know and we love that parents are one step closer to having the information they need to feed their babies food or formula without genetically modified ingredients. This gives us great momentum moving into Friday's Public Health Committee hearing.”

Connecticut is the first state to introduce a labeling bill that specifically targets GMOs (genetically modified organisms) in baby food and infant formula.

The bill to label genetically engineered baby food was introduced by Representative Diana Urban, Chair of the Children’s Committee and a Democrat from North Stonington, CT, who has one child of her own. Urban shared that she knew about GMOs from the start and never fed them to her son and that she feels for all the mothers out there who are first learning about GMOs and are now devastated about what they fed their babies. Vice chair of the Children’s Committee, Kim Fawcett, a Democrat from Fairfield stated that “More and more we are coming to realize that GMOs represent a possible human health concern for adults and our children. With the real potential threat to human health, we must make sure to provide basic information to mothers trying to make healthy choices for their families. The work we’re doing here in Connecticut is just part of the voice of a national movement that is demanding more information and transparency about what’s in our food.”

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