Thursday, June 6, 2013

GMO wheat limited to one field


Genetically-modified wheat found recently in Oregon was limited to one field, says United States Secretary for Agriculture Tom Vilsack.

The discovery has prompted some nations, such as Japan, to adopt precautions about importing wheat from the U.S.

Monsanto ran some field trials with Roundup-Ready wheat in Oregon in 2005, but when it faced a storm of protest it withdrew its application for permission to market the genetically-modified wheat and thought it had cleaned up all supplies.

There is no threat to public health, Vilsack said.
"This was a finding of a very small number of plants on 123 acres of land.
“There is no indication it has found its way into commerce, into flour or wheat that has been sold," Vilsack said during an appearance at the National Press Club in Washington.
"It has been limited at this point in time to this particular field."
Nearly all of the soft white wheat grown in Oregon is sold for export, mainly to Asia, and the discovery of the GM seeds sent wheat prices falling and could imperil billions of exports.

Lawsuits against Monsanto have already begun to fly with the lawyer on the first case guessing that the claims could mount to hundreds of millions of dollars.