Food fight over fumonisins features at FoodNavigator.com

Row erupts in Italy over GM study results
http://www.foodnavigator.com/news/ng.asp?id=81414

By Laura Crowley
This 16/11/2007 item reveals - accusations have flown in Italy this week over the government's alleged suppression of field trial results suggesting the benefits of two Monsanto Bt maize varieties...


The outcome showed that, as well as resisting the corn borer pest without the use of pesticides, the P67 and Elgina maize varieties helped reduce the content fumonisin toxins, say the scientists.

But the results of the trials were never formally published, spurring scientists to accuse the government of suppressing the information because of its anti-GMO stance...

Fury over fumonisins

Fumonisins are toxins produced by fungi that can infect a growing maize plant. There is evidence to suggest they increase the risk of spina bifida in humans, and can cause other illnesses in horses and pigs.

Roberto Defez, group leader in microbial biotechnology at the Institute of Genetics and Biophysics, explained that Italy has serious problems with fumonisins. "The problem is officially known," he said. "Over forty per cent of the maize produced contains more than the maximum levels of fumonisin."

The information on the study only came to light when Tommaso Maggiore, the agronomist who conducted the trial, realised the results would not be published and approached the scientific community through Defez, and scientists at the University of Milan, to get the information into the public domain.

Defez told FoodNavigator.com that, as it stands, the results from the study are not a major contribution to scientific research. He said: "What we are asking for is that the ban be lifted so the trial can be repeated by the scientific community, to compare and evaluate to see whether this is a usual result, and can therefore benefit Italian agriculture."

...In INRAN's statement today, it said that its analysis actually found 81 per cent higher levels of the fumonisin in the maize that was not genetically engineered.

According to Maggiore's results, using the GM maize also increased the volume of grain produced, yielding between 14.1 and 15.9 tonnes per hectare compared to between 11 and 11.2 tonnes of grain per hectare.

This relates to a yield increase of between 28 and 43 per cent, translating into a difference in profit of between €300m and €1bn...


Response by INRA

http://www.inran.it/OGM_com.pdf
pdf file

COMUNICATO STAMPA (Press release)
OGM: L’INRAN RISPONDE
Roma, 15/11/07

Il presidente dell’INRAN, prof. Carlo Cannella, in quanto solo da pochi mesi alla guida dell’Ente, dà pronta risposta alla richiesta del Ministro con la seguente dichiarazione rilasciata dal dott. Giovanni Monastra, coordinatore del progetto “OGM in agricoltura”...continues