If you think there's a need, then make a test kit. You've got the know-how and you evidently believe GE food is a hazard, so why not?
The fact that no consumer-facing kits exist isn't a matter of difficulty, it's because virtually everyone *capable* of making such a kit also feels it's unnecessary because they've acquired lots of domain knowledge.
You're not wrong to assert that there is a nonzero risk. There's a nonzero risk I'll be hit by a car even if I never leave my house. The question is whether a risk is worth considering.
People are generally poor at gauging risks in this way: terrorists kill fewer than falling televisions and yet.. war on terror. GEOs have literally killed nobody, while Organic/Biodynamic methods often pose real and quantifiable food safety risks (manure, humanure, failure to medicate sick animals...), yet most people are more wary of GE foods.
If you think a GE test would help people track what they eat, do it! While you're at it please include complementary E.coli and Cryptosporidium testing, which might actually save some lives.
Oh, and you've got your GE-free label, it's called Organic. Keep your mitts off the rest of our food, kthx.
On 26 August 2015 19:02:55 GMT+01:00, Jonathan Cline <jcline@ieee.org> wrote:
You can test GE food yourself however it is still financially out of reach for the pro consumer considering the continual need for tests. It would be easier if food were simply labelled properly.
To Philippo, you should perhaps try categorizing the types of harm and see which are important for you depending on where you are, and only after that, can you decide on protocols and equipment. For example: water testing (most important), chemical (pesticides and insecticides but also, chlorine, fluorine, iodine), metals and related (mercury, lead, arsenic), small organisms (like cysts), microbial, purposely fraudulent additives (plastics and large molecules), least importantly GMO testing. Some crazy things the 1st world doesn't worry about: Is DDT used in your region? Are common insecticides sprayed everywhere including on meat and fruit? (Rural farmers generously spraying cans of RAID over food in their stalls at local markets.) The important area and also easiest is I believe the metals. Unfortunately if food suppliers are fraudulently putting adulterants into the food (to boost profits) it is not possible to easily identify. For most of these topics you need a mass spec and the technical ability to maintain it. You might find some specific tests can be done with a pH meter.
The reason Philippo didn't find much about this topic so far is because much of it is out of reach of the DIY realm. Kind of the best you can do is buy and install the best multi stage water filtration system you can at home and then shop for food wisely. You can test for metals and related with some simple chemical colorimetric tests. Otherwise cook everything well, don't eat meat or fish, and eat nothing raw unless it's fermented.
It is possible to do a DIY test for example, to find:
" Organic rice baby cereal, rice breakfast cereals, brown rice, white rice—new tests by Consumer Reports have found that those and other types of rice products on grocery shelves contain arsenic, many at worrisome levels.. Worrisome arsenic levels were detected in infant cereals, typically consumed between 4 and 12 months of age. " http://www.consumerreports.org/cro/magazine/2012/11/arsenic-in-your-food/index.htm " Roughly 10 percent of our juice samples, from five brands, had total arsenic levels that exceeded federal drinking-water standards. Most of that arsenic was inorganic arsenic, a known carcinogen. As for lead, about one fourth of all juice samples had levels at or above the 5-ppb limit for bottled water. " http://www.consumerreports.org/cro/magazine/2012/01/arsenic-in-your-juice/index.htm
It is unlikely you will be able to test for anything like these:
"The 2005 Indonesia food scare was a food scare in 2005 in Jakarta, Indonesia, when the government found that 60% of noodle shops in the capital had been serving noodles laced with formaldehyde, a known carcinogen. Noodles in the 2007 Vietnam food scare also had the same contaminant, and the chemical preservative had also definitely been found on tofu, noodles, and salted fish. Other food contaminants found by Depok Health agency in elementary schools in 2006 were sodium benzoate, cyclamate and borax exceeding the permissible levels." https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2005_Indonesia_food_scare
"In February 2006, an unnamed former chemist at the FDA publicly revealed that benzene may be created as part of a chemical reaction during production of soft drinks, particularly those having an orange flavor. The United Kingdom's Food Standards Agency released results on March 31, 2006 for 150 beverages. Its results showed 43 beverages contained benzene, four of which contained levels above the World Health Organization drinking water standards (10 ppb). " https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Benzene_in_soft_drinks#2008
"In February–March 2013 several European countries, including Romania, Serbia, Croatia reported nationwide contamination of milk for human consumption (and possibly of derivative products) with aflatoxins. It was also reported in March that tests revealed contamination in milk produced by two Dutch farms." https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2013_European_aflatoxin_contamination
" The 2011 Taiwan food scandal was a food safety scandal in Taiwan over the use of the plasticizer - DEHP to replace palm oil in food and drinks as a clouding agent as a way to keep cost down and improve profits. The chemical agent has been linked to developmental problems with children as it affects hormones. The food affected includes beverages, fruit juices, bread, sports drinks, tea, and jam" https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2011_Taiwan_food_scandal
"The 2013 Taiwan food scandal refers to food safety incidents in the Republic of China (Taiwan) that began in October 2013. Affected products included cooking oil, health pills, alcoholic beverages, milk and rice. Chang Chi Foodstuff Factory Co. was found to have used copper chlorophyllin, an illegal coloring agent for cooking oil, in its olive oil and have adulterated its higher-end cooking oil with cheaper cottonseed oil." https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2013_Taiwan_food_scandal
" The 2014 Taiwan food scandal came to light in 2014. Adulteration of cooking oil with recycled waste oil and animal feed oil was discovered in September 2014. .. The company was found to have blended cooking oil with recycled oil, grease and leather cleaner. " https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2014_Taiwan_food_scandal
On 8/25/15 2:06 PM, Bryan Jones wrote:
you can test the food yourself. Build a thermocycler and test for the presence of the CP4 EPSP synthase gene in your food.
On 8/26/15 9:29 AM, Daniel C. wrote:
Anyone sufficiently "scientifically minded" should have already found the thousands upon thousands of studies, performed over the past 20+ years, which have failed to demonstrate any harm from consuming GMO foods.Failing to demonstrate harm over a couple decades is different from claiming a technology is 'perfectly safe'.
## Jonathan Cline ## jcline@ieee.org ## Mobile: +1-805-617-0223 ########################
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Sent from my Android device with K-9 Mail. Please excuse my brevity.
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