Monsanto Contaminating African White Bread with GMO Soy
In a new report issued by the African Center for Biosafety (ACB), evidence of industry-wide contamination of bread with Monsanto’s genetically modified soy is described. With more than 2.8 billion loaves of bread consumed every year, that means that millions are giving money to the pesticide and herbicide cartels by paying numerous companies who unabashedly use GM in their food products.
The report, titled appropriately, ‘GM Contamination, Cartels and Collusion in South Africa’s Bread Industry,’ makes no mistake in referencing the companies that produce these poison foods, namely GM bread, as cartels. Corporations like Tiger Brands Premier Foods, Pioneer Foods, and Foodcorp have bowed to the Monsanto monster and make billions off of GM bread every year.
These companies control the wheat-to-bread chain, and since roughly a quarter of all South Africans live below the poverty line, they often rely on these companies for food. Bread is the second most important staple food in Africa, just following maize. The GM contamination hits poor populations the hardest.
Executive Director of the ACB, Mariam Mayet states:
“A small number of unscrupulous cartels control and benefit from the value chains of our staple foods, maize and bread. They have been repeatedly sanctioned for anti-competitive behaviour, have been complicit in saturating our staple food with risky GM ingredients and its associated pesticides and are behind a campaign to undermine proper labeling of GM food and the consumer’s right to know.”
When testing for GM in soya flour breads in popular brands, the following alarmingly high levels of GM were found in popular food products:
| White bread brand | GM content in soya flour | Produced by | Labelled as |
| Checkers white bread | 91.09% | Shoprite Holdings | No GM label. (Not labelled ) |
| Woolworths white bread | 85.62% | Woolworths | May be Genetically Modified |
| Spar white bread | 72.69% | Spar | No GM label. (Not labelled ) |
| Blue Ribbon white bread | 64.9% | Premier Foods | Not labeled |
| Pick n Pay white bread | 42.82% | Pick n Pay | Not labelled |
| Albany superior white bread | 23.23% | Tiger Brands | Not labeled |
| Sunbake white bread | 20.46% | Foodcorp | Not labeled |
| Sasko white bread | so low as to be unquantifiable | Pioneer Foods | Produced using GMO |
While the Consumer Food Protection Act was supposed to protect individuals from this exact problem by requiring labeling of anything which contains more than 5% or more of genetically modified ingredients, only one brand, Sasko from Pioneer Foods, displays a GM food label at all. Due to the law, it is also the only product which didn’t require labeling by law since its ingredients were found to be below the 5% level.
Read: Failed Monsanto GMO Corn Descends on African Countries
According to ACB Consumer Campaigner, Ms Zakiyya Ismail:
“The current labels are either misleading, confusing or completely absent, leaving consumers utterly in the dark. Astonishingly while these companies are at pains to convince the public that they are in favour of protecting the rights of consumers, these are the very companies lobbying under the aegis of the Consumer Goods Council of South Africa (CGCSA) to revise and weaken GM labeling regulations, successfully stalling the implementation of GM labeling since October 2011.”
The chart above shows that despite a 5% labeling law in Africa, almost 100% of Africa’s soya production is genetically modified. It seems Pioneer is the only company trying to go GMO-free, with a sharp drop in Pioneer’s White Star maize from tests which showed levels over 72% in October of last year and less than half of that when tested again several months later. Is it possible that only one company is trying to break from the drug cartel that comprises Africa’s genetically modified food production?
Another problem is that Africa’s leading retailers who sell the contaminated bread as well as other GM products made public commitments to honor the Consumer Protection Act, including Shoprite/Checkers, Pick n’ Pay, and Woolworths.
Woolworth’s in particular, has said it will:
“. . . eliminate genetically modified ingredients wherever possible and work hand-in-hand with our suppliers to do so.”
That promise seems to have been completely ignored considering the company sells bread from the top four companies controlling the GM bread-food-chain – Tiger Brands, Premier Foods, Pioneer Foods, and Foodcorp.
These four control 70% of the entire market. They collude to fix prices, and keep GM bread cheap so that the poor continue to purchase the bread supplied by stores eager to make a fast buck.
Pioneer Foods and Tiger Brands made a profit of R2.441 billion (about $41,418,720,000) last year, just from their baking division, which supplies stores like Woolworth’s with GM bread.
These facts prove that there is no justice in the food system. Monsanto, and pesticide and herbicide pushers around the globe are propping up GM food at any cost. They need to be stopped, and labeling is no longer sufficient considering the fact that biotech corporations seem to infiltrate every government in the world. Until GM is banned globally for good, we cannot rest on this issue.
Monsanto trying to help the people of Africa, is like a hungry wolf trying to protect a rabbit.
Though Monsanto has millions of acres of soy in the USA and around the world, their vision is to sell chemicals, because they are first and foremost, a chemical company.
We know that soy is an estrogen based product and both men and women have X chromosomes, so soy genetically modified bacteria, is recognized as a friend to our defenders in our guts. With 86% of the body’s immune system located in the gut, what we do NOT know is, the long term effects that GM bacteria will have on our already friendly protective gut bacteria.
Men should be aware that even though we have an X and Y chromosomes, men and boys do not need the estrogen that is produced from soy. So drinking SILK soy milk should be avoided.
Soy used for animal feed, vegetable oil, and soy milk type products are hardly fermented and most likely Genetically modified. The Chinese learned to ferment soy back around 3400BC. They had plenty of pe’ons, prisoners and slaves to test unfermented soy on, and their conclusions were that unfermented soy is detrimental to both human and animal health, and would not use it as a food until they learned to ferment soy.
Soy effects the thyroid in not producing enough or any iodine that is needed for health and protect the body from many cancers, especially the breast where iodine is highly utilized.
Feeding babies an 8 oz. glass of soy milk is giving the equivalent of 5 to 6 birth control pills of estrogen. This causes early puberty signs at ages 3 to 5 years, in both girls and boys. Undeveloped, or underdeveloped genitals in male children and man boobs in both grown men and young boys. Soy milk will not only cause physical problems mostly in males, but will also cause severe mental health issues.
I meant to say, Soy is NOT fermented and can be detrimental to animal and human health. GMO etc…..
It takes time to ferment soy, 3 to 5 years in Japan, and that means lost revenue in the USA. Time = Money
We have seem what gmo corn bacteria has done to laboratory rats just after 9 months of study. The FDA approved Monsanto’s gm corn with only 6 months of testing. Over 10 test on Monsanto’s corn, were duplicated around the world at major universities and independent labs. Within the first generation of lab rats, there were massive tumors throughout the rat’s body. The second generation study found many stillborn during birth. The third generation found increased stillborn, and sterility in the ones that lived.
Do we really want to be the guinea pigs for companies like Monsanto, and allowed it to continue for our future generations?
For over 13 years, and in over 60 countries, GM labeling of foods has been allowed. But in the USA and Canada, thanks to Monsanto and large food corporations, we are not allowed that freedom of choice. Even Communist China has given the “Freedom” for GM labeling of foods.
I find it hard to accept that Monsanto can still have its way in defiance of humanity. Is there no way where we can cripple that corporate monstrosity.
Food, drug, chemical/farm, medical corporations are all about money to support this country. We the people suffer from their goods, and have to shell out money to stay healthy. This is a win, win for corporate America, so government is happy.