New Seralini study questions safety of GM foods.

• In 2012, Professor Gilles-Eric Seralini gained notoriety for publishing research that linked the consumption of genetically modified (GM) crops to long-term toxicity and cancer in rodents.  The study initially received significant media attention, but scientific experts roundly criticized the data and their quality.  Ultimately, the publishing journal withdrew the article.
• Seralini has published a new study that purports to question historic industry safety data for pesticides and GM foods based on what he describes as inherent flaws in study methodology.  For his new study, Seralini tested the contents of dried animal feeds commonly used as “control diets” in laboratory toxicity studies and found traces of pesticides, heavy metals, dioxins and furans, PCBs, and GM constituents, apparently at levels likely to cause disease and to disrupt the endocrine and nervous systems of test animals.  Based on these results, Seralini concluded that any tests that purport to establish the safety of pesticides or GM foods based on comparisons between these “control diets” and test diets must be invalidated.
• In light of the general consensus that GM foods are no less safe than “conventional” foods, the new Seralini study likely will be met with scientific criticism and media skepticism.  It is doubtful that the new study will have any significant impact on regulators or industry, and it remains to be seen whether even anti-GM organizations and activists are willing to embrace new data from the formerly-discredited researcher.