Interview with Professor Gilles-Eric Séralini for GMOSeralini.

What is your view on the current GMO labeling fight going on in the US?

I think it is absolutely necessary because it is the only way to know what people are eating in order to link any disease to GMOs, to pesticides or to any other modern toxin.

What organizations would you like to give a shout out to, due to their work to support GMO labeling?

There are already very good organizations helping citizens to know (what is in their food) like the Organic Consumers Association, Moms Across America or even across Canada – I’ve visited them, Occupy Monsanto, the Non-GMO Project, Just Label It, all these people are great, also with Food Democracy Now and other organisations that are really working for transparency. I think that this conscience around the world is really necessary.

Since your 2012 research on GM Maize and Roundup was published are you pleased with the reaction from around the World?

Well yes, in America and Canada where I was invited by the Organic Growers Association, there were mums and kids going into the streets in order to ask for labeling. Also in many countries in Kenya, in Russia, also in India, in many countries there are moratoriums on GMOs. And also Europe decided to make long-term tests in order to see what happens with GMOs.

You know it’s a shame today that we are in the middle ages of knowledge if we are not even able to give to rats the food that we are giving all life long to our kids and it is a stupid thing not to be able to do. You know that all GMOs since the beginning, since 1995, have not been tested regularly on rats. We are really taking our kids as guinea pigs – that’s not normal. I think that today we have enough data on the toxicity of pesticides that are inside GMOs and on their disruption to metabolism to be able to go further.

I think the reaction from people around the World has been great but also there have been defamations from people who are linked to the companies that sell GMOs or to the regulatory agencies around the world. The link between several regulatory agencies and Monsanto has been proved by journalists. For instance within 2 days (of release of 2012 study) a lot of people said false things against me. Saying for instance that my rats developed tumours and that was inadequate protocol while their control rats developed tumours because they were feeding them GMOs and pesticides without telling (saying) that.

We now have proof in the so called historical data that they made their experiments wrong on other rats. I’ve never seen that before – all the data they have made themselves – they don’t  want to give that to the public. That should be a revolution, we shouldn’t accept that anymore. The Roundup and GMOs tested by Monsanto are tested in only very short-term experiments for only 3 months. We have made 8 times longer experiments and for their short 3 month long experiments they do keep them secret – they don’t want to show the blood analysis. Please it is necessary today to have the truth and to shed light on these affairs!

Your latest research on Roundup has showed that it is more toxic that previously believed – what measures do you suggest President Obama and the US government should take regarding this product?

In fact we discovered very recently that there are hidden products in most pesticides including in the major one in the World which is Roundup. These hidden products amplify by at least 100 times the toxicity of Roundup. That means that all the regulatory levels, with maximum residual levels for food and tap water are false. They may be 100 times too high in order to ensure good health in people.

I wouldn’t like people to have mammary tumours or breast tumours or liver damage like I’ve seen in my study. I think that President Obama should put a ban on these products, but more than that I think he should make a law so that all the studies from the companies are transparent and are put on the internet so that all medical doctors will see what exactly Monsanto did to say that the product is safe and that GMOs are safe. As long as people will not see that, they will not believe. I think that President Obama should say that ‘any study on health effects should be made public in North America – we are a country of transparency and goodness’ – if we are not in a hidden world where the companies do the test by themselves and keep that secret.

Have you planned more research on GMOs and Roundup?

Because of all the difficulties and defamations its very difficult to continue without money but we have several projects, we don’t want to put our arms down. We have a lot of projects to do if we can financially continue – I have 4 PhD students. I have to pay them in order to do some research on trans generational effects but also to measure the pollutants inside the brain, inside the tissues of the brain, inside the testes and ovaries and breasts after people or rats have received these products in their food. We will then have definite proof  that they enter into the body and that they create genetic problems in people.

We can easily test these things if we continue and we can easily publish our findings in good peer-reviewed  journals like we did before. In fact we are the first group to have published so much in this field of GMOs and pesticides linked to GMOs.

How can your followers support and learn about your work?

Actually there are some interesting websites where you can find all the data like GMOSeralini. I have also published some books which I hope will be translated into English soon. The CRIIGEN website is a good source too.

We are also organizing seminars in France with good organic food, in order to explain to everyone in 3 days what the problems are and what the solutions are – transparency, long-term studies (2 years). There are many solutions, the first step is transparency on studies in order for us to create a sustainable world. I am sure we’ll succeed one day but the way will be long if people don’t realize the urgent matter.