PROBLEMS ANSWERS

HISTORY: FROM CHEMICALS TO FOOD

 Legal Snare (p.495) – Agent Orange (dioxin)  Monsanto and several other manufacturers agreed to settle
 Carcinogenic for $180 million.
 Lawsuit
 Vietnamese war: Deforest Vietnamese jungle,
harmed veterans
 Cover-up environmental pollution  Monsanto and Solutia agreed to pay a settlement of $700
 Toxic waste to creek in Alabama town million to more than 20,000 Anniston residents.
 PCBS – toxic chemicals to landfill areas
 Fishes from the creeks were deformed
 Catastrophic results
 Monsanto leaders known it since 1960
THE SEEDS OF CHANGE: MONSANTO’S EMPHASIS ON BIOTECHNOLOGY
 GM results to negative health consequences  CEO Hugh Grant decided to curtail the criticism by
 Health effects to beneficial insects and plants focusing on products that would not be directly placed on
the dinner plate, but instead on seeds that produce goods
like animal feed and corn syrup.
 GM seeds have not been accepted everywhere  No Answer
 Especially in Europe where consumers have gone
so far to destroy fields of GM crops
 Greenpearl
 CONCERNS ABOUT SAFETY OF GM FOODS
 Geneticists believe slicing of seeds might create small  FDA has declared biotech crops safe, though critics say
changes impact in health that they have not been around long enough.
 No standards to safety of biotech crops
 Lack of appropriate regulation could allow
allergens to creep into the product
 Toxicity  FDA has proclaimed that GM Food is safe to consume
 Seeds are equipped with a gene to allow them to  Americans do not need to know if they consume GM
produce their own Roundup Ready herbicide products.
 Glyphosate exposure – third most commonly
reported illness among California agricultural
workers
 EPA – low skin and oral toxicity
BOVINE GROWTH HORMONE CONCERNS
 Fear that Posilac may cause health problems  FDA
 This cause more milk for cows
 Health effects to cows and humans
 RBST
 Label milk if RBST –free or RBST  Court
 Many accused the company of secretly governing
the AFACT organization who pressured the
government to pass laws forbidding the use of
 labels that the milk is free of RBST
ENVIRONMENTAL EFFECTS
 Roundup ready  Study that RR can be used for water use.
 Harmful to birds, insects, and particular  Mixture of GMO and Non-GMO
amphibians  Importation
 According to a study, may be deadly to tadpoles  Rebates to farmers who use combination of herbicides
 Not for water use. (According to a doctoral study  Actions to prevent resistance
claims that such contaminates water.)
 Genetic resistance of bugs and insects
ORGANIZATIONAL ETHICAL ISSUES
 Bribery  The company launched an internal investigation and
 Senior manager bribe an Indonesian consulting reported to the US Department of Justice and Securities
firm to bribe $50,000 to the country’s environment and Exchange Commission.
ministry  Settlement
 To disguise an invoice – opposition from farmers  Close monitoring
regarding the introduction of GM cotton to
Indonesia
 Not an isolated event (1997-2002)
 Patent  Investigation to violators
 Patenting the seeds where seeds are not to be re-  The law protects Monsanto’s right
used; new purchase of seeds must be made
 New concept for the farmers