The European Union has approved imports of Monsanto’s genetically modified soy bean (MON 89788 ) for the next 10 years.

The imports will be used for food and animal feed rather than for growing. Monsanto’s GM soy is resistant to certain herbicides, which means that farmers can spray the herbicides over their crop and it will kill everything apart from the soy. The herbicides cause severe health problems for people living near the soy plantations in Latin America, resulting in them having to leave their homes in many cases.

Around 90% of the world’s soy bean production is fed to animals. An increasing amount of the crop is now genetically modified. We have no idea how safe it is eat these crops; although we do know they result in adverse health affects in animals.

An interview with Dr Michael Antoniou, a reader in medical and molecular genetics at King’s College London, revealed that feeding animals GM crops such as potatoes, soy and maize resulted in intestinal lesions, liver cell changes, premature death in the young and problems with the kidneys and blood system.