Three cheers for Cheerios

Dear Editor:

I am happy to see that General Mills is making it known that they will not be putting any GMO ingredients into "regular" Cheerios, though the other flavored varieties will continue to contain them.

According to Blake Hurst, author of, "Cheerios and GMOs -- you choose" in the Daily Mail of Friday, Jan. 10, by doing this General Mills is "pandering" (gratifying an immoral or distasteful desire or need) to "some small number of consumers who have an irrational fear of a perfectly safe technology."

Mr. Hurst goes on to say that "more than 50 percent" of consumers are concerned about genetic engineering. Right he is, though a more accurate figure is 98 percent. He hammers home the view that GMOs are "perfectly safe," as though he were a Monsanto lobbyist. Somehow he has discovered that "every major science body in the world has reviewed multiple independent studies" and concluded that GMOs are quite safe and that there is not a "single credible example" of any hazards to their use.

Mr. Hurst seems to be unaware of research that suggests that there may well be quite harmful effects of GMO ingestion, such as tumors, organ damage, infertility, and food allergies, among other things. He seems to not care that the FDA's own scientists recommended against the use of GMOs in food, as they had concerns over their safety. But their concerns, like those of us "slanderous fear-mongers," were dismissed.

I doubt that Mr. Hurst finds anything at all wrong with our current "food czar" at the FDA having come directly from Monsanto, or that this corporation, as well as other GMO proponents, have never been required by the FDA to show any evidence whatsoever that their seeds are safe. The FDA "takes their word for it."

That's not good enough for me, Mr. Hurst. I sincerely hope that you are correct, that GMOs are perfectly safe. But there is quite enough evidence that they may not be, and in fact may be horribly dangerous.

There is enough question here that GMOs should be ELIMINATED from all human and animal foods until they can be proven safe.

And truly independent studies are few and far between, and the results produced are too often smeared or ignored. And there is very good reason for us consumers to know which foods contain GMO ingredients.

We do not wish to be unknowingly part of the great experiment to see if GMOs will kill us or our offspring.

The resistance to labeling is purely selfish and monetary. Companies spending millions to avoid labeling know that consumers will avoid GMOs in droves and prefer non-GMO foods. Just follow the money.

Dr. Ron Jones

Nevada