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"Heart-smart" bacon? "Healthy" hamburger? Monsanto thinks it's found a way to make red meat better for you, and that's got some overseas environmental activists worried.
The biotech giant has genetically engineered a type of soybean that contains a plant-based version of omega-3, the fatty acid that has been shown to improve cardiovascular health. Omega-3 is typically found in seafood; hence, all those recommendations to eat more fish.
But what if you could ditch the salmon fillet and get your dose of omega-3 from, say, sausage instead?
That's exactly what Monsanto had in mind when it began replacing regular soybean feed with its omega-3 enhanced soybeans and feeding it to livestock. The result? Meat that contained higher levels of omega-3.
So the company did what any self-respecting multinational corporation would do: it filed patents on the "derived benefits" of feeding animals its proprietary product.
Food products normally aren't granted patent protection. According to a story filed by the Australian Broadcasting Corporation, "the new patent applications have touched a raw nerve among those who see them as an attempt by the company to exert control over the food chain."
"There's been a much more liberal approach to patenting food, and this patent raises issues about that," Dr. Matthew Rimmer, an Australian expert in agricultural intellectual property, told ABC. "Jurisprudence in the United States takes a very expansive view of patentable subject matter."
For its part, Monsanto says it has no diabolical plans to control the world's food supply. "Monsanto does not intend to take ownership of livestock or fish or to sell company-branded milk, meat or eggs enriched with omega-3s to consumers," the company posted on its website in June.
But some activists are having a tough time taking the company at its word. As a rep from Greenpeace Australia told ABC, "As a community, we need to decide whether we want our most basic foods to be owned by chemical companies."
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8-19-2010 @3:04PM hah said... Monsanto is not the industry I trust for what's best for the public health.
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8-19-2010 @3:38PM Kelly said... Or we could stick with grass-fed beef, which produces high levels of Omega 3s naturally...
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8-21-2010 @10:29AM drexel6337 said... YES! GRASS FRED BEEF ALREADY DOES THIS NATURALLY!!!!! Monsanto is not to be trusted. It already has destroyed the corn and soy in most of our world by making them genetically modified to withstand pests. Now they are discovering high amounts of pesticides in peoples guts from this. They use the whole world as a guinea pig. STOP THEM!
8-20-2010 @6:58AM GMG said... IF IT AINT REAL BACON, DON'T EAT IT!!!!!
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8-20-2010 @3:50PM DAVE said... to gmg.i hear you.if it 's not real dont eat it.we were all born to die.tax and death you cant beat.so you can eat cow feed.run 10 mile's a day.i am not fat.6'2" 185lbs. i am going to die no matter what .so be happy eat what you want to eat.i work for s/f.railroad .i bet i work out more then all of you .that get up an run it 5 am .but your still pob fat.win i did it will be on me.sorry gmg.i got carryed away.dave
8-20-2010 @7:19AM lauraluv896 said... eee gads.. how about a big plate of omega three and some salomonela eggs..??
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8-20-2010 @8:02AM Angela Byers said... A brief description of Monsanto...
World's leading producer of the herbicide glyphosate, marketed as "Roundup". Monsanto is also the leading producer of genetically engineered (GE) seed; it sells 90% of the US's GE seeds.[1] It is headquartered in Creve Coeur, Missouri.
Agracetus, owned by Monsanto, exclusively produces Roundup Ready soybean seed for the commercial market. In 2005, it finalized purchase of Seminis Inc, making it the world's largest conventional seed company.
Monsanto's development and marketing of genetically engineered seed and bovine growth hormone, as well as its aggressive litigation, political lobbying practices, seed commercialization practices and "strong-arming" of the seed industry have made the company controversial around the world and a primary target of the alter-globalization movement and environmental activists. As a result of its business strategies and licensing agreements, Monsanto came under investigation by the U.S. Justice Department in 2009.
The company's first product was the artificial sweetener saccharin.
The 1940s saw Monsanto become a leading manufacturer of plastics, including polystyrene, and synthetic fibers. Since then, it has remained one of the top 10 US chemical companies. Other major products have included the herbicides 2,4,5-T, DDT, and Agent Orange used primarily during the Vietnam War as a defoliant agent (later proven to be highly carcinogenic to any who come into contact with the solution), the artificial sweetener aspartame (NutraSweet), bovine somatotropin (bovine growth hormone (BST)), and PCBs.[5] Also in this decade, Monsanto operated the Dayton Project, and later Mound Laboratories in Miamisburg, Ohio, for the Manhattan Project, the development of the first nuclear weapons and, after 1947, the Atomic Energy Commission.
The use of DDT in the U.S. was banned by Congress in 1972, due in large part to efforts by environmentalists, who persisted in the challenge put forth by Rachel Carson and her book Silent Spring in 1962, which sought to inform the public of the side effects associated with the insecticide, which had been much-welcomed in the fight against malaria-transmitting mosquitoes.
In the 1960s and 1970s, Monsanto became one of 10-36 producers of Agent Orange for US Military operations in Vietnam.
In January 2010, Monsanto was named company of the year by Forbes.
The last sentence does not surprise me one bit, considering Healthcare is the biggest money maker in the US. We wouldn't need as much healthcare coverage if it wasn't for companies like Monsanto. Nothing at all sounds good about this company. In my eyes...this is just evil. Go to the chemo ward of your local hospital or visit your local children's hospital. Do the research on these items and tell me it's right. It's not. Not one thing is. GMO's are known to damage organs and we do not get from then the nutrition we need. Just a heat, cold, water, wind, and bug resistant vegetable/plant. We need to go back to our old ways and stick with them. Other countries have and they're not sick. The only thing making us sick is the greed here in the United States!
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8-20-2010 @8:09AM meesh said... All I know about Monsanto is that the chemicals spewing from their smoke stacks eats paint off of cars. I wouldnt trust anything engineered by them. Go organic. THis reminds me of the X-files LOL.
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8-20-2010 @8:15AM pat said... TRY JEWELS IN CHICAGO LOW SODUIM BACON..THE BEST...
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8-20-2010 @8:26AM Heidi said... Monsanto. Terrific. That explains a lot. With ever increasing amounts of chemicals appearing in our food is it any wonder that the rates of cancer, autism, ADHD and who knows what else keep going up? We're poisoning ourselves and future generations.
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8-20-2010 @8:45AM Tom Methans said... I'm not eating monsanto engineers.
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8-20-2010 @9:00AM wilster008 said... Monsanto has been playing with our food for years. The chemicals and genetic engineering are killing us and it's a horrible death. Avoid anything Monsanto has anything to do with, if possible. Their genetically modified stuff contaminates most everything though. They should be put out of business.
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8-20-2010 @10:33AM blooviper said... I Love it!!! This proves to me that the only way monsanto is getting anywhere is because of money, not popularity. Certainly it's not the good thier doing and everyone here and elsewhere is wising up to them..Soon they will crumble.... Every dog has thier day!!
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8-20-2010 @9:49AM Angiebaby said... I can see where Monsanto would patent its biochemical formula for their brand of Omega-3 enhanced soybeans, but it really is a stretch for me to believe they can patent the changes to meat products from feeding cows soybeans with Omega-3's. Perhaps, for me, it is a question of a potential improvement in the world supply of a food being healthier for all people who eat that food, and whether the method of improvement can be privately owned, or is it necessarily public property via the human right to have access to safer, healthier food when it can be produced. This is not at all a question of trademarking brand names, company recipes or a contract in which every owner of that entity must comply with corporate dictates. Monsanto has every right to trademark those criteria when it comes to their Omega-3 enhanced soy products. But it should not be permissible to trademard a generalized health improvement in a food source for people all over the world.
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8-20-2010 @10:01AM pat said... im not dead yet i eat whatei want im not dead yet
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8-20-2010 @10:12AM jgoetz9174 said... "GENETICALLY ALTERED" soybean oil. This is another example of the big companies winning approval to modify our food supply. Genetically altered soybean oil to fry genetically altered beef burgers, with cheese from cows fed growth hormones, and tomatos and lettuce from hybrid seeds. And you wonder why so many men are growing "boobs." Good God people, stop these Genetic Engineers before we and or all of our children become Genetically Modified Freaks.
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8-20-2010 @10:29AM Michele said... I hate to break it to you but you already are eating Genetically Modified foods. Monsantos is one of the largest producer or corn and soy. Think about that next time you eat a corn chip or something with soybean oil that's not organic. GMO corn has been linked to organ failure in rats. http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2010/01/12/monsantos-gmo-corn-linked_n_420365.html
Also certain people like Michael Taylor bounce back between the FDA and Monsantos. He was originally Monsantos attorney who went to work at the FDA. He oversaw the creation of GMO policy for Monsantos and then returned to Monsantos as a VP. Where is he now? The Obama administration made him a senior adviser to the Food and Drug Administration Commissioner on food safety. Don't forget about rbGH. It was injected into cows to produce more milk. It causes cancerous tumors and rBGH milk contains higher levels of pus, bacteria, and antibiotics. The FDA approved it with no real pre-market safety testing required. I call this Organized Crime. Right in front of our eyes they don't even try to hide it.
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8-23-2010 @6:27PM Paul said... ...take a reality check folks. You obviously do not come from the farm. Milk is probably one of the safest and pure foods to consume. You cannot prove your comments, just a bunch of sensational hyperbole.
8-23-2010 @10:29PM Cecilia said... @Paul - -watch Food, Inc., do your research and then comment on this article . . .
8-20-2010 @10:35AM Mike said... The problem with our meat is the big cooperate farmers are feeding the livestock growth hormones to make them gain weight quicker. The faster the animals gain weight the quicker the farmer can take it to the market and get paid. I am a 3rd generation small farmer who raise my livestock the old fashion way. Many of the vegetables you buy today have been heavy sprayed with pesticides and fungicide. American is eating so much toxic food. That is why cancer, diabetes, and heart disease is on the rise. I was diagnosed with congested heart failure 7 years ago. The doctor gave me 6 months to live or get a heart transplant. I rehabilitated my self by eating boil vegetables, fish, and little grill or baked pork. I drink herbal tea. In addition I take garlic pills and vinegar pills everyday. I also walk or jog two miles everyday.
Fast food and cooperate farmers are killing Americans!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!.
My heart is back to normal. American is going to have to start financing small farm operations and allow these small farmers to grow vegetables and livestock the old fashion way the natural way.
Monsanto is about making money. Their technology goes against nature.
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