No More GMOs! Monsanto Gives Up on GM Crops in Europe

After several countries (including France, Germany, Austria and Spain) banned the use of genetically modified seeds and several others banned the use of certain pesticides, Monsanto has announced it will withdraw all pending approval requests for new genetically modified crops in the European Union.

“We will no longer be pursuing approvals for cultivation of new biotech crops in Europe,” the company, which is based in St Louis, Missouri, said in an e-mail statement. “Instead, we will focus on enabling imports of biotech crops into the EU and the growth of our current business there.”

Europe has long expressed its concern over the effects of GM food produce on human health. Despite public hostility to genetically modified foods, Europe is one of the world’s major buyers of biotech grain, importing more than 30 million tons of mostly GM animal feed each year for its livestock industry.

Remember kids, about 90% of the corn, cotton, soybeans and sugar beets grown in the United States are genetically engineered and we do not require labeling and are surprisingly lenient with the testing and regulation GMOs.

Image Source: Jon Novotny/Flickr