Here's a picture of a bad corn...
...I have to agree. It looks like mold is the culprit.
Posted on 02/09/2006 11:03:01 AM PST by SwinneySwitch
HARLINGEN - Tortillas made with contaminated corn may have caused a rash of newborns with missing or rudimentary brains in the Rio Grande Valley in the 1990s, new data suggest.
According to the February issue of the journal Environmental Health Perspectives, researchers now have human studies linking a toxin in corn mold called fumonisin with babies' neural tube defects.
Scientists have been searching more than a decade for answers to the surge of anencephalic babies - babies born without brains or with underdeveloped brains - in the Rio Grande Valley from 1990-92.
There were six such cases in six weeks in Cameron County alone.
Residents and lawyers blamed pollution, and General Motors and other U.S.-owned factories paid $17 million without admitting wrongdoing to settle a lawsuit accusing their border factories of poisoning the air.
But no chemical links to the disease were ever proven, and Texas health officials began suspecting the high concentration of fumonisin in the corn harvest just before the outbreak. Some Texas horses that consumed the corn died from brain disease.
The study detailed in the journal found that pregnant women who ate 300 to 400 tortillas per month during the first trimester had twice the risk of giving birth to babies with the defects as women who ate less than 100 tortillas.
Blood samples indicated that the higher the level of fumonisin, the greater the risk of neural tube defects.
Tortillas are an inexpensive dietary staple along the Texas-Mexico border, and studies say the average young woman eats 110 per month.
"I don't know that we can ever go back and definitely say that it was fumonisin," said Lucina Suarez, director of epidemiology and disease surveillance for the Texas Department of State Health Services. But given this and other research, she said, "It certainly looks that way."
David Miller of Carleton University in Canada, one of the world's experts on the toxin, said there was still no direct human evidence that the toxin caused the birth defects.
He said more study was needed because the mold can still taint the corn supply and so many people's diets are largely made up of corn tortillas.
"We need to know the answer to this question," he said.
Officials with the U.S. Food and Drug Administration declined to discuss the report.
"There seems to be some connection between tortilla consumption and neural tube defects," said Ron Riley, a fumonisin expert from the U.S. Department of Agriculture. He said he was waiting for more evidence before blaming tortillas. "With regard to fumonisin, the jury is out."
I know people are gonna think I'm rude for asking, but why was your nephew eating birdseed?
If the "health" addicts got their way and we went to all organic farming, a lot more people would be dying of food infected with mold and fungus.
I was going to mention aflatoxin. It is another killer which grows on corn.
and a decreased population would suit them just fine, since to many of them, humanity is a cancer on the planet.
Is there no available fungicide for this problem?
Now I am unclear on your point; are you saying you can't buy any seed other than Monsanto or that the Monsanto corn is high in toxins?
"Huitlacoche, the prized corn fungus, also known as corn smut, or Mexican caviar, which looks evil but tastes divine and is sometimes compared to truffles."
I was going to mention aflatoxin. It is another killer which grows on corn.
It is my understanding that Mexico bought tons of aflatoxin corn from the United States. About four or five years ago most of the South Texas corn contained aflatoxin.
Here's a picture of a bad corn...
...I have to agree. It looks like mold is the culprit.
10 a day is not that many if that's about all you eat which well could be the case here. I'm not saying it's a good diet but it's a cheap one.
There are other forms of corn used in their diets, including corn meal in tamales, corn used in soups (including a wonderful chili corn chowder). I would imagine that corn is a HUGE staple in their diets.
bttt
ping
Thats a bloody rude question.
I was under the impression that Monsanto has a stranglehold on seed corn in the Midwest.
Fumonisin is caused primarily by Fusarium verticillioides. Aflatoxin is caused primarily by Aspergillus flavus. Both fungi are common contaminants of corn - not just GMO corn. They tend to produce toxins when the corn is undergoing drought stress. The problems of these toxins near Mexico is not that surprising - its a stressful growing environment.
Imagine what is going on in Africa where corn cultivation is being widely promoted in areas it has no business growing. Corn is displacing the traditional cereals (sorghum and pearl millet) which are not prone to these toxins. I suspect we will see widespread health consequences in societies that are already struggling with widespread poverty, AIDS, malaria, and malnutrition.
Patented lie. If you're going to make statements like that then back it up with facts and examples. Maybe you want pesticide laden, GM food but I don't.
Well I don't believe humanity is a cancer on the planet at all. There's nothing wrong or liberal about taking care of yourself and wanting the freshest food for your body, preferably one that hasn't been sprayed, overfarmed or overprocessed. GM farming and the rest was supposed to be a boon to humanity but it really isn't. Corn has flooded the market with disasterous results like high fructose corn syrup for instance.
What's next for you Killer Tomatoes????
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.