Posted on 05/24/2010 11:53:59 AM PDT by Eagles2003
(NaturalNews) Chemical and agricultural giant DuPont has accused rival Monsanto of maintaining a seed monopoly, in a complaint filed with the U.S. Departments of Justice and Agriculture.
"Monsanto has engaged in numerous practices that improperly seek to expand the scope of intellectual property rights at the expense of competition, innovation, and choice," the 18-page DuPont report reads.
DuPont, which owns the genetically modified seed company Pioneer Hi-Bred International, is Monsanto's main competitor in the agricultural biotech field. The two companies are already in court over a failed licensing deal.
The complaint alleges that Monsanto controls 98 percent of the U.S. market in soybeans, 79 percent of the market in corn and 60 percent of the market in patented soy and corn genetics. It accuses the company of using coercive tactics to rope farmers and seed dealers into agreements that make them dependent on its patented and expensive products.
"The ag biotech trait market is firmly in the grip of a single supplier, acting as a bottleneck to competition and choice... it also threatens the global goals for agriculture in the 21st Century doubling the world's food supply by 2050," the report reads.
Monsanto has been accused of many of the same practices by biotechnology critics, who allege that Monsanto's herbicide-resistant crops increase reliance on Monsanto chemicals and point to the company's aggressive prosecution of farmers who save and replant Monsanto seed. The company has also been known to sue farmers whose crops become genetically contaminated through cross-pollination with Monsanto-modified crops.
Although biotech critics tend to single out Monsanto as the world's largest supplier of genetically modified seed, they also level many of the same criticisms at DuPont, Bayer, and other biotech companies. Big seed companies in general have come under fire for encouraging farmers to plant expensive modern hybrids over native varieties, thus reducing seed diversity and exposing the world to a greater risk of food shortage.
The DuPont complaint comes ahead of five planned Department of Justice and Agriculture hearings into concerns about competition and monopoly in the agricultural marketing sector.
Your question is irrelevant when you understand that aspartame is cleared in the same exact manner as if you consumed the two amino acids and methanol from natural sources.
Anyone who has an issue with aspartame (that means you, by the way) needs to explain why phenylalanine, aspartic acid and methanol are bad for you as aspartame but not when consumed individually from the food we eat every day.
Can you answer that question? I really gets right to the heart of the matter which is why, no doubt, you want to have a different discussion about the liver or some other thing you won't reveal. Maybe you can be more specific about what it is you seek rather than running off mindlessly about uric acid, cyanide and mercury. Playing games is for children.
Well what I got confused about was the fact it was discovered accidentally (ie the scientist licked his hand and noticed it was sweet, and a sweetener was born)...
What I didn’t remember was what he really was working on at the time, the anti-ulcer drug. I believe if the insect thing has any link somewhere to this, it might have been down the road later on by someone else.
And the final trick, challeng my credentials in hopes that I will divulge some personal information about myself, wow, you are good ... No wonder folks dislike Monsanto such much
“These seeds are terminal also, albeit by law.”
I understand about hybrids not producing usable seeds. So aren’t the modern soybean seeds hybrids too? (ie. therefore unable to be “reused” anyway?)
I think it would be rather amusing to find out that competitor-patented grass seed had been sown on the lawns of Monsanto facilities.
Or, should we just accept that most people possess the intelligence required to understand that too much of anything can be bad for you. Pouring aspartame into your eye will create some pretty nasty pain and possible long term damage too. Should I properly clarify that as well?
Perhaps I'm giving my opponents too much credit.
Can you answer?
I gave parallel examples to better explain what “clearance” means. On was in regards uric acid, a perfectly natural compound produced by the body which when not “cleared” at an adequate rate results in gout, as well as other problems. You knew that, right?
Well, are the phenylalanine, aspartic acid and methanol produced as products of the metabolism of aspartame cleared from those places they are produced at in the body a rate that is sufficient to prevent build-up, and toxic side effects, as can happen with uric acid in a gout situation?
Simple question for someone versed in food and food product metabolism, right?
I also mentioned mercury. I’ve studied survey papers and papers on mercury metabolism. While that was years ago, I still recollect enough to know when I’m getting a snow job from an “expert”. What do I recollect about the mercury studies that applies here?
That HOW the mercury gets into the body is significant, that how the particular body handles the chemistry of of ingesting swallowed mercury depends on the acidity of the stomach and gut, as well as the blood, that the chemical form of the ingested mercury is significant. In the survey of mercury toxicity I recollect tables showing accumulation rates by organ and by mercury chemical type, and toxicity effect levels. I recollect attention to the factors that can change a person’s internal metabolism and gut chemistry.
All these impact clearance. We haven’t you mentioned such factors? You do not know them? You’re too lazy to know them?
You can bluster as being an expert, but there’s no sign of knowledge or wisdom to use that knowledge in your responses.
I know that’s a satirical story, but I can tell you it does kill ants. I have used it on several colonies of ants and they have disappeared in days.
Thanks, but your parallel examples have no relationship, at least that I can see, to the issue at hand. The issue here is your inability to explain why "clearance" is a problem when the three ingredients in aspartame are consumed as aspartame but not individually from the food we eat every day. If you're going to take issue with Snopes you will, eventually, have to deal with the large amount of information they referenced. My support of the findings by Snopes is what you initially took issue with. Since then you've labored to change the discussion to me rather than the facts surrounding aspartame. Why? If you're unable to take issue with the Snopes literature then just say so and we can both move on. I'm sure this isn't the first time you've run out of bullets early in a discussion.
. On was in regards uric acid, a perfectly natural compound produced by the body which when not “cleared” at an adequate rate results in gout, as well as other problems
Yeah, having a faulty nitrogen metabolism can be a bitch. What does that have to do with the body easily metabolizing amino acids and the minute amount of methanol found in aspartame?
Well, are the phenylalanine, aspartic acid and methanol produced as products of the metabolism of aspartame cleared from those places they are produced at in the body...
Your wording here is disjointed but it appears you think phenylalanine, aspartic acid and methanol are produced in the body. They are not produced in the body, they are metabolized in the body, mostly in the liver.
a rate that is sufficient to prevent build-up, and toxic side effects, as can happen with uric acid in a gout situation?
Your liver will have no problem metabolizing all the amino acids you want to send its way. Uric acid builds up because a faulty nitrogen metabolism doesn't allow the uric acid to go all the way to urea. What does that have to do with aspartame? If you consume too much methanol, you'll die. But that can't be an issue with aspartame because the small amount of methanol in aspartame is easily cleared by the liver. Apple juice contains many times more methanol than a soft drink sweetened with aspartame. I don't think you want to argue that apple juice is a killer. I guess it could be if you're willing and able to drink 500 quarts of it at one sitting.
also mentioned mercury. I’ve studied survey papers and papers on mercury metabolism. While that was years ago, I still recollect enough to know when I’m getting a snow job from an “expert”.
What is it exactly that I'm snowing you on? All I've asked is for you to explain why the literature offered by Snopes is wrong. You've done everything but that. Now you're off on mercury which I've said absolutely nothing about.
That HOW the mercury gets into the body is significant, that how the particular body handles the chemistry of of ingesting swallowed mercury depends on the acidity of the stomach and gut, as well as the blood, that the chemical form of the ingested mercury is significant
Yeah, ok. The chemical form of the mercury ingested is important. Why would I argue with that? Metallic mercury can be brutal on the body. So what? What's your point? We're not discussing mercury consumption.
All these impact clearance. We haven’t you mentioned such factors? You do not know them? You’re too lazy to know them?
You're an odd person. Why should we discuss the clearance of uric acid and mercury when we're trying to discuss aspartame? I never spent that much time studying the metabolism of mercury. Mercury toxicity is pretty rare. Why even bring it up?
You can bluster as being an expert, but there’s no sign of knowledge or wisdom to use that knowledge in your responses.
Huh? All I see is you trying to avoid what got this started in the first place. You've offered nothing in the way of facts to dispute the references Snopes offered as proof that aspartame is safe. Thirty years of use and you've got nuthin' to offer as proof that aspartame is anything but safe. You have managed to offer a bunch of information about mercury and uric acid that has nothing to do with the topic though. And that is something I suppose.
Any person who believes aspartame isn't safe (disclaimer: at normal levels of consumption) has to be able to explain why the components are dangerous when consumed as aspartame but not when consumed individually from the foods we normally eat. If you can explain this then you might have a case. Otherwise, you're just another person who believes in things he can't prove.
Jake, you claimed to be the expert, not me. I’m just asked what I know to be honest questions which you avoid.
You claim to be an expert in food safety, yet you seem to know little about mercury. Yet mercury is a problem in seafood and in some garden greens.
You claimed that metallic mercury is a problem. What science is that claim based on? Metallic elemental mercury is not a big problem if swallowed — only in methyl form or a few other variants does the mercury have problems.
Wikipedia is accurate on this particular fact: “Quicksilver (liquid metallic mercury) is poorly absorbed by ingestion and skin contact. Animal data indicate that less than 0.01% of ingested mercury is absorbed through the intact gastrointestinal tract” And also this “Mercury occurs inorganically as salts such as mercury(II) chloride. Mercury salts primarily affect the gastro-intestinal tract and the kidneys, and can cause severe kidney damage; however, as they can not cross the blood-brain barrier easily, mercury salts inflict little neurological damage without continuous or heavy exposure.” Mercury salts do cause other damage, though.
Mercury(II) chloride, is also known as “Ore Cinnabar”. It is a verbal curiosity that phenylalanine is converted to “cinnamic acid”, but the two are chemically unrelated.
You did manage to ask some irrelevant and disjointed questions while running from the very questions you could have used to establish yourself as a person with some knowledge of the subject. What a waste of time. Even now you're incapable of taking issue with anything Snopes offered. Looks like, in this case, those hobbyists at Snopes have more on the ball than you do. A sad commentary indeed.
I'll be sure to ping you in the future if I need someone with some expertise in mercury.
Let me know when you figure out what it is you don't like about aspartame.
What if it's inhaled?
Get’s into the blood, not so good.
The major complaint against aspartame is that the by-products, while ‘natural’ build up in the body because the clearance mechanisms do not adequately handle it.
What percent of the population is at some point in their lives likely to inadequately clear the break-down products of aspartame. taken in as aspartame and not by some analogy to the components considered separately?
It may be that the essential amino acids have to be consumed in a balanced mixture — that makes some sense from a usage standpoint, as the component acids used in pairings in such vital products of metabolism as DNA and RNA, and others.
So metallic mercury in the blood is bad?
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.