Golden Rice Debunked: Ten Blatant Contradictions and False Claims of Genetically Modified Rice

Golden rice is being touted by GMO advocates as a miracle cure for blindness and death. It is claimed that golden rice is genetically engineered to produce higher levels of beta carotene which the body converts to vitamin A, preventing blindness...

September 25, 2013 | Source: Natural News | by Mike Adams

For related articles and more information, please visit OCA’s Genetic Engineering page, Millions Against Monsanto page and our Dangers of Golden Rice page.

Golden rice is being touted by GMO advocates as a miracle cure for blindness and death. It is claimed that golden rice is genetically engineered to produce higher levels of beta carotene which the body converts to vitamin A, preventing blindness and death. These claims, however, have no basis in fact and are utterly unsupported by any scientific evidence whatsoever. In fact, those pushing golden rice are doing so as a matter of intense

faith rather than science. This is especially noteworthy because those pushing it are staunch enemies of “faith” and claim to be operating solely based on science.

That’s why I’ve assembled a list of ten glaring contradictions in the arguments of golden rice advocates, nearly all of whom have financial ties to the GMO biotech industry.

Here are ten important things golden rice advocates

won’t tell you about the unscientific faith in an untested, unproven Frankenfoods experiment:

#1) There is no scientific basis to claim that the beta carotene artificially produced in golden rice survives storage and cooking to actually be absorbed by those who eat it

No clinical trials have ever been conducted showing that the beta carotene engineered into golden rice actually makes its way from harvest, to storage, to cooking and into the human body intact. There is no evidence to support any claim that golden rice, when grown and harvested in the traditional manner of southeast Asian cultures, will actually raise levels of beta carotene in the bodies of those who eat it.

We cannot simply assume that an artificially-induced phytonutrient will survive harvesting, storage and cooking to deliver the claimed impact on human health unless it is extensively studied. The studies that have been done on golden rice and beta carotene consumption were conducted under laboratory conditions, not real-world conditions.