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The case of the GM potatoes

Dr. Árpád Pusztai evoked world wide media attention in August 1998, when he said on British TV that he would not eat genetically engineered food because of the insufficient testing procedures they have undergone.

Pusztai is a world renowned expert on food safety, who worked at UK's leading food safety research lab, the Rowett institute. His statement obviously threatened to damage the then ongoing multimillion PR campaign of the Biotech industry to create public confidence in GE foods. A few days after his public appearance he was suspended and gagged by the research institute where he worked.

Pusztai found that rats developed immune system defects and stunted growth after a time period corresponding to 10 years of human life.

A few days after his appearance on TV and Radio, the Rowett institute suspended Pusztai. It was said that the GE potatoes were not intended to be used as food. It was maintained that the results reported by Dr. Pusztai were misleading because he had mixed up the results of different studies. In that context it was pointed out that he was old (68), giving the impression of a senile and confused person. It was also said that the research had not been done on GE potatoes but on a mixture of natural potatoes and Lectin. It was indicated in a humiliating way that the quality of Dr Pusztai's research was deficient. The formal reason for his suspension was that he had presented the results publicly before they had been reviewed by other scientists (peer review) as required by the Rowett Institute. At the same time as he was suspended, he was disallowed to speak with the media to defend himself (which would have revealed the misleading information from Rowett Institute).

Pusztai then sent the research protocols to 24 independent scientists in different countries. These found that his research was of good quality and justified his conclusions. They found that Pusztai had not mixed up any results.

Scientists and physicians, who had been in touch with Pusztai confirmed that he was perfectly clear-minded with no signs of confusion or memory defects.

The Rowett institute is formally a charitable and independent institute. But in practice, since the Thatcher government reduced the funding of such research institutes considerably, it has become dependent on the industry. While formally remaining a charitable institute, "Rowett Research Services", a commercial subsidiary of the institute was created. The profit of this subsidiary is donated to the Rowett institute, that therefore in practice is dependent on the industry for its existence. It has later been revealed that Monsanto had given the Rowett Research Services a $224,000 grant prior to Pusztai's interview at BBC.

– World renowned scientist lost his job when he warned about GE foods from PSRAST.