At first glance, a major peer-reviewed study making waves in the mainstream media may sound intriguing, to say the least. The bold claim here: A genetically modified diet fed to pigs caused digestive system problems. But ACSH experts say that in this case, as is in the case with other grossly deficient studies, researchers skewed the data in such a way as to support this predetermined conclusion, data dredging at its finest.
So, for your Friday Funnies, let s look at the validity of this study, which by the way, was published in an Australian journal titled Journal of Organic Systems. Sound familiar? We didn t think so.
To play up the alleged risks of genetically modified foods, the researchers did what any other group of scientists would do (note the sarcasm): wherever the data obtained didn t match their biases against GMOs and their safety, they turned to statistical fishing. In this case, researchers determined that after 22 weeks of pigs being fed a GMO diet of corn and soybeans, the animals showed significant increases in severe stomach inflammation and heavier uteri, compared to those pigs fed only non-GMO food. Anti-biotech groups would be surprised or not, since these are the very same folks who funded the study in the first place to find that the researchers also reported that 15 percent of non-GMO fed pigs had heart abnormalities, while only 6 percent of GMO-fed pigs did so. But one would not catch that by simply skimming the data, nor would one see it as the lede in an article titled, Study Links GMOs to stomach inflammation in pigs.
ACSH s Dr. Josh Bloom says, This stinkeroo is clearly a candidate for Worst Study Ever. I plan to promptly add the Journal of Organic Systems to my reading list just as soon as I m finished with The Yellow Pages in Farsi.