MercoPress. South Atlantic News Agency

Hundreds of thousands in 500 cities worldwide protest against Monsanto

According to the March Against Monsanto (MAM) group, people in around 500 cities held peaceful protests against the corporation’s policies

Hundreds of thousands of people have demonstrated in nearly 50 countries around the globe to protest against the US mega producer company of genetically engineered (GE) seeds Monsanto, saying the corporation’s modified food and chemical herbicides pose grave threats to health.

 The protesters took to the streets in hundreds of cities around the world on Saturday and demanded an immediate ban on the production of the multinational biotech and agribusiness. They said the company works unethically in its development and implementation of genetically tailored seeds and pesticides.

They also demanded an immediate ban on the production of the US-based multinational biotech and agribusiness.

According to the worldwide protests’ coordinator, the March Against Monsanto (MAM) group, people in around 500 cities held peaceful protests against the corporation’s policies and called for the promotion of clean food.

The protesters, in various countries, from the United States, Japan and France to Mexico, China, Costa Rica and Canada, marched through the main streets of cities holding signs, placards and banners on the hazards of Monsanto’s genetically-modified organisms (GMO) for health.

Demonstrators in Mexico carried signs reading “Monsanto, get out of Mexican corn,” and “Without corn there’s no country,” while the slogan for people in Canada was “Stronger than Monsanto!”

The giant corporation with 22,000 employees across 61 countries, however, strongly rejected the allegations about the possible dangers of its production, saying it only “makes a more balanced meal accessible for everyone.”

”Our goal is to help farmers do this in a more sustainable way using fewer resources and having a smaller impact on the environment. We know people have different points of view on these topics, and it's important that they're able to express and share them,” said Monsanto spokeswoman Charla Lord on Saturday.

In recent years, it has been revealed that the corporation’s products could cause severe health problems such as cancer. Another reason for recent worldwide protests against the biotech company is that it sells a weed-killer that contains a highly dangerous chemical.