From independent farmers to large direct distributors and international corporations, entities across the domestic agriculture industry are mounting legal challenges against Syngenta GMO lawsuits filed by plaintiff’s attorneys. Lately, plaintiffs in Syngenta GMO lawsuits have been contacting outside attorneys to mount their own lawsuits against the biotech giant. While several lawsuits have been resolved between local entities and the biotechnology company, additional suits are pending in courts across the country. Lawsuits filed by entities challenging the safety of genetically modified food products, particularly corn and canola, are currently underway in several states including California, Illinois, and Colorado. The New York attorney general is currently preparing a lawsuit challenging the legality of Syngenta’s GMO corn.

Although some of the previous lawsuits against Syngenta addressed only specific issues, other lawsuits focus on broader areas of contention.

For example, one current lawsuit focuses on whether or not farmers are permitted to use seed mixes that have been genetically engineered to increase the growth rate of corn over conventional strains. Biotech companies have been working for years to obtain legal protections for their patented technologies, but the agriculture industry has thwarted these efforts by banning many genetically engineered crops from use. Although the lawsuits filed against Syngenta only address specific claims in its corn lawsuits, the company’s primary business objective has been to prevent farmers from using non-GMO corn despite the fact that it is more expensive and potentially more hazardous to consumers.

The lawsuits against Syngenta also contend that the biotechnology giant failed to warn consumers of the potential risks of eating corn derived from its corn and soybean seed products.

As a result of the lack of warning, courts have found that some consumers consumed choya corn with no ill effects, even though the product had been falsely labeled as containing GM seed. Since the majority of US corn is grown by independent farmers, food producers are required to obtain the appropriate county and state certification before they can sell the product to consumers. However, because of this requirement, many consumers who purchase choya corn unaware of the additional cost may be violating state and county laws and subjecting themselves to lawsuits for wrongful and deceptive marketing practices.

In addition to falsely labeling its corn grown products as GM products, farmers have used herbicides and pesticides in violation of federal and state laws.

In one case, a farmer used a herbicide that was banned in his state and caused his crop to be contaminated with a very high level of herbicide. Despite acknowledging the presence of the chemical, the company was not required to warn the public or provide clear evidence that the herbicide was present in the corn. After the discovery of this contamination, neighboring farmers began to contract illnesses similar to those suffered by the original farmer, prompting the US attorney to file a civil lawsuit against the company.

Other farmers have also been the victims of these types of lawsuits, including one California individual farmer who was repeatedly sprayed by grain companies owned by the same company.

The company’s owner admitted to using the herbicide despite knowing it was banned, and has now been sentenced to four years in prison. According to the agriculture secretary, Kari Pryde, the charges filed against these grain companies involved “unjustified and unfair practices,” and she hopes that by cracking down on these “dangerous” practices the government will help individual farmers who have been affected by them.

The US attorney’s office in Manhattan has been investigating genetically modified crops since 2021, when a number of lawsuits were filed across the country.

The announcements of more lawsuits in the past few months only confirm what the public has long suspected: genetically modified foods can cause serious health problems. The European Union, Canada, and other countries around the world have pending legislation that would severely restrict the sale of genetically modified products and impose major fines on food manufacturers who do not comply. While the lawsuits are only one issue, the sweeping scale of them could seriously affect the global agricultural industry. The future of American farmers hangs in the balance.