More about GM food!!

What are genetically modified (GM) organisms and GM foods?

Genetically modified organisms (GMOs) can be defined as organisms in which the genetic material (DNA) has been altered in a way that does not occur naturally. The technology is often called “modern biotechnology” or “gene technology”, sometimes also “recombinant DNA technology” or “genetic engineering”. It allows selected individual genes to be transferred from one organism into another, also between non-related species.

Such methods are used to create GM plants – which are then used to grow GM food crops.

What foods are produced from GMOs?
What is the approximate no. of such products in the market?

A total of seventy genetically modified crop plants have been released commercially since 1992. Some of the crop plants that have been used for the production of food world-wide is as listed:

Year	Organisms Name	Traits (s)	Company /Institute	Consume as food
1992	Tomato	Fruits ripening altered	Calgene	USA (1994)
				Canada (Feb 1995)
1994	Canola	Oil profile altered (fatty acid)	Calgene	US (1995)
				Canada (Apr 1996)
1994	Cotton	Bromoxynil herbicide tolerant	Calgene	US (1995)
				Canada (Aug 1996)
				Japan (Dec 1997)
1994	Corn	Imidazolinone herbicide tolerant	Pioneer Hi-Bred	Canada (May 1996)
1994	Soyabean	Glyphosate herbicide tolerant	Monsanto	USA, UK , Mexico,
				Argentina, Canada
				(Apr 1996), EU,
				Netherland,
				Japan (Aug 1996),
				Denmark, Switzerland
1995	Potato	Coleopteran insect resistant	Monsanto,	USA (1996), Canada
			Monsanto Canada Inc	(Sep 1995), Japan (1996)
1996	Flax	Sulfonylurea herbicide tolerant +	University of	USA (1998),
		Kanamycin resistant	Saskatchewan	Canada (Feb 1998)
1996	Papaya	Papaya Ringspot Virus resistant	Cornell University (and Univ. Hawaii)	USA (1997) Canada (2002)
1996	Squash	CMV, WMV2 and ZYMV resistant	Asgrow (USA),	USA (1994), Canada (Apr 1998)
			Seminis vegetable
			Inc. (Canada)
1996	Chicory	Phosphinothricin (Glufosinate	Bejo Zaden BV	USA (1997)
		Ammonium herbicide tolerant, Male sterility and Kanamycin resistance
1996	Sugar Beet	Glufosinate herbicide tolerance	AgrEvo	USA (1998) Canada (2000)
		Glyphosate herbicide tolerance	Monsanto, Novartis	Australia (2002)
1999	Cantaloupe	Delayed fruit ripening	Agritope	USA (1999)
1999	Rice	Glufosinate herbicide tolerance	Aventis Crop Science	USA (2000)

How long have GM food been in the market?

The first GM food ingredient approved in the market was GM chymosin in 1990 -an enzyme used in cheese making. The first GM food that was released for sale in the market was the Flavr-Savr tomato in 1994.

Will foods produced from GMOs carry a special label in Singapore?

GMAC has set up a sub-committee to look into the issue of labelling. The details will be released when the labelling guideline is finalised.

Singapore consumers’ rights (How can consumers in Singapore be sure foods derived from GMOs, if allowed for sale here, are safe for consumption?)

In addition to the test undertaken by the producers on these foods, more stringent tests will be required under the new GMAC guidelines for future food products developed using genetic modification.

All food products derived from GMOs must also be proven to be safe by the competent national regulatory bodies of the exporting countries before they are allowed to come into Singapore.

What kind of GM foods are on the market internationally?

All GM crops available on the international market today have been designed using one of three basic traits: resistance to insect damage; resistance to viral infections; and tolerance towards certain herbicides. All the genes used to modify crops are derived from microorganisms.

Are there implications for the rights of farmers to own their crops?

Yes, intellectual property rights are likely to be an element in the debate on GM foods, with an impact on the rights of farmers. Intellectual property rights (IPRs), especially patenting obligations of the TRIPS Agreement (an agreement under the World Trade Organization concerning trade-related aspects of intellectual property rights) have been discussed in the light of their consequences on the further availability of a diversity of crops. In the context of the related subject of the use of gene technology in medicine, WHO has reviewed the conflict between IPRs and an equal access to genetic resources and the sharing of benefits. The review has considered potential problems of monopolization and doubts about new patent regulations in the field of genetic sequences in human medicine. Such considerations are likely to also affect the debate on GM foods.

UK and Europe

Consumers’ rights

Our research shows that opposition to GM foods is growing, but the government is continuing to side-line consumer concerns and jeopardise consumer choice by supporting commercial growing of GM in the UK. We're campaigning for clearer information on GM.

Currently, the government favours a less stringent code of practice to the farmers, there is no protection or measures to make sure that contamination of convectional and organic crops are kept at absolute minimum. Hence, consumers’ wanting to be able to choose GM food still in immiment threat. This is because, once, contamination has taken placed it cannot be changed or recalled. This results an end to the possibility of choosing not to eat GM foods.

Government’s Issues

-Consultation

The government will be carrying out a consultation on the measures needed to enable coexistence, looking at what levels of contamination can be considered acceptable, whether a lower threshold might apply for organic crops; options for a mechanism to compensate farmers if they suffer because their crop is contaminated above the threshold; and guidance for farmers interested in establishing voluntary GM-free zones.

We think that any decision at this stage to allow the commercial growing of GM crops is premature. Once cross-contamination takes place there's no going back, so it's important that strong measures are taken to protect people's right to choose not to eat GM foods if they don't want to.

The EuropeCommission’s recommendation on coexistence of GM takes GM contamination of up to 0.9 per cent as its starting point, and therefore restricts people's ability to have meaningful choice between GM, non GM and organic crops.

The legal advice offered suggests that the European Commission and member states should be aiming to minimize contamination when establishing rules for how GM crops should be grown.