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The low-down on GM food

Get the low down on GM foods... the answer for world hunger or just another way for large international companies to control world food production.

What is GM-food?
GM are foods in which the genetic make-up has been anipulated directly in order to replicate the desired gene, and give the foods special characteristics, such as making them resistant to weedkillers or insects. Insect-resistant maize, for example, is modified by inserting a bacterium gene that produces toxins and acts as an insecticide. Others have a gene that makes them indestructible when sprayed with certain herbicides.

For or against GM
The pro-GM faction – mainly GM seed producers such as Monsanto, Du Pont, Dow, Bayer and Syngenta – say GM increases crop yields, reduces farming costs and increases food security for developing countries.

Environmental bodies worldwide argue that this is a dangerous experiment with health and could have a disastrous effect on the environment.

They say it violates a natural organism's intrinsic value; that modified genes are being spread through pollination; and that it allows a few giant corporations to control food production worldwide, forcing farmers to buy new, expensive, patented seed from them year after year.

Many countries, including most of Europe, most Australian states, Angola, Sudan, Venezuela and Zambia, have declared themselves GM-free zones, and refuse to grow GM crops. So strong is the anti-GM lobby in the UK that the industry has abandoned all attempts to get GM seeds approved for growing in that country.

South Africa, on the other hand, has adopted the crops wholeheartedly. Since 1997, South Africa has grown GM crops – including maize, soya beans and cotton – commercially. The Government does not require GM crops to be separated from non-GM crops during production, processing and distribution, which means there's no way of tracking GM food from farm to plate; if one strain caused adverse effects in humans or animals, it would be virtually impossible to trace the offending variety.

How can you tell which foods contain GM ingredients?
The short answer is, you can't. 'The Regulations Relating to the Labelling of Foodstuffs Obtained Through Certain Techniques of Genetic Modification', do not require GM foods currently imported, marketed or sold in South Africa to indicate the presence of GM ingredients on the label.

The Department of Health says that compulsory labelling would increase the cost of food and is not practical, because GMOs could be in 30 000 products that contain maize and soya.

By contrast, the European Union recently agreed that all GM derivatives in food, as well as GM ingredients, must be labelled.

Which ingredients are likely to be GM?
The following foodstuffs in processed food: soya and corn derivatives, soya oil, soya-protein isolate, soya lecithin, high-fructose corn syrup, dextrose and maltodextrin.

* This article was published in 2005 – for more current information on GM legislation and developments in SA go to www.biowatch.org.za

GM Foods To be quite honest, I don't understand the whole fuss about GM foods. To date, it has not been shown to have negative effects on consumers, and it actually helps to alleviate hunger/ drought etc. People need to stop getting worked up about GM foods. Few people seem to have a problem getting vaccinated (which by the way are viruses and bacteria that have been genetically modified not to cause disease - although in a lot of cases, these vaccines actually do), but they have a problem with maize that has been modified to be insect and herbicide tolerant!!! Please WAKE UP! - Anonymous   GM Foods To Anonymous Please please read up on the effects of GM foods - food companies such as Monsanto would have you believe that there are no negative side-effects from consuming GM foods, but this is far from true. A good starting point for research is the book, "Seeds Of Deception". Please get yourself a copy, or contact Biowatch SA for further information. Apart from the numerous negative health effects, it has also been seen that GM crops do not outperform regular crops in any way. Furthermore big food companies now "own" certain crops - ridiculous - imagine owning the rights to a carrot or mealie. - Anti-GM foods       Name Email Subject Comment