Greenpeace recently, through laboratory tests confirmed presence of illegal GM food in Indian market. Tests were conducted at an independent laboratory on products picked up randomly from a supermarket in New Delhi and revealed presence of genetically modified Mon 863 and NK 603 corn in Pepsico’s Doritos Corn Chips. Both GM varieties are developed by Monsanto’s. In a response to RTI application by Greenpeace, the Director General of Health services, Director General of Foreign Trade and the Genetic Engineering Approval Committee, the three agencies involved in regulation of import of GM food in the country has denied if any permission has been granted for the import and sale of any GM Food in India other than purified Soya oil.  Read more...

New Zealand’s GM field trials showed no environmental impact

Results if field trial of GM trees by New Zealand’s Crown Research Institute Scion has revealed no environmental impact or evidence of gene transfer to other organisms. The research trial was installed in Rotorua in 2003 with the purpose of assessing the impacts, if any, of transgenic trees on the environment. Results to date show:

• No evidence of the modified genes having transferred to other organisms.

• No evidence of detrimental impact on insect diversity by the genetically modified pine.

• No evidence of impacts on the microorganism populations that live in close association with the pine roots.  Read more...

European Commission debates GMOs

EU has decided to send three controversial GM crops back to its food safety agency. The European Food Safety Authority will be asked to review its previous opinion on the safety of a GM potato in light of concerns raised by international institutions such as the World Health Organisation and the Pasteur Institute. The GM potato, produced by German chemicals company BASF, contains a gene which confers resistance to certain antibiotics which are highly relevant for human and animal health. According to environment pressure groups-- Friends of the Earth Europe and Greenpeace-- the decision raises serious concerns about the ability of the agency to check the safety of GM crops. Earlier FoE and Greenpeace had appealed to the EU to reject applications from the biotech industry to approve newly engineered potato variety and two corn crops.  Read more...

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