Has the GM food sneak into the market and have we been surrounded by genetically modified?

Do you dare to eat GM foods? If you dare not, you should check to see if the product is labeled "GM" before you buy it, even if the font is small and hidden. Even if you are careful, you still may not be able to grasp the overall situation. A survey by the Yangcheng Evening News found that some of the genetically modified agricultural products (000061) were not listed when they were listed.

As a result, some non-genetically modified new agricultural products have been suspected of being genetically modified products because they have been suspected of being genetically modified products. Sales of these products have been difficult to increase; real GM foods have been quietly put on the market. This hidden gesture of genetic modification has caused consumer suspicions.

The Yangcheng Evening News reporter peeled off all levels to find the root cause of the problem.

Net posts suspicious cloud

Are we surrounded by transgenes?

At the end of April this year, a net post “List of Genetically Modified Foods” was circulated on the Internet. Among them, there were dozens of genetically modified food brands listed. They also listed seven “identified genetically modified foods”, including those familiar to the public. Lettuce, purple sweet potato, sweet pepper, cherry tomatoes, African salmon, African salmon and Hawaiian papaya.

I learned that GM foods “quietly enter the village and do not shoot at guns” has formed a “surrounding” for us. Many netizens are emotionally excited and say “what they dare not eat and starve to death” and even shouted “To destroy the country and destroy the species” ".

Are we really surrounded by transgenes?

Zheng Fengtian, professor of the School of Agriculture and Rural Development at Renmin University of China, said in an interview with a reporter from the Yangcheng Evening News: “It is reasonable to say that any GM product should be labeled, but it is a stupid account. I know a lot of pepper, tomato genetically modified products, There are no specific estimates, and everyone is guessing."

The reporter selected a number of large supermarkets in Guangzhou to investigate and found that the “genetically modified” label was mainly used for edible oil, and some of the corn oil, soybean oil, and rapeseed oil used genetically modified raw materials, and the merchants were all marked on the outer packaging; but the net list listed lettuce, tomato, Sweet peppers, Hawaiian papayas, etc. are not labeled, and whether the genetically modified food is unknown.

On May 6, the Yangcheng Evening News reporter submitted an interview application to the Agriculture Genetically Modified Organism Safety Management Office of the Ministry of Agriculture and sent an interview outline as required. Until the press release, no response was received.

Finding the truth

Most commercially available papayas are genetically modified

How many genetically modified agricultural products “hidden” in the market, we do not know, but through the “China Biosafety Network” hosted by the Ministry of Agriculture, we can find the genetically modified agricultural products that have been granted safety certificates, and only they can be put into commercial production.

In the website security certificate directory, the vast majority of genetically modified products are insect-resistant cotton, and there are also some common foods: in 1999, Peking University's transgenic pepper-resistant peppers and tomatoes with similar functions were awarded with security certificates; 2002 The Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences approved the adoption of a genetically modified pepper line; in 2006, papaya “Huaonong No. 1”, which was transformed with papaya ring spot virus replicase gene, was put into production in Guangdong.

At present, only the reporter can determine the market coverage of only genetically modified papaya "Huaong 1", the common "Hawaii papaya" basically belongs to this species. In early 2010, Li Huaping, a developer of Huanong 1 and a professor of South China Agricultural University, told a reporter from the Yangcheng Evening News at a seminar that the papaya sold in the Guangzhou market was "89 Chengdu is genetically modified." According to statistics from the Guangdong Provincial Department of Agriculture, in 2009 the variety accounted for more than 95% of the total area of ​​papaya cultivation in the province.

Of the remaining six products, sweet peppers and tomatoes can be found in safety certificates, but they cannot verify the variety, quantity, and distribution area in circulation; lettuce, purple sweet potato, African carp, and African carp do not have safety certificates. Commercial production is allowed, or no GM varieties are produced at all.

System defects

Catalog lag deepens public suspicion

The GM crop is on the side, but where did you see the genetically modified logo on sweet peppers and papayas? What about the ketchup packaging? The result of the press check-in around the reporter is: No.

Who allowed them to cross the sea? The reporter traced its roots to find out that the original law had a “macro hole” that had not been filled for years.

There are two regulations managing genetically modified markers. The first is the "Regulations on the Administration of Food Labeling" issued by the General Administration of Quality Supervision, Inspection and Quarantine, which stipulates that genetically modified foods or products containing legal genetically modified raw materials must be added with Chinese descriptions on the labels - but the quality inspection department cannot control agricultural products.

The second is the “Regulations on the Administration of Agricultural Genetically Modified Organisms” of the State Council, which stipulates that agricultural products “listed in the Catalogue of Agricultural Genetically Modified Organisms” must be clearly identified—that is, varieties outside the catalog do not have to be identified.

In 2002, the Ministry of Agriculture announced the first catalog of genetically modified organisms, including soybeans, corn, rapeseed, cotton, and tomato. But after eight years, the catalog has not been updated. Therefore, new genetically modified products such as sweet peppers, purple sweet potatoes, papayas, etc., may not be labeled.

It is worth noting that in 2009 Huazhong Agricultural University received a safety certificate for genetically modified rice, and there were controversies. An industry source said: "According to the existing system, GM rice can also bypass the logo."

"The lag in the logo catalogue has led to deepening public suspicion," commented Zheng Fengtian.

Why is the logo directory not updated for a long time? When will the second batch be issued? The reporter consulted the Ministry of Agriculture and received no reply.

Zeng Song

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