South African GM labeling debate heats up

Charge : Claim of increased GM food labelling costs a biotech industry red herring

The claim that labelling genetically modified (GM) food will increase prices is a red herring of the biotech industry, afraid that if GM food is labelled, consumers will reject it.

A recent study in Canada showed that labelling GM food makes no significant difference to food prices, while Europe labels food with a content of more than 0.9 percent GM ingredients at no extra cost. As a result all major food manufacturers in the EU have switched to using non-GM ingredients due to consumer demand.

Already 2,000 farmers in South Africa grow only non-GM maize to supply export markets. Labelling GM food is a consumer right and should be implemented in this country immediately, then let the free market prevail and see if consumers really want GM food.

Andrew Taynton
Shongweni, South Africa

Business Report

Counter charge : Call for labelling of GM food is expensive and unjustified wishful thinking

Demands by Andrew Taynton for the labelling of genetically modified food are wishful thinking.

In the first place, it is not the GM industry that decides about the labelling of food. That decision is taken by the departments of health and agriculture, and other regulatory government bodies. The GM industry has nothing to do with it.

According to the UN Codex Alimentarius Commission, GM-derived food must be labelled if its composition or nutritional value differs significantly from conventional food. There are no scientific or medical data anywhere in the world to prove that GM food is any different from its conventional counterparts. And our own highly qualified independent and world renowned medical and agricultural scientists and nutritionists agree.

Let me quote just one : Professor Jennifer Thomson from the department of molecular and cell biology at the University of Cape Town, who has been involved in researching biotechnology projects for the past 15 years, and is a recipient of the L'Oréal/Unesco Award for her work in genetic engineering.

She says : "To date there is no peer-reviewed substantiated scientific evidence whatsoever available anywhere in the world to prove that GM food poses a health risk to man or animals or that it could contaminate the environment." I challenge Taynton to provide validated scientific evidence to the contrary.

After 10 years of producing GM crops in South Africa, there have been no medically or scientifically proven adverse reports from the 40 million people eating GM food every day.

Food processors have calculated that labelling would increase the price of food by up to 23 percent. And Taynton's fears that export markets are being threatened by GM food are absolute rubbish. Over the past three years we exported more than 1 million tons of maize (all we could spare) to 20 African countries. In addition, over 85,000 tons were exported to Indonesia, Iran and Japan. Our maize is not labelled.

Last year 44 percent of our maize production was GM; this coming season it will top 50 percent. And last year we planted more than 1.4 million hectares of GM crops, with small-scale emergent farmers leading the way.

Hans Lombard, consultant to the biotechnology industry
Johannesburg, South Africa

Business Report