International Practices on GM Food Labelling

The international community is working towards a consensual policy on GM food labelling. However, the Codex Alimentarius Commission of the United Nations is unlikely to be able to set internationally agreed standards in near future. At present, policies on GM food labelling vary in different countries and areas:

1) Canada and the United States
Labelling of GM foods is only required when the food is significantly different from its conventional counterpart in terms of composition, nutrition and allergenicity. However, the trade may label other GM foods on a voluntary basis. In Canada, a set of draft guidelines for voluntary labelling of GM foods has been issued in April 2004. While, in the United States, public consultation on draft guidelines for voluntary labelling has been finished but finalisation of the guidelines is still pending.

2) Member countries from the European Union
All products containing GM foods have had to be labelled in countries of the European Union since 1998. This policy was amended by the European Commission in November 2003. The new requirement stipulates that all foods produced from Genetically Modified Organisms (GMOs) should be labelled, irrespective of whether DNA or protein of GM origin is detectable in the final product. Moreover, conventional foods with adventitious presence of GM materials of higher than 0.9% should also be labelled.

3) Australia and New Zealand
The Australia and New Zealand authorities decided that all food products produced or imported had to be labelled starting from 7 December 2001 when any of their ingredients contains more than 1% GM material. Additional labelling was also required for GM food ingredients with significantly altered characteristics. Highly refined foods, processing aids or food additives with the absence of GM materials, flavours in a concentration no more than 1g/kg in the final food, as well as foods prepared at point of sale are exempted from the GM food labelling requirement.

4) Japan
The Japanese authorities have required five designated agricultural products and 24 processed food items containing GM materials to be labelled starting from April 2001. In January 2003, six more designated processed food items containing GM potato and high oleic acid soya bean are required to be labelled. For the processed food items, only those ingredients that are ranked within the top three constituents in terms of weight and the weight ratio of which account for five percent or more of the total weight have to be labelled. Labelling is not required for oil and sauce, where the original GM materials can no longer be detected.

5) Republic of Korea
The Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry of the Republic of Korea has required that corn, soya bean and bean sprout which contain more than 3% GM materials have to be labelled starting from March 2001, and potato which contains more than 3% of GM materials has also to be labelled starting from March 2002. Furthermore, the Korea Food and Drug Administration has required labelling of processed foods which contain GM corn, soya bean or bean sprout as one of the top five ingredients with effect from July 2001, and labelling of processed foods which contain GM potato as one of the top five ingredients with effect from 2003.

6) Taiwan
In Taiwan, mandatory labelling of designated foods has been implemented by three phases according to degree of processing of the food products, and the last phase has come into effect from January 2005. Under the labelling requirement, foods containing ingredient of GM soya bean or corn which is more than 5% total weight of the finished product have to be labelled. Moreover, soya bean or corn, which is adventitiously or accidentally mixed with not more than 5% of GM varieties during harvest, storage, transportation or other reasonable causes, is regarded as "non-GM". Food products made of non-GM soya bean or corn may be labelled as “non-GM” or “not-GM”.

7) Mainland China
The Ministry of Agriculture enacted a regulation "Implementation Regulations on Labelling of Agricultural Genetically Modified Organisms" which was effective on 20 March 2002. Under the regulation, five categories of GM crops including soya bean, corn, cotton, rapeseed and tomato, as well as some of their products are required to be labelled. On the other hand, the Ministry of Health enacted a regulation, “Health Administration Regulation on Transgenic Food” , on GM food on 1 July 2002. This regulation stipulated that all GM foods should be properly labelled.

8) Other places in Asia
Some other Asian countries such as Thailand and the Philippines have also set up regulations on GM food labelling.


Source: http://www.fehd.gov.hk/safefood/gmf/gen_info4.html

Genetic Modification

Genetic Modification of plants

The principle technique for the genetic modification of plants is based on a natural ability of the bacteria Agrobacterium tumefaciens. This bacteria infects plants and causes a tumor-like growth termed a crown gall. Agrobacterium causing crown galls contains a plasmid (a circular piece of DNA) that transfers from the bacteria into the infected plant and integrates into the plant's genome. The transferred genes cause the plant to form the gall, which houses the bacteria and produces nutrients that support the bacteria's growth. By 1983, biotechnology had reached the point where it was possible to insert additional genes of interest into Agrobacterium and thus transfer those genes into plants.

Genetic Modification of animals

Animals can also be genetically modified by viral infection. However, the genetic modification occurs only in those cells that become infected, and in most cases these cells are eventually eliminated by the immune system. In some cases it is possible to use the gene-transferring ability of viruses for gene therapy, i.e. to correct diseases caused by defective genes by supplying a normal copy of the genes. Permanent genetic modification of whole animals can be accomplished in mice.

Genetic Modification of bacteria

Three processes are known by which the genetic composition of bacteria can be altered: transformation, conjugation and transduction.
- Transformation is a process by which some bacteria are naturally capable of taking up DNA to acquire new genetic traits. This phenomenon was discovered by Fred Griffith in 1928, although the fact that it was specifically DNA molecules that carried the genetic information was not proven until 1944. Bacteria that are competent to undergo transformation are frequently used in molecular biology.

- In conjugation, DNA is transferred from one bacteria to another via a temporary connecting strand of DNA called a pilus (a process analogous to but biologically distinct from mating). Conjugation is not widely used for the artificial genetic modification of bacteria.

- Transduction refers to the introduction of new DNA into a bacterial cell by a bacteriophage (a virus that infects bacteria).


Source: http://www.gurupedia.com/g/gm/gmo.htm

Genetically modified foods - techniques

Some of the techniques used to transfer foreign cells into animals and plants include:

1) Bacterial carriers
2) Biolistics
3) Calcium phosphate precipitation
4) Electroporation
5) Gene silencing
6) Gene splicing
7) Lipofection
8) Microinjection
9) Viral carriers


Source: http://www.betterhealth.vic.gov.au/bhcv2/bhcarticles.nsf/pages/Genetically_modified_foods_techniques?OpenDocument

Possible toxins

Examples of toxins found in GM Foods

- Glycoalkaloids in Green Potatoes
- Fungal toxins that sometimes contaminate food
- Glucosinolates in cabbage, cauliflower, broccoli, brussels sprouts and canola
- Eruic acid in Canola
- Psoralens in Celery
- Cyanogenic Glycosides in bitter almonds
- Substances in poisonous species of fish and mushroom


Source: http://www.foodstandards.gov.au/_srcfiles/GM%20Foods_text_pp_final.pdf

Benefits and Controversies of GM Foods

Benefits of GM foods on Environment
- Conservation of soil, water, and energy
- Better natural waste management
- Use lesser chemcials like insecticides and herbicides
- More efficient processing
- Bioprocessing for forestry products

Controversies of GM foods on Environment
- Development of Bt- resistant pests or effects of Bt toxin on non- target organisms
- Unintentional gene transfer to wild plants e.g. genes for herbicide resistance leading to
'superweeds' and in turn increased use of herbicides
- Minimising crop genetic diversity
- The micoorganism carrying the gene may be altered allowing the emergence of new pathogens
such as plant viruses with genetic material recombined from different species

Benefits of GM foods on Crops
- Enhanced taste and quality
- Reduced maturation time
- Increased nutrients, yields, and stress tolerance
- Improved resistance to disease, pests, and herbicides
- New products and growing techniques

Benefits of GM foods on Animals
- Increased resistance, productivity, hardiness, and feed efficiency
- Better yields of meat, eggs, and milk
- Improved animal health and diagnostic methods

Benefit of GM foods on Society
- Increased food security for growing populations

Controversy of GM foods on Society
- New advances may be skewed to interests of rich countries

Controversy of GM foods on Safety
- Potential human health impact: allergens, transfer of antibiotic resistance markers

Controversies of GM foods on Ethics
- Violation of natural organisms' intrinsic values
- Tampering with nature by mixing genes among species
- Objections to consuming animal genes in plants and vice versa
- Stress for animal


Source: http://www.ornl.gov/sci/techresources/Human_Genome/elsi/gmfood.shtml
http://www.portfolio.mvm.ed.ac.uk/studentwebs/session3/10/gmfood.htm

Genetically Modified Food Labelling

Who regulates the labelling of GM foods in Singapore?

- AVA regulates the labelling of all food in Singapore.
- Currently, AVA is reviewing the requirement on labelling of GM food with the Genetic Modification Advisory Committe (GMAC).


GMAC?
- A national committee established in 1999.
- Its objectives:
~ to oversee and advise on the research and development, production, use, handling and
release of GMOs in Singapore, ensuring that these are done in compliance with
international standards.
- Comprises of members from government statutory boards, Ministries and the hospitals.

Why are foods produced from GMOs not labelled in Singapore?

- Regulation on GM food labelling has not yet been formalised.
- So Singapore will align herself with the international guidelines on GM foods labelling.
- Codex Alimentarius Commission (Codex), an authority in food safety, formed by World Health
Organisation (WHO) and the Food and Agriculture Organisation will establish the guidelines.


Source: http://www.ava.gov.sg/FoodSector/FoodLabelingAdvertisement


General Labelling Requirements

For the purposes of labelling, the standard defines GM food as follows:
‘genetically modified food means food that is, or contains as an ingredient, including a processing
aid, a food produced using gene technology which
- contains novel DNA and/or novel protein
- has altered characteristics;

but does not include
- highly refined food, other than that with altered characteristics, where the effect of the refining process is to remove novel DNA and/or novel protein
- a processing aid or food additive, except where novel DNA and/or novel protein from the processing aid or food additive remains present in the food to which it has been added
- flavours present in the food in a concentration no more than 1 g/kg
- a food, ingredient, or processing aid in which genetically modified food is unintentionally present in a quantity of no more than 10 g/kg per ingredient.’

Examples:

• a product such as soy flour is required to be labelled if it is derived from GM soybeans.
• a highly refined oil, such as GM soybean oil, is not required to be labelled because it contains no DNA (deoxyribonucleic acid) or protein, and is chemically identical to conventional soybean oil.

Additional Labelling and Information Requirements

- composition or nutritional values
- antinutritional factors or natural toxicants
- factors known to cause allergic responses in particular sections of the population
- its intended use

may be specified on a case-by-case basis for any GM food with altered characteristics or where the GM food raises significant ethical, cultural and religious concerns with respect to genetic modification.

Source: http://www.foodstandards.gov.au/_srcfiles/GM%20Foods_text_pp_final.pdf

Package 2 : GM foods

What are Genetically Modified Organisms?

Genetically modified organisms are plant, animal or bacteria that have had one or a few selected genes introduced into it by molecular techniques.
Genetic modification involves direct modification of DNA, a living thing's genetic material. Genetic modification is being applied to develop new benefits, such as increasing the shelf life, creating greater resistance to pests, or creating the ability for crops to grow in different environmental conditions.

Some benefits of GM foods...
- improved nutritional value
- higher crop yields
- insect resistance
- disease resistance
- better food quality
- improving plant adatability to harsh growing conditions, such as drought, temperature extremes.

Some examples of GM foods...
- tomato : fruits ripening altered
- canola : oil profile altered (fatty acid)
- corn : Inidazolinone herbicide tolerant
- soyabean : Glyphosate herbicide tolerant
- potato : Coleopteran insert resistant

Eg. Transgenic maize (corn) has been deliberately genetically modified to have agronomically desirable traits. Traits that have been engineered into corn are resistance to herbicides and incorporation of a gene that codes for the Bacillus thuringiensis (Bt) toxin, protecting plants from insects.

Bacillus thuringiensis (Bt) toxin
- is a Gram-positive, soil dwelling bacterium of the genus Bacillus
- is a spore forming bacterium that produces crystals protein (cry proteins), which are toxic to many species of insects
- occurs naturally in the caterpillars of some moths and butterflies, as well as on the surface of plants


Source: http://www.gmac.gov.sg/
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bt_corn