GM food issue is still on the table

ABU DHABI // As a major report called last week for genetically modified food to accommodate the world's billion hungry people, UAE officials say there is little reason to keep the crops out of the country.

Last week, a UK government-commissioned report called for urgent action to improve the global food system amid fears of riots in developing countries over the rising cost of groceries.

The most comprehensive study yet into the future food market found a deeply flawed global system, with 30 per cent of harvested food going to waste, and severe environmental damage.

It is estimated that the price of key crops would increase by between 50 and 100 per cent over the next 40 years, as competition for resources intensifies and populations grow.

The report called for radical changes, including reducing waste, investment in research and more use of innovative technologies such as genetic modification (GM).

Modification can be used to boost disease resistance, increase growth, or make a plant more nutritious.

While GM ingredients are widely considered safe by scientists, others have argued that such procedures could hurt the environment, and may produce unforeseen health effects in the future. Detractors also say that GM could make agriculture too dependent on profit-hungry corporations.

However, UAE officials say they closely follow research findings and international practices when crafting rules.

"There isn't proof that this needs to be off our tables, so it's important to base our regulations on science," said Mohamed al Reyaysa, the communications director of the Abu Dhabi Food Control Authority.

The UK report, Global Food and Farming Futures, stressed that GM and other technologies, such as animal cloning, "should not be excluded a priori ["without experience"] on ethical and moral grounds".

"The potential costs of not utilising new technology must be taken into account," it said.

In the Emirates, genetically modified corn, soybeans and their products are already on supermarket shelves.

Mr al Reyaysa said consumers could easily see what they are buying.

"If a food has a GM ingredient, it must be listed on the label," Mr al Reyaysa said.

Since 2008, a GCC subcommittee headed by the food control authority has been developing its own GM food rules.

The rules closely follow the Codex Alimentarius ("Food Book") created by the UN's Food and Agriculture Organisation, and the World Health Organisation in 1963, to set food safety standards for international trade.

According to Mr al Reyaysa, if the Codex Alimentarius policy on GM food is revised, it is likely that the UAE would change accordingly.

"As a member of Codex, whatever updates it makes to its systems, those standards are followed by the GCC," he added.

According to the regulations draft submitted to the World Trade Organisation, GM items must clearly label what ingredient is modified, and follow the source country's regulations on production.

Exporters must be able to show that genetic modification has not resulted in significantly more allergy-causing chemicals in the food, and that the food can be traced back to its raw materials.

GM food is imported in the Emirates, but no such crops are commercially grown here. That could change, according to a report last year by the US Department of Agriculture's foreign agriculture service.

UAE researchers have worked with US universities, and are studying the use of biotechnology on drought-resistant varieties of plants, including citrus fruit.

Still, many people remain wary. Speaking at the Middle East Vegetarian Group Congress last December, Nils El Accad, the chief executive of Organic Foods and Cafe, questioned the use of crops altered to tolerate herbicide levels that would otherwise kill them.

Herbicide-tolerant Roundup Ready soybeans account for almost 90 per cent of America's soybean crop.

"Now, in some countries, the maximum allowed residual of pesticide is 20 times higher than it used to be," he said.

There is also a risk that GM crops could transfer their tolerance trait to nearby related plants and weeds.

Once a GM trait has been introduced into the environment, it is very difficult to remove, according to Christoph Wambach, the general manager of Euregio Analytic Biochem, a food analysis laboratory in Germany.

Other critics believe the spread of GM food is inevitable and unnecessary. To protect the environment, the GCC subcommittee's draft regulations asked exporters to prove their crops were far from conventional farms.

For Dr Sven Mostegl, a food consultant in Dubai, the answer lies in using resources fairly.

He said policy makers should focus on changing consumption habits, as well as shifting away from biofuels, which use an increasing amount of the world's agricultural land.

"It's not the point for intelligent people to create more solutions, but more that [wasteful] people must change how they live on the planet," he said.

Engaging doubters will play a critical role in gaining public acceptance, the report noted. But, as the world assesses how to feed its billion hungry people, the report made it clear that GM technology, as one of many new alternatives, may offer a major contribution to the future of food security.

mdetrie@thenational.ae

What is genetic modification?

Genetic modification alters the genetic material of an organism in a way that does not occur in nature. Selected genes are transferred from one organism —  a plant, animal or bacteria — into another.

This can happen between non-related species. A  gene from a plant, for example, can be inserted into the inheritable traits of a cow.

By a technique called gene splicing, a gene is added to small, DNA-containing molecules in bacterial cells. The molecules move between cells, taking their DNA with them.

The altered molecules are injected into the bacteria, and insert their genes into the bacteria’s genes. The bacteria are then used to transfer the new genes into plant or animal cells. The gene is selected for its specific trait, such as nutritional properties or growth rate.

Introduced in the mid-1990s, GM crops on the international market have been designed for improved resistance to insects, viral infections or an increased tolerance towards herbicides.

But applications can go much further. The technology is being used for bananas that produce human vaccines, salmon that grows in temperatures that would typically stunt growth, and cattle that are resistant to mad cow disease.

* Megan Detrie