GENE JINX: Consumer groups feel GM crops may not be safe for human consumption

Ensuring an abundant food supply for India’s teeming populace isn’t easy. While every effort is being made to ramp up crop production, some say the answer may lie in genetically modified (GM) food crops that have higher yields and are resistant to pests and drought. However, consumer groups around the world are not convinced that GM crops are completely safe for human consumption.

Needless to say, scientists working in the field stress that GM crops could be the solution to our massive demand for food crops. “Providing an adequate food supply for the booming Indian population will be a major challenge in the future. Pests destroy a huge amount of crop every year and farmers use a lot of pesticides to fight this menace. Growing genetically modified food crops that are pest resistant can eliminate pesticide use, thereby bringing down costs for farmers,” points out Krishna Basu, head of department, zoology, Lady Brabourne College, Calcutta.

If the government allows it, the first GM food crops will hit the market in about a year. Bt Brinjal, the first GM vegetable to be grown in India, is awaiting the nod from the Genetic Engineering Approval Committee, a government body that assesses the safety of GM products. Also in line are 25 kinds of GM paddy, 23 kinds of tomatoes as well as many types of groundnut, peas, potato, mustard and sugarcane.

However, the question that is eating up food experts is whether those delicious-looking tomatoes, herbicide-resistant soybeans and sugarbeets, and pest-resistant corn will be safe for humans.

“Absolutely not,” asserts Jayashree Nandi, communication officer for Greenpeace, an international non-governmental organisation (NGO) that is campaigning against the entry of GM foods in India. According to Nandi, field studies by NGOs in Andhra Pradesh have found that at least 1,820 sheep died after grazing on genetically modified Bt cotton plants. The symptoms, says Nandi, suggest that they died from severe toxicity. “There’s a possibility that introducing a foreign gene into a plant may lead to an allergic reaction in susceptible individuals,” says Kanchan Gurtu, a Calcutta-based physician.

Those who advocate the use of GM foods wave aside such allegations. Says Swapan K. Datta, Sir Rash Behari Ghosh Professor, University of Calcutta, who has developed a few GM varieties of crops himself, “In the past 10 years there has not been a single case that definitely establishes the adverse effect of GM crops on human health or on the environment.”

The debate over GM foods is, of course, an old one. Whereas countries such as the US, China, Brazil, Argentina and others have embraced the technology, Europe remains sceptical to this day. This despite the fact that the World Trade Organisation has ruled against bans on import of GM foods in the European Union. Proponents of GM foods point out that their advantages outweigh their alleged, and as yet unproven, ill effects. As land, water and energy become scarcer and more expensive, GM foods offer a way out since they not only provide a higher yield but also use less water, energy and fertiliser.

What’s more, the next generation of GM foods will also benefit the consumer, say experts. Biotech firms in the West are working on producing foodstuff that will have increased health benefits. For instance, through genetic manipulations, researchers have been able to produce a soya oil that tastes better and produces no trans fats during cooking.

But clearly, the green lobby is far from convinced. Nandi alleges that between October and December 2005, farm workers in six villages in the Nimad region of western Madhya Pradesh fell ill after handling the Bt cotton planted in that area. They complained of itchy skin, eruptions on their bodies as well as swollen faces. Anti-allergy medication helped in all the cases.

The media cell of Monsanto, the US biotechnology firm that has developed these GM crop seeds, dismisses allegations of the harmful effects of GM foods. “Our field trials in India will end this year. We believe that farmers who have adopted Bt cotton in India are making huge cost savings on account of reduced pesticide usage. The area under Bt cotton in India is expected to expand by 30-40 per cent during the kharif season this year.”

Adds Christopher Samuel, senior manager, public affairs, Monsanto India, “Plant biotechnology products are more extensively studied than any other plant product, providing equal or greater safety than conventional varieties. Scientific and regulatory authorities around the world, including the World Health Organisation and United Nations Food and Agriculture Organisation, have found that foods from biotech crops are as safe as the natural varieties.”

A ctivists in India are also concerned about the lack of relevant laws if and when GM foods do become freely available in the country. “Allowing GM crops into our markets, which are hardly regulated, might lead to disaster,” warns Bejon Misra, executive director, Consumer VOICE, a Delhi-based consumer body. In fact, so lax are our laws that many supermarkets in big cities already stock GM foods such as Pepsico’s Doritos Corn Chips, which contains genetically modified Mon 863 and NK 603 varieties of corn.

A PepsiCo India spokesperson clarifies that the company does not market the product in India and that it is being imported by private parties. “While Doritos is a PepsiCo brand, the product is not manufactured in India. Neither PepsiCo International nor PepsiCo India imports Doritos to India or authorises others to import it to India. The products we make and sell in India do not contain GMOs (genetically modified organisms),” he says.

Experts say that in the absence of regulatory laws, there will be no obligation to segregate GM and non-GM food during cultivation or shipping. The only way out is strong legislation to monitor GM food crops and compulsory labelling of all GM products, they add. Mishra, though, doubts if the government will introduce stringent labelling for GM foods. “The GM industry is controlled by multinational companies that fund research and work in close association with the government. So no such action is likely,” he says.

At the end of the day, the consumer will have to make an informed choice — whether to opt for cheaper, pesticide free GM foods, or for the somewhat costlier, but more “natural” foodstuffs the way Mother Nature made them.

Additional reporting by Shabina Akhtar