Three reasons to keep genetically modified soybeans out of school lunches

Text/ Chen Ju-wei (member of the Campus Lunch Go Non-GMO action team)

A recent news report stated that a well-known dried tofu (dougan) from Taichung was found in Hong Kong, China to contain the banned dye dimethyl yellow and was forced to be taken off the shelves (Taiwan dried tofu contains banned dye, pulled from shelves in Hong Kong). The manufacturer protested its innocence and said it would trace the upstream suppliers that provided the soy sauce and caramel color; if you still remember, in June last year there was also an outbreak in which a manufacturer used industrial Chrysoidine Y to dye dried tofu for religious offerings (Dried tofu makers: A bright outer coating is not necessarily good; brown dried tofu is the natural kind); however, in addition to the dye problem, in August this year New Taipei City sampled and tested 100 bean products on the market, including tofu, dried tofu and tofu skin, and found that 3 had benzoic acid (a preservative) above the standard (New Taipei tests 100 bean products, 3 have preservative above the standard).

Bean products are an ingredient commonly used in the lunch menus of schools everywhere. Besides having to pay attention to the common dye and preservative problems mentioned above, the fact that they are made from GM soybeans should also receive considerable attention.

Since the launch of the "Campus Lunch Go Non-GMO" campaign, the question most often raised and asked by the public and candidates has, unsurprisingly, been: "What exactly is the problem with GM bean products, that makes you oppose them so much that they must be kept out of campus lunches no matter what?" As you read this article, are you starting to nod, yes yes yes, I get asked this a lot too, or are you thinking: this happens to be exactly my question!

"Feed grade," "Roundup residue levels too high" and "the risks of GM foods should follow the precautionary principle" are the three main reasons we provided in the candidates' "GM crops out of campuses" leaflet. These do not apply only to schoolchildren's campus lunches; they are also very suitable for examining your everyday diet.

Reason one: If you boycott feed-grade oil, you should all the more reject feed-grade beans

The Ting Hsin feed-grade oil incident that broke out a few months ago aroused fury across Taiwan, and people began to mock themselves for not knowing how much feed-grade oil they ate every day, and it also made the government once again revise and pass on third reading the Act Governing Food Safety and Sanitation, which had just been amended once in February this year. In fact, the various GM bean products we eat every day are all made from raw materials that come from so-called feed-grade soybeans. Shouldn't we be even angrier about this than about feed-grade oil? (Soybeans: feed grade? food grade? Stop confusing the two)

Likewise, campus lunches include bean products such as tofu, dried tofu, tofu skin, miso soup or soy milk almost every day, and on some vegetarian menus there are even more than two such dishes in a single day. Are children eating nutrition or feed?

However, on this matter you will often hear this retort: "GM soybeans are not divided into feed grade or food grade, don't be fooled by alarmist civil groups." I think you can answer this way: "Because abroad, GM soybeans are all used to feed livestock, so of course they are not divided into food grade or feed grade, so what is your question?"

Reason two: There is a reason why GM soybeans have particularly high Roundup residues

According to the Tolerances for Pesticide Residues in Foods set by Taiwan, the tolerance for glyphosate (the main ingredient of the herbicide Roundup) is 0.1ppm for rice, 0.2ppm for edamame, and for soybeans it is actually as high as 10ppm. Seeing this, don't you find it strange? Edamame and soybeans are both soy, so why is the tolerance value so different? This has to start with the fact that 90% of Taiwan's soybeans come from imported GM soybeans.

Because these GM soybeans have the trait of resisting Roundup (glyphosate), during cultivation large amounts of Roundup can be sprayed without worrying that the soybeans will die as a result, which also leads to the problem of relatively high glyphosate content in GM soybeans, and in 2014 the United States even relaxed the tolerance standard to 40ppm. So you can think about it: if Taiwan adjusted the glyphosate residue standard for soybeans to 0.2ppm, consistent with edamame, could the American GM soybeans we rely on so heavily be imported?

Similarly, you will often hear the government say this: "Japan and the European Union both have a glyphosate residue tolerance standard of 20ppm, so by comparison Taiwan is very strict." Well, the problem is, does the competent authority actually include glyphosate in pesticide residue testing? The answer is no! (Taiwan has allowed GM soybean imports for 17 years and has never tested for herbicide residues /Method of Test for Pesticide Residues in Foods - Multi-residue Method (5))

So, what children eat at school is pesticide or nutrition?

Reason three: The risks of GM foods should follow the precautionary principle. Don't let children become guinea pigs.

It is generally believed that what kind of effects GM foods will have on the human body are expected to gradually appear only after a generation (about 30 years). The commercial cultivation of GM crops began in 1996, and so far it has been only 18 years. Taiwanese schoolchildren who currently eat large amounts of GM soybeans at school are now becoming the guinea pigs of this wave of global GM clinical experiments.

Internationally, debate over the safety of GM foods continues endlessly and new data and evidence keep emerging. For GM crops, which span issues of science, society, health, land and international justice, the only thing we can be sure of is that at present the true risks to human health cannot yet be proven. Therefore, in the face of possible risks, we should adopt the precautionary principle and first regard GM crops as harmful and take preventive measures. For example: require that the results of GM experiments be transparent, and that GM products be labeled so the public can choose, and so on.

Can't bear to let children become guinea pigs? Then kick GM bean products out of campuses first!