Why does Imperial Bento use genetically modified soybeans?
I got off work very late today and could not be bothered to go somewhere special for food, so on the way home I stopped at a 7-Eleven to buy dinner. After browsing around, I bought a Yu Bento mapo tofu rice bowl that emphasizes no added preservatives, plus a lettuce salad and a tea egg, thinking that this should be a pretty balanced meal.
After finishing the mapo tofu rice bowl with great satisfaction, I rinsed the box clean and unexpectedly discovered that a slip of paper was stuck to the bottom of the box, noting the ingredients as: "rice, tofu (contains genetically modified ingredients), pork, starch, scallions, chili, seasonings (including Sichuan peppercorn fragments)." Genetically modified? I remembered that not long ago I had seen news about genetically modified soybeans on Newsmarket, mentioning that 90% of imported soybeans are feed beans and are genetically modified. So was the box of mapo tofu rice I ate made with this kind of genetically modified soybean?
At that moment I really felt as if lightning had struck me, because the reason I buy Yu Bento is that I feel their quality is quite reassuring, and the lid of the bento box even specially prints "no added preservatives." I never expected that the sticker on the bottom of the bento box would be the only place that said genetically modified soybeans. To be honest, this bento at 58 yuan is not exactly very cheap, so why still use this kind of GM soybean?
Just now I went online to look up information about Yu Bento, wanting to see whether there was any explanation. In their brand story it says: "Strictly selected ingredients are constantly developed, and we insist on no additives and preservatives… providing 100% peace of mind, health and deliciousness…" Since that is the case, they should not use genetically modified soybeans! And they put it on the bottom of the box. If I had not picked it up to wash it, who would ever know?
Moreover, for the same Uni-President Group, their soy milk emphasizes "using non-genetically modified soybean raw materials" http://www.uni-president.com.tw/06health/recipe_list.asp?id=0001, which shows that Uni-President also knows non-GM is better. So why does the high-quality-claimed Yu Bento make me eat genetically modified soybeans?
I hope Yu Bento can truly let us eat with peace of mind. Otherwise, they should print in large letters on the front of the bento: "uses genetically modified soybeans," so that consumers can have the right to know and to choose!