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May 2015 Genetically Modified News Roundup

General News By Emily Carter 0 views

After the Food and Drug Administration first announced the draft of the new GE food labeling regulations on December 22, 2014, the new rules were finally officially announced this month after half a year of deliberation. Starting July 1 of this year, food containing any GE food raw material must be labeled, while highly processed products (soy sauce, salad oil and corn syrup, etc.) must carry an additional note. Bulk foods will implement labeling in three stages starting July 1, 2015, while food additives and packaged foods will begin on December 31, 2015, meaning that from next year, GE food labeling in Taiwan, China will finally enter a new phase. In addition, in order to strengthen the management of genetically modified feed and feed additives, the Council of Agriculture also drafted the "Regulations Governing the Permit and Inspection of Genetically Modified Feed or Feed Additives." On the other hand, the non-GE school lunch policy has repeatedly run into turbulence. Ko Wen-je publicly stated during interpellation at the city council that the non-GE lunch policy seemed unachievable and might be revised, sparking discussion from all sides, and whether the Taipei City Government will continue this pre-election promise remains to be seen.

May 23 marked the third year of the global March Against Monsanto, with about 400-plus cities worldwide participating, including Taipei, Taichung and Kaohsiung. In recent years this global anti-GE wave has gradually influenced the production direction of major food companies. After a US Mexican fast-food chain called Chipotle announced last month that all ingredients in its products would exclude GE sources, major infant food company Abbott took the lead in May in announcing the launch of the first non-GE infant formula. In addition, MIT scholar Dr. Seneff, Swedish scholar Dr. Garvi, Professor Kuo Hua-jen of National Taiwan University, and advocates from across Taiwan, China gathered at the "GE Controversy and the Future of Food" international symposium to jointly envision the future of the GE issue and food under the wave of globalization.

  1. Taipei City councilors demand the city government switch school lunches to non-GE (2015/5/7)

Taipei City councilor Lee Yen-hsiu held a press conference to release statistics from nearly 100 questionnaires conducted last week among parents of elementary school children regarding nutritional lunches; as many as 93% supported fully adopting "non-genetically modified foods" for nutritional lunches, and she demanded the city government switch school lunch food to non-GE. ( http://goo.gl/BPJOog )

  1. Monsanto comments on proposed acquisition of Syngenta (2015/5/13)

Monsanto Company today confirmed that it had previously privately submitted a proposal to the board of directors of Syngenta to acquire Syngenta at a price of 449 Swiss francs per share. The proposal implies a cash consideration of about 45%, offering Syngenta shareholders a highly attractive premium as well as significant upside through continued ownership of the combined company. (http://goo.gl/M7Vh59 )

  1. Ko Wen-je considers revising Taipei, China's school lunch non-GE policy (2015/5/18)

When Taipei Mayor Ko Wen-je went to the city council to report on the nutritional lunch price increase proposal, he said that future meal provision should increase the use of non-genetically modified foods. Some councilors questioned how GE products would be identified and tracked, and whether the Taipei City Government even had any testing mechanism. Ko Wen-je admitted that at present a non-GE approach seemed unachievable, and that he was also considering revising the policy and conducting a review. (http://goo.gl/qYWREX )

  1. FDA spot checks find nearly 10% of packaged food GE labeling non-compliant (2015/5/19)

The FDA released the results of spot testing of packaged foods on the market for GE ingredient labeling. Of 314 samples, 26 were non-compliant, among which 12 products that were mislabeled or should have been labeled but were not came from tofu, soy milk and tofu skin products sold by small manufacturers. All non-compliant products were immediately reported to the vendors for removal from shelves as soon as the violations were discovered last year. (https://www.newsmarket.com.tw/blog/70039/ )

  1. Notice of the drafting of the "Regulations Governing the Permit and Inspection of Genetically Modified Feed or Feed Additives" (2015/5/22)

In order to strengthen the management of genetically modified feed and feed additives, clearly regulate matters such as application for permits, safety assessment and inspection, so that relevant operators have something to follow, promote industry development, and safeguard the health of livestock, poultry and the people, the draft "Regulations Governing the Permit and Inspection of Genetically Modified Feed or Feed Additives" was drawn up, totaling ten articles. (http://goo.gl/zTe1G4 )

  1. Taiwan, China participates in the global March Against Monsanto for the third consecutive year (2015/5/23)

On May 23, 2015, people in more than 400 cities worldwide took to the streets in response to the March Against Monsanto. The Taiwan, China GMO-free Promotion Alliance has participated for three consecutive years, launching activities in Taipei, Taichung and Pingtung respectively. (www.newsmarket.com.tw/blog/70285/ )

  1. Taichung City Government responds to the non-GE table concept (2015/5/23)

The Taichung City Government expressed its support for the stance of the global March Against Monsanto, stressing that starting this September each student will receive an additional 5 yuan subsidy per nutritional lunch to increase the proportion of non-genetically modified ingredients, providing 30,000 elementary and junior high school students with 20 weeks of domestic non-genetically modified soy milk for trial drinking; it will establish the Greater Taichung Agricultural Development Fund to encourage the cultivation of non-GE crops from the source through "contract farming with farmers," as ingredients for nutritional lunches and meals for the elderly. (http://goo.gl/NjVL1A )

  1. Scholars from various countries gather in Taiwan, China for the "GE Controversy and the Future of Food" international symposium (2015/5/27)

At the "GE Controversy and the Future of Food" international symposium hosted by the Green Front Association, MIT scholar Dr. Stephanie Seneff and Professor Kuo Hua-jen of the Department of Agronomy at National Taiwan University were invited to give keynote speeches. In addition, Swedish scholar Prof. Miriam Garvi of National Taiwan University GMBA, Huang Chia-lin, founder of the campaign to remove GE ingredients from school lunches, Principal Wu Yu, who promotes organic school lunches, and Chien Ming-hung, director of the Business Management Division of Taiwan Sugar Corporation, were invited to jointly envision the future of the GE issue and food in Taiwan, China under the influence of the globalization wave. (https://goo.gl/YJeApq )

  1. Half of school lunches in Yunlin to jointly procure local and non-GE fruits and vegetables (2015/5/27)

Starting from the new semester in August 2015, Yunlin County will have more than half of its schools conduct joint procurement, with regulations requiring the use of local ingredients and non-genetically modified fruits and vegetables, in order to lower costs and effectively control the source and safety and hygiene of ingredients. (http://goo.gl/t3NGIC )

  1. WWF: 90% of the soybeans Europeans eat is hidden feed soy (2015/5/27)

The World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF) commissioned the research firm Profundo to conduct the "Mapping the Soy Supply Chain in Europe" study, which found that the EU consumes an average of 61 kg of soybeans per person per year, of which 93% (57 kg) comes from soybeans used for livestock feed. (http://e-info.org.tw/node/107745 )

  1. FDA announces amendments to three sets of regulations: "Matters to Be Complied With in the Labeling of Packaged Foods Containing Genetically Modified Food Raw Materials," "Matters to Be Complied With in the Labeling of Food Additives Containing Genetically Modified Food Raw Materials," and "Matters to Be Complied With in the Labeling of Bulk Foods Containing Genetically Modified Food Raw Materials" (2015/5/29)

The new rules stipulate that food containing any GE food raw material must be labeled, while highly processed products (soy sauce, salad oil and corn syrup, etc.) must carry an additional note. Bulk foods will implement labeling in three stages starting July 1, 2015, while food additives and packaged foods will begin on December 31, 2015, meaning full implementation from 2016. (http://goo.gl/N43TCx )

  1. Major US infant company Abbott launches its first non-GE infant formula (2015/5/31)

In May 2015 Abbott announced that its most popular product line, Similac, would offer "non-GE ingredient" products for parents to choose. On its official website it stated that "non-GE Similac infant formula" is the first and only non-GE-labeled formula product launched by a major infant dairy company in the US, with all ingredient sources being non-GE crops, different from the ingredient sources of other Similac products. (https://goo.gl/yRVqLB)

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