We are already eating genetically modified (GM), herbicide-tolerant and insect-resistant corn, canola, soy and sugar in our processed foods, and now we are facing a new onslaught of GM (also called genetically engineered) organisms that will further change the future of food, not just in Canada but also around the world.
Genetic modification is no less risky or controversial now than it was in 1995 when the first GM crop, a canola, was approved. Arguably, it is more so. After a decade and a half, we are observing many of the predicted negative environmental impacts of releasing GM plants and we are beginning to see some studies that indicate possible health risks of eating GM foods. Our government has not improved its regulation of GM organisms nor is it monitoring this mass experiment, and yet Health Canada is getting ready to approve the first GM food animals in the world.
Safety first?
Health Canada still does not do its own safety testing of GM foods but relies instead on data that is developed and owned by the same corporations that want their GM products approved. These data are classified as "Confidential Business Information" by the government and so neither the public nor independent scientists are allowed to see it.
Recently, however, the German non-governmental organization Testbiotech gained access to some industry science behind Monsanto's eight-trait GM "SmartStax" corn. Canada approved the GM corn in 2009 without any safety evaluation from Health Canada; Health Canada had already approved the eight individual GM traits in SmartStax and decided there was nothing new in combining them all together. Health Canada did not ask Monsanto to provide any data. Now, leaked industry documents reveal how little anyone knows about the safety of this GM corn.
The industry documents on SmartStax were examined by the European Food Safety Authority as part of its safety review. There is no data on potential health effects. Monsanto did not conduct or commission any animal feeding studies or other in-depth investigations into the potential health hazards of eating the GM SmartStax corn, despite the fact that at least one of the new proteins in SmartStax is known to show immune reactions. A number of countries in Europe have recommended at least one rodent feeding study, to examine immune responses, before any approval is granted. Health Canada has still not asked to see any studies.
Health Canada's continued secrecy and reliance on industry science supports the biotechnology industry, but the Canadian government has built other infrastructure to protect the industry and provide corporations with a market for GM foods, no matter how unwilling. For example, there is no labelling of GM foods and our government does not consider any of the potential impacts on farmers and our economy before it approves new GM crops.
Rogue companies and Franken-animals
Thanks not just to Monsanto but also to a handful of small companies, we are facing a catalogue of unnecessary, and unnecessarily risky, GM products. A GM Atlantic salmon, GM pig, GM apple and GM alfalfa are all heading towards commercialization unless we take action to stop them.
Ten years ago a faster-growing GM Atlantic salmon and a GM pig that excreted less phosphorous (called "Enviropig") were laughed at as grotesque and ridiculous experiments. There were protests and denunciations, and the products fell from the public spotlight only to reemerge last year, close to approval. The two GM animals expose the dangerous reality that any small, rogue company (or university as is the case with the GM pig) can genetically modify an organism for any purpose and simply ask the government to approve it, even if it is completely unnecessary and unwanted.
If a GM plant or animal is deemed safe by Canadian regulators, it will be approved in spite of negative impacts on our economy and on farmers. The aquaculture industry has already said that it does not want GM Atlantic salmon on the market because consumers do not want it, and yet the US, and possibly Canadian, government is considering commercial approval. Why? Because a small US company called AquaBounty has asked. It turns out that, due to a lack of any public consultation, a few corporations are charting the future of our food.
Futuristic GM apples?
The small BC company Okanagan Specialty Fruits, based in Summerland, is seeking approval in the US for its "non-browning" apple (based on a technology developed in Australia). Years ago, BC apple growers successfully protested field trials but the company continued its plan for the GM apple. Just like the GM salmon and GM pig, no one quite believed the GM apple would ever become reality.
Company president Neal Carter said in an interview with The Packer, "I have been somewhat disappointed in the reaction of the apple industry...they seem to be all very surprised yet I have been keeping them fairly well informed...They really knew this was coming. It is not something that has happened overnight. We have been working on it for 12 years, for goodness sake."
Organic dairy under attack
Organic food and farming prohibits the use of GM seeds and animal feeds, and is under attack from the introduction of GM organisms. Most urgently, the future of organic dairy is under a direct threat from Monsanto's GM alfalfa, which was approved in the US in January and could be allowed in Canada within two years. GM alfalfa is not yet legal in Canada though it was approved as safe by the government in 2005. Alfalfa is part of the hay fed to dairy and meat animals as well as horses. GM alfalfa will spread quickly to organic pasture, putting organic dairy farmers out of business and threatening the livelihood of many more organic farmers.
However, GM alfalfa is not just a threat to organic farmers. Conventional farmers in Manitoba have been trying to stop commercialization of GM alfalfa for five years because it threatens their export markets. The GM alfalfa is a useless application of Monsanto's herbicide-tolerant Roundup Ready technology and yet it could land on the market and, even if most farmers do not plant it, contaminate their fields. The Minister of Agriculture Gerry Ritz has stated that he will not let this happen but is avoiding any specific action.
Our future with genetically modified foods reads like a science fiction novel but we can rewrite this story. Just as scientists can imagine and create new GM organisms, we can imagine and create a healthier food system without them.
Lucy Sharratt is coordinator of the Canadian Biotechnology Action Network www.cban.ca