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Victory for anti-GMO community with FSIS labeling approval
Story Date: 6/24/2013
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Source: Michael Fielding, MEATINGPLACE, 6/21/13
Marking a milestone for opponents of genetically engineered foods, also known as genetically modified organisms (GMO), USDA’s Food Safety Inspection Service (FSIS) has approved a label for meat and liquid egg products made without genetic engineering.
Food may now be labeled certified by the third-party certifying organization Non-GMO Project, stating that the food was produced from animals that never ate feed containing genetically engineered ingredients such as alfalfa, corn and soy.
FSIS allows companies to make label claims that they meet a third-party certifying organization’s standards, “provided that the third-party organization and the company can show that the claims are truthful, accurate and not misleading, and provided there are resources to help consumers understand exactly what the claims and certification mean,” according to Cathy Cochran, FSIS public affairs specialist.
The approved labels state that the products meet the standards of a third-party certifier regarding the use of non-GMO feed. Similar label approvals exist for the National Organic Program and Certified Humane program.
Since October, FSIS has worked with the Non-GMO Project, three food companies, the Food and Drug Administration, and the Agricultural Marketing Service on the approval.
Fight heats up
The Non-GMO Project argues that not only do genetically modified crops produce the same yields as conventional crops, but they actually increase pesticide use.
The group also argues that the DNA and protein of genetically modified foods are not broken down in the animals’ digestive tracts, citing four studies between 2005 and 2009 that reported the detection of GM DNA in meat from animals that were fed with genetically engineered feed, such as soybeans.
Regardless, in March, scientists at the University of Guelph in Canada announced that they had developed a genetically enhanced line of Yorkshire pigs with the capability of digesting plant phosphorus more efficiently than conventional Yorkshire pigs.
Since the pig line, patented under the name Enviropig, is able to digest cereal grain phosphorus there is no need to supplement the diet with either mineral phosphate or commercially produced phytase – reducing the amount of phosphorus in the manure.
Despite its promise as the first genetically engineered animal approved for human consumption, the university has yet to find an industry partner to fund the project, which began in 1999.
Bills pick up speed in several states
Earlier this month Connecticut’s legislature became the first to pass a bill requiring labels for foods made from GMOs, and passage of a similar bill in Maine soon followed. However, both bills contain stipulations that they may not take effect until at least one bordering state passes a similar bill.
Passage of the two bills seems to signal a surge of support behind the GMO labeling movement, which saw an unexpected defeat last November when California voters rejected Prop 37, which would have required labeling of genetically modified foods and prohibited such food from being marketed as “natural.”
Since then, GMO-related bills have been introduced in 26 states.
Meanwhile, Chipotle Mexican Grill has become the first American restaurant chain to identify genetically modified ingredients on its menus. On its website the company now identifies genetically modified ingredients as well as those that are “local,” “responsibly raised meats” and “organic.”
Twelve of the 24 ingredients are labeled with “G,” identifying both chicken and steak because they are cooked with soybean oil.
GMO supporters stand their ground
Despite the momentum of the anti-GMO movement, there are many supporters of genetically engineered foods – largely because of their role in feeding an increasingly hungry world.
Since 1975 the production of grains, rice and major oilseeds has nearly doubled, thanks largely to improved yields of crops that have been genetically modified under the regulated use of technologies that require less water, tillable land and pesticides.
Arguing that GMOs have “demonstrably improved food security,” Cargill CEO Greg Page warned last year that the European Union’s mandate to label foods made with genetically modified organisms may not be limited to that side of the Atlantic.
The anti-GMO movement took another hit in January when British journalist and environmentalist Mark Lynas – the man who founded the movement that opposes the use of GMOs in food production – announced that he was abandoning “anti-science environmentalism.”
"We have to grow more on limited land in order to save the rainforests and remaining natural habitats from the plough," he had said.
Cochran stressed that FSIS has not developed any new policy regarding non-GE or non-GMO products and is not certifying that the labeled products are free of genetic engineering or genetic modifications.
For more stories, go to http://www.meatingplace.com/.
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