Average shoppers likely to be bewildered at complexity of new GMO labeling law

On January 1, 2022, the federal Bioengineered (BE) Food labeling law will take full effect. Under the BE labeling law, certain food products that are made with GMOs will require a disclosure of bioengineered ingredients.

The BE labeling law, known formally as the National Bioengineered Food Disclosure Standard or NBFDS, was introduced in 2016 as a federal response to state-level GMO labeling campaigns. However, this law is not nearly as comprehensive as either the state laws it is meant to replace nor the Non-GMO Project Standard. With a comparatively limited scope, categorical exemptions and inconsistent labeling requirements, the BE labeling law is insufficient to protect a consumer’s right to know what’s in their food.

Regulations to allow the production of gene-edited farm animals must put welfare first, according to an independent review.

The technology allows scientists to alter DNA so as to introduce specific traits, such as resistance to disease.

The UK government is mulling proposals to allow the commercial development of gene-edited livestock in England.

An independent analysis has called for a review of the government's proposals for regulating the technology.

A report by the Nuffield Council for Bioethics warns that scrapping the current ban on the commercial development of gene-edited animals could increase livestock suffering.

Note: After numerous people contacted us about the convoluted and confusing nature of the Forest Stewardship Council’s public consultation process, we created a petition to the FSC to enable more people to make their voices heard.

From the petition: “The importance of FSC’s current prohibition on genetically engineered trees in FSC products is particularly critical given the recent Brazilian approval for commercial growing of a glyphosate-resistant GE eucalyptus tree, developed by the FSC-certified company Suzano. This new decision also shows the need to stop GE tree research by FSC members from moving ahead.”

Please find this new petition here: https://bit.ly/FSC-GE-tree-ban (deadline December 14)

Our food regulator Food Standards Australia New Zealand (FSANZ) is proposing dangerous changes to our food regulations. These would allow a wide range of new genetically modified (GM) foods into our food chain - with no regulation and no labelling. This could pose potential health risks and would seriously undermine our right to know how our food is produced.

These would include meat and milk from some genetically modified animals and substances like vanilla and stevia produced by genetically modified microbes in factory vats.

The companies that gave us Agent Orange, paraquat, RoundUp and other toxins would be allowed to self-assess the safety and hazards of these radical new foods and ingredients, and to sell them without regulation or labelling.

The new coalition government in Germany has confirmed that glyphosate-based herbicides will be banned in the country from the end of 2023, as part of a wider agreement to reduce the use of toxic chemical inputs in agriculture, Reuters reported on Wednesday.

The coalition agreement that outlined the glyphosate ban will install a three-way federal government and end 16 years of conservative-led rule under Angela Merkel following a September election. The new coalition comprises the centre-left Social Democrats, the ecologist Greens and the libertarian Free Democrats (FDP).

Hosted by GM Freeze

Most agroecologists understand that genetic engineering has no place in a responsible, fair and sustainable food system but the PR campaign promoting new gene editing techniques is clever, well-resourced and gaining ground. The UK Government is accelerating plans to remove vital regulatory safeguards and, with them, our ability to say no. Post-Brexit market rules mean that even Scotland’s strong policy rejection of all GMOs will be under threat if we don’t stop the headlong rush towards a high-tech quick-fix takeover of our food and our farms.

GE microbes often remain undetected

18 November 2021 / Genetically engineered (GE) bacteria are used, amongst other things, in the production of enzymes and vitamins. As an unintended consequence, genetically engineered bacteria have repeatedly found their way into the production processes of food and feed. EU member states have discovered more than a dozen such cases in last years, concerning more than 20 countries. The GE bacteria carry genes conferring antibiotic resistance which may be transferred to gut bacteria. More detailed examinations have found substantial risks to food safety.

Slow Food Europe is back with a second episode on the EU Farm to Fork Strategy, which was proposed by the EU Commission last year to accelerate the transition towards sustainable food systems in Europe.

Last month, the EU Parliament voted in favor of this strategy despite repeated lobbying attacks from the agrifood industry. Slow Food warmly welcomed this vote, and took the opportunity to gather three panelists who have worked hard on the Farm to Fork Strategy since the start:

Nina Holland, researcher at Corporate Europe Observatory

Martin Dermine, policy officer at PAN Europe

Tilly Metz, Member of the Group of the Greens/European Free Alliance at the European Parliament

Patent claims fish and fish fillets

15 November 2021 / The European Patent Office (EPO) will decide tomorrow on an opposition against a patent on fish. Patent (EP1965658) claims salmon and trout as technical inventions. The fish are fed with selected plants to influence the composition of the fatty acids in their muscles. However, it has long been known that specific diets can influence the composition of animal produce such as meat, milk, eggs and fish filets – it is neither new nor inventive.

Argentina’s rural communities are being devastated by the GMO/toxic model of agriculture, writes Jonathan Matthews

On 11 November demonstrators will take to the streets in Argentina to protest against Monsanto-Bayer and its silent genocide – the terrible chemical onslaught Argentina has suffered since vast areas of its arable land (currently running at a massive 80 per cent) were turned into GMO soy monocultures, with significant quantities of GMO corn and cotton being grown as well.