New studies published by Nature’s journal Scientific Reports are questioning the basis of how to determine the safety of products used in agriculture and at home

Below is an important commentary on the two recent studies published in Scientific Reports.

The first study showed that GMO maize NK603 is not substantially equivalent to its non-GMO counterpart.

As Prof Jack Heinemann comments in the article below, “NK603 was engineered to live after being treated with herbicide (e.g. Roundup). Regulatory approvals for cultivation of NK603 date back 17 years and it is approved for cultivation in 13 countries. It is one of the oldest and most widely adopted GM products in history. There should be no surprises from this maize if substantial equivalence is being used effectively to evaluate safety.”

EFSA continues "to withhold sections of the studies that, in our view, are crucial for an independent assessment”, say MEPs

The four Green MEPs who requested access to unpublished industry studies on glyphosate have put in a second request to the European Food Safety Authority (EFSA) asking for more information.

In their letter to Dirk Detken, the head of legal and regulatory affairs at EFSA, MEPs Heidi Hautala, Benedek Jávor, Michèle Rivasi and Bart Staes say that they welcome the fact that EFSA sent them the unpublished raw data on the genotoxicity and carcinogenicity of glyphosate, and EFSA’s recognition that their motivation was to allow independent scrutiny of the data.

Tim Stoner has farmed in the Valparaiso area since 1989 and always grew the genetically modified, or GMO corn, that's prevalent throughout the United States.

But about a dozen years ago, he and other area farmers discovered they could reap an extra reward by growing non-GMO corn for foreign markets. (.....) “If there is a market for non-GMO, whether GMO is perceived as a problem or not, and they are willing to pay more, there will be guys to provide it," Stoner said.

The market for non-GMO products has increased enough that the U.S. Agriculture Department began issuing weekly market reports on them in the fall of 2015 as well as on other specialty markets such as pasture-raised pork, free-range chicken, tribal-grown commodities, and farm-raised catfish.

(.....)

Farmer Dan Sutton's family has grown crops around Lowell for five generations. He has concentrated on non-GMO products since the early 2000s. He harvests about 100,000 bushels of non-GMO corn a year for Cargill and, for a couple of years, also grew non-GMO soy beans, which he said was mostly for the Asian market.

“It all comes down to seeking more value for what we produce,” Sutton said.

New research adds to evidence that the effectiveness of popular genetically engineered traits used to protect corn and cotton from insects is failing, putting U.S. corn production potential in jeopardy, and spurring a need for increased insecticide use.

The study, authored by a trio of independent researchers, documents resistance in a major crop pest called corn earworm, and adds to warnings that the popular GMO insect-resistant technology known as Bt, after the soil-dwelling bacteria Bacillus thuringiensis, has lost its luster. It is noteworthy as the first long-term, in-field assessment of transgenic Bt corn’s effectiveness against one of the most damaging pests of sweet corn, field corn, cotton and many other high-value crops. Before publishing their findings, which cover 20 years of observations, the researchers presented them to the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) as well as to the corporations that developed and market the traits, said Galen Dively, a University of Maryland entomologist and lead researcher on the study.

If given a choice, most consumers would choose to buy a non-GM food item — though most don’t read the labels

Health Canada says the results of a 2016 survey of consumer views on genetically modified foods will help the department communicate to Canadians.

However, opinions remain largely unchanged from previous research that showed consumers are skeptical about, if not completely opposed to, genetically modified foods, the report said.

“The findings from this public opinion research will be used by Health Canada to more effectively communicate to Canadians how food products derived from biotechnology are assessed and regulated under the Food and Drug Regulations, as well as the safety of these products,” said a statement issued after federal health minister Jane Philpott was unavailable for an interview.

When Monsanto announced its plans to introduce a new strain of herbicide-resistant soybean seeds and cotton seeds and a new type of herbicide to accompany them, the company promised that its next generation of products would give farmers better control of weeds, “especially tough-to-manage and glyphosate-resistant weeds,” or the so-called Superweeds resistant to Monsanto’s current Roundup herbicide.

Superweeds, likely caused by the heavy use of weed-killing herbicides, have created major headaches for farmers, but agriculture companies like Monsanto insist that spraying a different type of herbicide is the answer.

Monsanto’s next generation of seeds would be resistant not just to glyphosate, the key ingredient in Monsanto’s current Roundup weedkiller, but also the chemical dicamba, a potent ingredient to be used in the Roundup Ready 2 Xtend formula.

(.....)

“Dicamba is highly drift-prone,” meaning that Dicamba has a tendency to evaporate in the days or weeks following its application and travel to other crops, wrote Marcia Ishii-Eiteman, a senior scientist with the Pesticide Action Network. When Dicamba drifts onto other plants, the results can be disastrous, she and others argued. “Dicamba is extremely toxic to virtually all broadleaf plants,” or plants that are not grasses, Ishii-Eiteman wrote online.

The government is considering expanding the scope of mandatory labeling of ingredients containing genetically modified crops from the current 33 food items, according to sources in the Consumer Affairs Agency.

Imports have been increasing in Japan of genetically modified crops and food products containing them.

In 2015, 11.8 million tons of corn and 2.33 million tons of soy were imported from the United States, and over 90 percent of it was believed to be genetically modified, according to the agriculture ministry.

The government plans to convene a panel of experts on the matter, including people from the food industry and consumer groups, in the next fiscal year, the agency sources said.

Happy New Year! As we begin the New Year, it’s a good time to look back on significant events related to non-GMO and organic in 2016.

1. The DARK Act becomes law. President Obama signed the controversial Senate Bill 764, aka the DARK (Deny Americans the Right to Know) Act. Instead of clear label statements, the law allows food companies to obscure their use of GMO ingredients by using complex QR codes.

2. Dannon goes non-GMO. The U.S.’s largest yogurt maker made a huge commitment to use non-GMO ingredients in its products, source non-GMO dairy feed, and improve sustainable agriculture for its dairy supply. A few months later, large California dairy producer Clover Stornetta announced a similar non-GMO commitment, and other dairy companies may follow suit.

3. Campbell’s commits to GMO labeling. The soup manufacturer announced it would label its products containing GMOs and support mandatory labeling. It was the first big company to label GMOs and led Mars, General Mills, Kellogg’s, and other big food companies to follow.

4. More Big Food companies go non-GMO. Along with Dannon, Del Monte, Nestlé, Hellmann’s, and others committed to using non-GMO ingredients.

ALBERT LEA, Minn. — Non-GMO and organic corn, soybean and alfalfa seed are getting a clear separation from traited seeds in the Albert Lea Seed business.

Earlier this fall, Albert Lea Seed announced its Viking Corn & Soybeans would become a 100 percent non-traited brand that develops and markets non-GMO and organic corn, soybean and alfalfa seed.

To serve customers who want traited seed, Albert Lea Seed has become a distributor and dealer for NorthStar Genetics traited corn and soybean seed.

“This means that Viking will no longer develop and sell traited seeds such as Roundup Ready soybeans or Genuity SmartStax corn,” said Mac Ehrhardt, who co-owns Albert Lea Seed with his brother, Tom. “Instead, Albert Lea Seed will be supplying them through NorthStar Genetics.”

Food products that contain even the slightest amount of genetically modified organisms will carry a GMO label starting in February as the Ministry of Food and Drug Safety on Wednesday unveiled revisions to a range of food, bio and medical regulations.

Food manufacturers are currently supposed to show a product carries GMO on the label only if it is one of top five ingredients. The revision will make it mandatory for the producers to indicate if the product contains genetically-modified DNA and protein, which the ministry explains is aimed at “beefing up consumers’ right to know.”