THE DEVELOPMENT IMPACT TOWARDS NUTRITION,

HEALTH AND ENVIRONMENT

GENETICALLY MODIFIED FOODS

DR NORHASMAH SULAIMANDEPARTMENT OF RESOURCES MANAGEMENT AND

CONSUMER STUDIESFACULTY OF HUMAN ECOLOGY

WHAT ARE GM FOODS? ….Foodstuffs produced from GENETICALLY

MODIFIED ORGANISMS (GMO) that have had their DNA altered through genetic engineering (transgenic).

Cell division and reproduction

Six principal countries grew 99% of the global transgenic crop area.

Four main crops were grown on almost 100% of the total area of transgenic crop production.By Crop: Global area of transgenic crops

Total area of transgenic crop production

USA

63% Argentina21%

Canada

6%

Brazil4%

China4%

South Africa1%

Other

1%

Total area of transgenic crop production

Soybea61%

Maize23%

Cotton11%

Canola5%

Others, Squash, Papaya1%

In 2006, a total of 252 million acres of transgenic crops were planted in 22 countries by 10.3 million farmers

Commercially grown genetically modified Flavr Savr tomato, which was made more resistant to

rotting by Californian company Calgene. Release the tomatoes into the market in 1994 without any

special labeling. Price: two to five times higher than regular tomatoes. Problems:

Production Competition from a conventionally productbred

A variant of the Flavr Savr was used by Zeneca to produce tomato paste which was sold in Europe during the summer of 1996.

The labeling and pricing were designed as a marketing experiment, which proved, at the time that European consumers would accept genetically engineered foods.

GM PRODUCTS: BENEFITS Crops

Enhanced taste and quality Reduced maturation time Increased nutrients, yields, and stress tolerance Improved resistance to disease, pests and herbicides New products and growing techniques

GOLDEN RICE 2 (2005): produce up to 23 x more beta-carotene

GM PRODUCTS:BENEFITS Animals

Increased resistance, productivity, hardiness, and feed efficiency

Better yields of meat, eggs and milk Improved animal health and diagnostic methods

Fish mature more quickly

Cows that are resistant to bovine spongiform encephalopathy

GM PRODUCTS: BENEFITS Environment

“Friendly” bioherbicides and bioinsecticides Conservation of soil, water and energy Bioprocessing for forestry products Better natural waste management More efficient processing

GM PRODUCTS:BENEFITS Society

Increased food security for growing populations

Food World Crisis (report FAO)- 2007 – Berita Harian

Sunday 23 December 2007

•World population 1957 – 3 billion

•World population 2007 – 9.5 billion

•854 million – hunger

•Increment – 4 million per year

GM PRODUCTS:CONTROVERSIES Safety

Potential human health impact: allergens, transfer of antibiotic resistance markers, unknown effects potential environmental impact: unintended transfer of transgenes through cross-pollination, unknown effects on other organisms (e.g., soil microbes), and loss of flora and fauna biodiversity

Toxic GM-potatoes

GM PRODUCTS:CONTROVERSIES Access and Intellectual Property

Domination of world food production by a few companies

Increasing dependence on Industrialized nations by developing countries

Exploitation of natural resources

GM PRODUCTS:CONTROVERSIES Ethics

Violation of natural organisms’ intrinsic values Tampering with nature by mixing genes among

species Objections to consuming animal genes in

plants Stress for animal

GM PRODUCTS:CONTROVERSIES Labeling

Not mandatory in some countries (e.g., United States)

Mixing GM crops with non-GM confounds labeling attempts

GM PRODUCTS:CONTROVERSIES Society

New advances may be skewed to interests of rich countries

PUBLIC PERCEPTION Belief in Future Benefits-Doubts on Biotech

Today Future: GM foods will bring benefits to a lot of people May

2000AgreeDisagree

SupportOppose

OpposeSupport

65%

21%

48%

34%

45%

45%

Present: Support or oppose “use of biotechnology in agriculture and food production”

April 2000

July 2005

Source: Gallup

Support for Required Labeling of GM Foods

82%86%

93%

Dec. 1998Time/CNN

June 2000Harris Interactive

June 2001ABC

What future hold for GMF? Applications of GMOs are diverse and include:

1. Drugs and vaccines2. Food and food ingredients3. Animal feeds etc.

Examples: Bananas that produce human vaccines against

infectious diseases such as Hepatitis B Shallots that will not make us cry (Mingguan Malaysia,

Ahad 17 Feb 2008)

What future hold for GMF? The next decade may see exponential increases

in GM product developments as researchers gain increasing access to genomic resources that are applicable to organisms.

Safety testing of these products will also at the same time be necessary to ensure that the perceived benefits will indeed outweigh the perceived and hidden costs of development.

Conclusions Scientific evidence

Experts: Physiology, medicine, toxicity, nutrition, microbiology, biochemistry etc.

Regulation and guidelines (esp. on labeling) Related research projects: Co-Extra, SIGMEA,

Transcontainer etc. Traceability (“unique identifier”)

Given to any GMO when it is approved