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| GM food expert: need to protect consumers |
| CCTV.COM 2003-08-02 09:08:01 |
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So far, there has been no final conclusion on the safety of genetically modified products around the globe. A researcher from China's State Council says that consumers' rights to know about GM commodities and their rights to choose must be guaranteed.
GM technology was first put into use in the early 1990s. Now in the United States, seventy percent of soya crops are engineered to withstand the spraying of a popular weed killer, and 40 percent of corn crops are engineered with a bacterium gene to kill pests. Recently, the safety of GM products has aroused the whole world's attention.
Dr. Cheng Guoqiang, researcher of Development Research Center of the State Council, said, "So far,no scientist dares to say GM foods are not harmful to health；but there is no evidence showing GM foods are harmful ."
As the World Trade Organization has no definite regulation on GM food, different countries take different sides. The US holds an optimistic attitude on the trading of GM products. The European Union allows products with over 9 percent GM composition to enter the European market after they are labelled.
The Chinese farming authorities have announced that companies which fail to label GM products they produce or sell will face punishment.
Currently, GM crop－growing areas in China exceed 650,000 hectares and six GM plants to produce foods such as soybeans and rice have been approved.
As most people still do not know about GM food and there are still disputes about safety, Cheng Guoqiang says it is necessary to let consumers know which products are genetically modified and which are not so that they can make informed choices.
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Editor: Xiao Wei CCTV.com
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