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NEWSLETTERS
12 Oct 2006
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THE GE INFORMATION BULLETIN
An independent digest of widely-sourced information relevant
to the GE debate
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No. 49 October 2006 (short-form edition)
http://www.geinfo.org.nz/102006/bulletin49.html
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IN THIS ISSUE:
> India Court To Tighten GM Crop Test Norms
> Will GE Foods Cause Allergic Reactions?
> Stores Told To Remove GM Rice
> Bt Brinjal Faces Consumers, Scientists Wrath
> Human Error 'Probable Cause' Of GM Mix-up
> East Africa: Doubts Over Cassava Project
> Japan: Foodmakers Seek New Suppliers
> Japan Widens Testing Of US Rice For Illegal GMO
> EU To Require Mandatory Tests Of US Rice
> GE Plums May Not Find A Willing Market
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INDIA COURT TO TIGHTEN GM CROP TEST NORMS
Times of India, October 5, 2006 (India)
The Supreme Court has directed the government that it should not give any fresh approvals to GM crop field trials until further orders.
The regulatory structure for field trials in India is strict in theory, but in practice, scandalously lax. This is what the Supreme Court discovered when it issued its order.
Full item on GEinfo website
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WILL GE FOODS CAUSE ALLERGIC REACTIONS?
Press release: Michigan State University, September. 27, 2006 (USA)
Although protocols are in place to ask questions about the allergy-causing possibilities of GE foods, there has been no test that offers definitive answers.
But Michigan State University researcher Venu Gangur, MSU assistant professor of food science and human nutrition, has developed the first animal model to test whether GE foods could cause human allergic reactions [and], has received a $447,000 grant from the Environmental Protection Agency to validate the test.
If successfully validated, the testing could be available commercially in about five years.
Full item on GEinfo website
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STORES TOLD TO REMOVE GM RICE
The Guardian, October 6, 2006 (UK)
The government's food watchdog has changed its advice to retailers about GM rice. Stores must remove any rice known to contain GM strains from their shelves, the Food Standards Agency said.
The FSA previously told businesses that actively tracking down and removing contaminated rice products was unnecessary because they didn't pose an "imminent" health risk.
Full item on GEinfo website
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BT BRINJAL FACES CONSUMERS, SCIENTISTS WRATH
Financial Express, September 12, 2006 (India)
There seem to be more troubles ahead for the country's first transgenic food crop, Bt brinjal [eggplant]. Several consumer groups across the country have now come forward to oppose the proposed large-scale field trials of Bt brinjal.
They found support from an eminent molecular biologist, Puspha M Bhargava who criticised the veracity of risk assessment of transgenic crops in the country.
Full item on GEinfo website
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HUMAN ERROR 'PROBABLE CAUSE' OF GM MIX-UP
ABC, September 7, 2006 (Australia)
Human error has been identified as the most likely cause of the GM contamination of conventional canola two years ago. Low level contamination of the commercially-grown 'grace' variety was discovered in 2005 during routine sampling of canola exports.
Alex Schaap from Tasmania's Department of Primary Industry says there is not enough evidence to provide a definite answer.
Full item on GEinfo website
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EAST AFRICA: DOUBTS OVER CASSAVA PROJECT
The East African , September 12, 2006 (Africa)
Controversy has deepened over a multi-million dollar USAid-supported cassava research programme, which proponents had said would help boost East Africa's food security, but which critics have dismissed as an attempt by the US to develop alternative sources of "renewable" energy.
In the latest twist, a leading American research facility, the Donald Danforth Plant Science Centre, has admitted that varieties of GM cassava that it had to be disease-resistant are declared actually vulnerable to the devastating cassava mosaic disease, the leading cause of farm losses for the crop.
A statement by the centre says that though resistance to CMD had been established through genetic engineering seven years ago, "the resistance was subsequently lost, and [changes to] the plant's DNA had taken place."
Full item on GEinfo website
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JAPAN: FOODMAKERS SEEK NEW SUPPLIERS
Nikkei Weekly, September 27, 2006 (Japan)
The increased output of GM corn and soybeans in the US is forcing small and midsize Japanese foodmakers to look for new suppliers in an effort to meet demand from local consumers who are wary of food containing modified ingredients.
Full item on GEinfo website
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JAPAN WIDENS TESTING OF US RICE FOR ILLEGAL GMO
Reuters, September 28, 2006 (Japan)
An official at Japan's Agriculture Ministry said that testing of US rice for the unapproved GMO rice strain LLRice 601, previously limited to long-grain rice and its products, now covers short- and medium-grain rice.
Full item on GEinfo website
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EU TO REQUIRE MANDATORY TESTS OF US RICE
Reuters, October 4, 2006 (EU)
The EU is to introduce mandatory tests of rice imports from the US following the finding of an unauthorised GMO strain in recent weeks. Earlier this month, two bargeloads within a 20,000-tonne US rice cargo tested positive for the GMO strain after first having tested negative, leading the EU to consider a tightening of controls.
Full item on GEinfo website
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GE PLUMS MAY NOT FIND A WILLING MARKET
San Francisco Chronicle, September 16, 2006 (USA)
A GE stone fruit tree, the 'HoneySweet' plum could be the first such stone fruit to be released for commercial use.
Perhaps the biggest question is whether consumers will eat the fruit. "The packers in our industry are saying, 'We don't want to touch this with a 10-foot pole because we know customers are already very averse to anything GM' " says Rich Peterson, executive director of the California Dried Plum Board.
Full item on GEinfo website
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The items in this Bulletin are excerpts from articles which remain the copyright of the original owners. The material is edited for brevity and published here for educational and public interest use only.
Subscribe to the Bulletin, download a PDF or Word version and read full stories at the GEinfo website.
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