TALK TO EXPERTS

 

 

FSSAI explains the GM food as follows. Genetic modification is a special kind of genetic techniques which actually modify the genetic machinery of living organisms, such as animals, plants. The combination of genes of different organisms known as recombinant DNA technology; and the resulting organism is called ‘genetically modified’ (GM), ‘genetically engineered’ or ‘transgenic’. The main transgenic crops grown commercially on the farm are herbicide and pesticide resistant soybeans, corn, cotton and canola.

Commercially grown / and other crops tested in the field of crops are a virus resistant sweet potato that can destroy most African crops, rice contains increased iron and vitamins that can eliminate chronic malnutrition in Asian countries and a variety of plants that survive Can. Climate extremes are bananas that produce human vaccines against infectious diseases such as hepatitis B, fish that mature quickly, fruit and walnut trees that yield years ago, and plants that produce new plastics with unique properties. Technologies for genetically modified foods make dramatic promises to address some of the biggest challenges of the 21st century.

Like all new technologies, they carry some risks, known and unknown. Public concerns surrounding Genetically Modified food and crops generally focus on human and environmental safety, consumer choice, intellectual property rights, ethics, food security, poverty reduction, and environmental protection.

What is the risk of “tampering with Mother Nature” with this new technology on gene manipulation? What will be the impact on the environment? and What health issues should consumers be aware of? And is recombinant technology really beneficial? This review will also address some of the major concerns about safety, environmental and ecological hazards and health risks associated with GM foods and recombinant technology.

Regulation

The FSSAI said the laws prescribe food safety procedures, including safety assessments and imported foods, based on internationally established and accepted scientific principles, procedures and practices, and genetic modification processes based on food before approval.

Following the formal approval of the FSSAI‘s Scientific Panel, Scientific Committee and the Authority itself, the draft rules will be notified in the Gazette of India to avoid comments from various gasholders. The FSSAI said the matter would be given due consideration and then finalized with the approval of the Government of India.

Prior to the approval of such foods, the FSSAI will take charge of their food safety assessment, while the Genetic Engineering Appraisal Committee (GEAC) of the Ministry of Environment, Forests and Climate Change of India will assess aspects related to their environmental impact.

GM labelling threshold

The FSSAI said legislation including food safety assessments and imported food prescribes food safety procedures before approval based on internationally established and accepted scientific principles, procedures and practices and genetic modification procedures.

Following the formal approval of the FSSAI’s Scientific Panel, Scientific Committee and the Authority itself, the draft rules will be notified in the Gazette of India to avoid the comments of various Gasholders. The FSSAI said the matter would be properly considered and then finalized with the approval of the Government of India.

The FSSAI said laws governing food safety procedures, including food safety assessments and imported food, are based on internationally established and accepted scientific principles, processes and practices, and genetic modification processes.

Following the formal approval of the FSSAI’s Scientific Panel, Scientific Committee and the Authority itself, the draft rules will be notified in the Gazette of India to avoid comments from various gasholders. The FSSAI said that with the approval of the Government of India, the matter would be properly considered and then finalized.

Prior to the approval of such foods, the FSSAI will take charge of their food safety assessment, while the Genetic Engineering Approval Committee (GEAC) of the Ministry of Environment, Forests and Climate Change will assess aspects related to their environmental impact.

News

According to a recent order by the Food Safety and Standards Authority of India (FSSAI), the one percent range for genetically modified organisms (GMOs) in foodstuffs imported into India is unacceptable, the GM-Free India affiliation said. Letter to the government

It advocates zero presence of GMOs in foodstuffs and some other consumer.

On 20 August 2020, the FSSAI ordered that the country’s 24 imported food crops would require a ‘non-GM-original-cum-GM-free certificate’ issued by a competent authority. On February 8, the Authority defined the GMO threshold of this crop for certification.

The letter said that laboratories in India could detect as low as 0.01 per cent presence of GMOs in food. Therefore, the country should aim to accept imported goods only when the products have no GMO address especially in processed food and they come with GMO free certificate.

The door of GMO’s entrepreneurial presence in imported food products should have limited to 0.01 per cent, he said in a letter to Union Health and Family Welfare Minister Harsh Vardhan.

The letter called for extension of GMO restrictions on food products other than food crops. The 2018 analysis had cited by Non-Profit Centre in Delhi for Science and Environment (CSE) to highlight the risks of exempting processed food from FSSAI rules for GMOs in food products.

In 2018, CSE analyzed —30 of 65 food products manufactured in India and imported from 35 other countries – which are likely to have genetically modified (GM) crops. About 32 percent of the products had found in the ingredients of genetically modified foods.

“Illegal sales of GM food imported will remain uncontrolled without such restrictions,” the letter said.

He urged the health ministry to extend the same rules for fish, cotton, seeds and animal feed. The letter said:

“Our introduction earlier shows imports of seeds like soybean, maize or maize, canola, sugar beet, which have 0 per cent of this crop, which is genetically modified.”

The organizations have also asked FSSAI to consider strengthening its testing capacity at every level to ensure the people of the country consume GM-free food.

The task of controlling the level of GMOs in imported consumption had initially initiated by the Genetic Engineering Appraisal Committee (GEAC). This comes under the Union Ministry of Environment. Its role in this had weakened by the implementation of the Food Safety and Standards Act, 2006 and the FSSAI asked to seek approval for imported goods.

In 2018, after years of confusion and contradictory government orders that enable the surrounding work have carried out, the FSSAI proceeded with the process of making rules for imported food. The recent FSSAI mandate was an addition to this developing regulatory framework.