Issue link: https://viewer.e-digitaleditions.com/i/122153
industryfocus Food for thought From Frankenfood and mutant fish to an agricultural revolution and the means to eradicate world hunger, discussion about genetically modified food is rich with sentiment and just as heavily divided. Oryana Angel reports. T he debate about genetically modified (GM) food – defined as food derived from genetically modified organisms (GMOs) – plays out like a Shakespearean drama complete with so-called good and bad guys, as well as the people who jump from one ship to the other. When the outspoken British environmentalist Mark Lynas did an ideological U-turn in January this year, apologising for his involvement in starting the anti-GM movement during the 1990s and proclaiming his support for the technology he once abhorred, he attracted worldwide media attention. Bob Phelps, the director of Gene Ethics, an Australian advocacy group for GM-free foods and crops, retaliated by saying that Lynas was not a founder of the GM-free movement as he claimed, and that published documents had linked him to a chemical and GM seed company promotion in Europe. The birth of GMOs dates back to the early 1990s when the world's first GM crop trials began with scientists trying to develop plants that would be immune to weedkiller sprays or resistant to pests. A decade later, herbicide-tolerant GM soybeans became available in the US, quickly followed by GM corn, cotton and canola. Today, about 70 to 80 per cent of packaged foods sold in the US, the biggest champion of the industry, contain some GM ingredient, according to Grocery Manufacturers Association figures. With more stringent regulation, Australia grows only two commercial GM crops: cotton and canola. GM canola is widely used in stock feed as well as many processed foods, including bread, dips, margarine, chips, cakes and muffins. Cottonseed oil from GM cotton can be found in products such as mayonnaise and salad dressing. Manufacturers also use a wide range of food ingredients imported from overseas, which might be genetically modified. The benefits of GM crops for farmers are diverse and are backed up by the rapid adoption of GM technology in agriculture across the "Today, about 70 to 80 per cent of packaged foods sold in the US contain some GM ingredient." 68 globe, particularly in developing countries, says Matthew Cossey, CEO of CropLife Australia, the peak industry organisation representing the agricultural chemical and biotechnology (plant science) sector in Australia. "Farmers are the big winners. There is a better yield, significantly less input on their part and a reduction in agricultural chemicals used," he says. Australia's first GM crop – insectresistant and herbicide-tolerant cotton – was introduced during the 1990s; it now represents close to 100 per cent of Australia's total cotton crop. The environmental benefits of GM crops are huge, says Cossey, using cotton as an example: "GM cotton uses less than half the pesticides of conventional cotton, and farmers are using 50 to 90 per cent less agricultural chemicals because of the traits of GM cotton. Producing GM cotton also uses about 30 per cent less water. "GM crops alone are offsetting the equivalent of eight million cars a year around the world. One of the leading outcomes of biotechnology is sustainability in agriculture." However, growing GM crops has not been so welcomed everywhere. In Europe there are strict regulations around growing, importing and labelling GM foods. In Australia, Tasmania and SA have a blanket ban