Editorials

Caution on GM crops

(China Daily)
Updated: 2010-03-04 07:46

The denial by sources from the Ministry of Agriculture of its approval of importing and planting genetically modified (GM) crop seeds should serve to dispel consumers' anxiety that they would be unaware if they were eating GM foods.

But we get the message from what has been said about the future of GM technology. Advocates have said that GM crops will one day support sustainable agriculture development.

If we have to face the prospect that GM foods will be included in what we eat in the future, enough work must be done to make sure that the GM seeds to be planted will pose no threat to our health.

Despite the fact that 134 million hectares of GM crops were planted all over the world in 2009, the fact that only six countries in Europe chose to grow GM crops - most European countries do not accept GM crops and GM foods - should give us pause before growing them on a large scale and using them in our foods.

True, GM crops are resilient to pests. Some are drought-proof, some may contain a particular kind of vitamin or other nutrients that people need. Yet, we still don't know whether GM crops and foods have any downsides to them.

It is unscientific and unfair to claim that GM crops and food are unsafe, but it is equally unjustifiable to claim that they are 100 percent safe without any harm to men and women in the long run.

It is more important to know about their possible negative side effects on humans in the long run than to just give publicity to their advantages over conventional crops.

Caution and further research on growing and eating GM foods can never be too much.

(China Daily 03/04/2010 page8)