Genetically Modified (GM) Foods - a boon or a bane?

                            V.G.Ranganath

Eating is an important activity, which is required in order to live. It is God, who has created each and every thing. Food, hunger, living beings, all of them form the part of God’s creation. One should remember God, the omnipresent, who has given both, sweet and sour delicacies to satisfy our taste-buds. Following is the Sloka/ Shloka which can be recited while eating or taking your food.

"Brahmaarpanam Brahma Havih Brahmaagnau Brahmana Hutam,

Brahmaiva Tena Gantavyam Brahmakarmasamaadhina"

Brahman refers to God himself. This Shloka suggests that god is everywhere, in the food, inside the devotee and even the hunger is God. So, devotee is taking the food (God) to the hunger (God). To put succinctly, we always thank god for his divine grace.

Food is one of the basic necessities for sustenance of life. It is no wonder to say that community health is national wealth. In India the first genetically modified crop was Bt.Cotton. Here Bt is a name adopted from soil bacterium i.e. Bacillus thuringiensis. Insect resistance is achieved by incorporating into the food plant the gene for toxin production from the bacterium Bacillus thuringiensis (BT). According to sources, the Bt. Cotton has not given efficacious results. Later the switchover is on directly consumable crops turns to food. Bt brinjal will be one of the few crops which are used for human consumption directly and not processed or used in other foods. The first GM experimentation is made on Brinjal. In October,2009,  Genetic Engineering Approval Committee (GEAC) has approved genetically modified or  Bt brinjal for human consumption despite protests that adequate tests have not been carried out to ensure it is safe for human consumption. The Genetically Engineering Approval Committee (GEAC) has given approval for the environmental release of the Bt brinjal, Environment Minister  Mr.Jairam Ramesh told after studying  the panel’s report before deciding whether it should be given clearance or not . After conducting the public consultations in selected places, the Minister imposed a moratorium on Bt Brinjal.

In present scenario, due to increase in population requires more food and more cultivation. At the same time, there should be proper crop for every harvest without any deterioration effected by insects etc. Due to sophisticated science and technology opened the doors for new experiments. In that way we are having bio-technological developments i.e. inserting one gene into another gene.

In future people may lose natural or traditional food and we may depend forcibly by initiatives of government on GM food. According to Food Safety and Standards Act, 2006, Panel on Genetically modified foods has already been constituted. We have to wait and see how far they enforce and implement the safety and standard provisions of genetically modified foods. In India the required thing is proper storage for food but not production. Due to all these using and inviting the GM Food Trails we may face the environmental problems. In India even though we are having legislations to keep vigilance on all these but it is gloomy state and blind watch.

The food regulation laws should protect consumer but should not be a constraint to industrial growth. The food safety is considered as a basic human right by FAO. There are certain standards, recommendations, legislations and agreements in national and international perspectives which ensures and emphasis more importance on Health, organisms, standards, certification etc. Those are Sanitary and Phytosanitary (SPS) Agreement under the World Trade Organization (WTO), Technical barriers to trade agreement(TBT), Rules for the manufacture, use/import/export and storage of hazardous micro organisms /genetically engineered organisms or cells, 1989, Food Safety and Standards Act, 2006, Section 3 of the Foreign Trade (Development and Regulation) Act, 1992, Section 11 of the Customs Act, 1962 ,Cartagena Protocol., recommended by the Codex Alimentarius Commission.

Certain Countries like U.K, not using the GM Concerned crops or foods. Consumers all around the globe are concerned about the haste with which GM foods have been introduced on grounds of health, environmental protection and ethics. GM foods are foods containing genetically modified ingredients or GM enzymes. Genetic engineering extracts genes bearing a specific trait from one organism (animals, plants and bacteria) and then artificially inserts them into completely different organisms.

The Author is V.G.Ranganath, Asst.professor, Padala Rama Reddi Law College, Hyderabad and Research Scholar(part-time),Dr.B.R.Ambedkar College of Law, Andhra University, Visakhapatnam .

E-mail:ranganathvg@yahoo.com.

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