The European Commission’s proposed deregulation of genetically modified organisms (GMOs) made with new techniques, due to be published on 5 July, ignores potential dangers to the environment, bees and pollinators and human health and will not allow consumers to know what they’re eating, environmental groups have warned. Greenpeace, the "Save Bees and Farmers" ECI [European Citizens' Initiative] coalition and BeeLife have raised the alarm about the European Commission’s plan, leaked in recent weeks, to exempt GMOs obtained with "new genomic techniques" (NGTs) from the GMO regulations currently in place, and point to particular risks for bees and other pollinators. GMWatch

 

 

Even though they have no history of safe use in Canada or elsewhere, Agriculture Minister Bibeau announced on May 3, 2023 that Canada will exempt gene-edited plants from regulation and mandatory public notification unless they contain foreign DNA or if they are herbicide tolerant. For all other changes in a gene-edited plant, it is up to the company to decide whether their product might cause an environmental harm and thus should be assessed by the Canadian Food Inspection Agency (CFIA). There is no way for the public to know whether a biotech company’s assessment was thorough, and no mechanism to ensure it reports any troublesome impacts it might discover, writes Cathy Holtslander, NFU Canada's Director of Research and Policy. GMWatch

 

 

Food startup Pairwise has launched its Purple Power Baby Greens Blend, the first gene-edited product using CRISPR technology sold in the US. A mix of purple and green mustard greens, the new salad blend was gene-edited to taste less bitter and more like lettuce. Jennifer Kuzma, co-director of the Genetic Engineering and Society Center at North Carolina State University, called for more transparency. She’d like to see regulatory and safety documents made publicly available for CRISPR-edited foods. Kuzma believes this helps build consumer trust over how the food is produced. [GMW: The whole point of mustard greens is that they taste... well, like mustard. If you want something that tastes like lettuce (of very little), you buy lettuce. Mustard has anti-cancer, antimutagenic, antioxidant, and antifungal properties, among other therapeutic effects. We haven't seen any analysis of whether the CRISPR-edited mustard greens have retained those beneficial properties, or lost them with the edited-out bitterness.] wng.org

 

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