GENET news: Food

08.12.2008

U.S. Grains Council sees South Korea’s 2009 GE corn imports falling

South Korea, the world’s No. 3 corn importer, may slash imports of the grain by around 1 million tonnes, as feed makers are set to shift to cheaper alternatives such as wheat, a director of the U.S. Grains Council said [...] Min said imports of food-grade corn, which represents less than 20 percent of South Korea’s total corn imports, were also likely to suffer further decline as food processors switch to cheaper sweeteners such as sugar as scarcity of non-genetically modified corn made the grain less price competitive.

08.12.2008

Super-foods or super-frauds?

”Super-foods, however, have high nutritional content per calorie and therefore give added benefits to the body to help it keep healthy, while potentially guarding off diseases such as diabetes and cancer.” With the hype surrounding these foods, and the further development and creation of GM super-foods, the question remains of whether there is any truth in the health claims, or whether the excitement is based purely on the glorification of the consumers’ wishful thinking.

08.12.2008

Tortilla chips going biotech in the USA as limits change on seeds

White corn, the variety that’s milled into chips, taco shells and tortillas, has for years been free of genetic engineering. Millers and companies such as snack-food giant Frito-Lay bought only conventional, biotech-free varieties of the specialty corn from farmers. But that’s changing. Farmers in Iowa, Nebraska and other states started growing a small amount of genetically modified white corn this year after word came down from processors they would start accepting it.

05.12.2008

UCD researcher honored for non-GE rice breakthrough

A University of California, Davis, geneticist is among three researchers being honored this week for their work in developing flood-tolerant rice. [...] Identifying the gene allowed plant breeders to use ”precision breeding” to create new rice varieties that could recover after severe flooding and ”produce abundant yields of high-quality grain,” the release states.

05.12.2008

EU approves genetically modified soybean for import

The European Union has authorized imports of a genetically modified (GM) soybean type for sale across its 27 national markets for the next 10 years, the European Commission said on Thursday. Developed and marketed by Monsanto, the soybean is destined to be imported for use in food and animal feed, not for growing. It is a second-generation GM product known by its code number MON 89788 and commercially as Roundup RReady2Yield.

04.12.2008

Lawlessness and loopholes for transgenics in Peru

Peru´s biosafety law dates back to 1999, but supplemental legislation was required to give authorities the power to supervise transgenic products in the country. [...] But the law has been at a standstill for nine years, and even now, some experts, citing contamination of genetically-modified corn seeds in other nations like Mexico, say it would fall short of its aim: to protect farmers and consumers.

04.12.2008

Native Mexican corn endangered through GE contamination

The potential effects of transgenic corn on the native species of this key crop have been a long-running debate in Mexico. [...] ”This issue was considered of great potential environmental importance, given that Mexico is a center of origin and diversity for maize and that maize is so intrinsically linked to Mexican culture, especially that of Mexican indigenous groups,” says a study by the Commission for Environmental Cooperation (CEC) of North America, entitled ”The Effects of Transgenic Maize in Mexico.”

03.12.2008

Cloned meat, ’Golden Rice’ among top-100 science projects in South Korea

Would anybody’s idea of a gourmet meal ever include a T-bone steak from cloned cattle? Genetic scientist Seong Hwan-hu from the Rural Development Administration (RDA) is certainly hoping that day will come, as he is as a pioneer in the cloning of ”hanwoo,” a native breed that is a popular source of prime beef in the country.

03.12.2008

Fencing in Europe’s farmers

Today, radical environmental and consumer groups are taking advantage of public fear of modern agriculture, which they helped create, to oppose GM crops and products as dangerous ”Frankenfoods.” For more than a decade, they have blocked the planting of most genetically modified crops in Europe. Imports of GM foods have been hampered by the small number of approved products, expensive and complex requirements to track GM ingredients throughout the food chain and to label products containing such ingredients, and threatened boycotts of major producers and retailers selling such labeled products.

02.12.2008

Zambian Government orders importation of non-GE maize

GOVERNMENT has directed the Food Reserve Agency (FRA) to offload maize on the market and facilitate the importation of 100,000 metric tonnes of the product to stabilise the prices of mealie meal. [...] Government had also directed the FRA to facilitate the importation of 100,000 metric tonnes of non-genetically modified maize through private millers and grain traders.

Go to page: ← 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 →

Home: GENET