Tag Archives: Food

Japan-South Korea-Taiwan Joint Statement on RNA Interference Potato

Biotechnology, ,
On 18 May 2019, Anti-Monsanto Day, Japan, South Korean and Taiwanese citizens’ organizations taking action against GMOs announced a joint statement protesting against a potato developed by J. R. Simplot Company using RNA interference. South Korea is very close to approving this potato and there is a possibility that Taiwan will also approve it.
In Japan, the potato is already approved for distribution as human food, but as it has yet to receive approval under the Cartagena laws, it cannot yet be cultivated. There is a possibility that the potato will be imported as fried potatoes or potato chips. Because of this, Consumers Union of Japan and other organizations are calling on fast food chains and family restaurant chains not to use the potato.
RNA interference is a technique to inhibit gene expression or translation. It was first discovered in 1998.

Glyphosate in Bread

Chemical pollution, Food, ,

A new study shows levels of glyphosate in many types of bread sold in Japan. Glyphosate is the active ingredient in the controversial weed-killer Roundup, and also in other herbicides. It is used in the US and Canada on wheat fields just before the harvest (wheat is not genetically modified). This method is called pre-harvest and farmers are supposed to follow guidelines to avoid excess residue levels in food.

The study showed no residue levels in bread made with Japanese wheat, but Japan is only producing 14% of all the wheat consumed in the country. The study was made by Japan Family Farmers Movement (Nouminren) and the results published also on the internet here. “We are really concerned about this result because most of the school food served in Japan includes bread made with imported wheat. This is our greatest cause of worry,” says Koketsu Michiyo, Secretary General of Consumers Union of Japan. Residue of glyphosate was also found in several types of wheat flour and pasta flour made with imported wheat.

Please Join Our One Million Signature Petition Campaign: “Regulate All Gene-edited Food!”

Biotechnology, Environment, Food, ,

Dear Friends and Fellow Anti-GMO Campaigners,

Please Join Our One Million Signature Petition Campaign:
“Regulate All Gene-edited Food!”

In March 2019, the Ministry of Health, Labor and Welfare of Japan
concluded that no regulation is needed for most of gene-edited food to
be sold in Japan. The Ministry of the Environment also announced its
decision to require regulation only for limited gene-edited food using
created with specific processes. Consequently, some sources expect
gene-edited food to be available as early as this summer of 2019 in
Japan.

We, Consumers Union of Japan, together with concerned grassroots
organizations and Co-ops across Japan, have been advocating the
strictest possible regulation at a level that is at least equal to GMO
regulations over the last few years, but our voice has not been
reflected in the government’s decision making as of now. Our demand is
fully in accordance with our consumers’ rights stipulated in the Basic
Act on Consumers Policies.

We are highly concerned about this situation. No regulation means
basically no enforced safety tests, no transparency and no labelling.
Due in part to the fact that Japan is a country with less than 40% of
food self-sufficiency, consumers can only expect a marketplace that is a
virtual hell filled with uncontrolled gene-edited food produced possibly
both domestically and globally, unless we take action.

We have decided that now is the time to scale up our campaign. As we
launch this One Million Signature Petition Campaign throughout Japan, we
have a request to our global friends and colleagues.

1. If you share our concerns and support our petition (below) addressed to the Japanese government, then please email (nogeneediting@nishoren.org) your name and title or the full name of your organization, the country which you are based and also the contact person name. The collected signatures will be submitted to the Government of Japan in September 2019 when we will hand over our signatures to it.

[Organization]
Name of organization:
Contact person:
Country:
Email:

[Individual]
Your name:
Title:
Country:
Email:

2. We are collecting pictures with the banner indicating “Regulate All
Gene-edited Food!” We welcome your pictures with the banner attached in
this email, or any banner you have. It will be great to see the key
message in your language, together with English message.
Please send us the picture to the email address (nogeneediting@nishoren.org). We greatly appreciate your solidarity and collaboration.

If you have any questions, please feel free to contact us at the office
of Consumers Union of Japan.

Sincerely,
Keisuke Amagasa, Michiyo Koketsu, Kaori Hirouchi and Martin J. Frid
The Anti-GMO Campaign International Coordinators, Consumers Union of Japan

To:
Mr. Nemoto Takumi, Minister of Health, Labor, and Welfare
Mr. Yoshikawa Takamori, Minister of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries
Mr. Harada Yoshiaki, Minister of the Environment
Mr. Okamura Kazumi, Commissioner of Consumer Affairs Agency

We strongly demand proper regulations for gene-edited food
As we learn that unpredicted results could occur by a gene-editing
method, including “off-target” effects, our concern over the
technology and its impact on our food has not been cleared. However,
both Ministry of the Environment and Ministry of Health, Labor and
Welfare decided that gene-edited organisms are not regulated by law
unless external genes remain in the organism.  The food with voluntary
registration with no enforced labelling system and no environmental
assessment could soon on our table.
Our right to know, our right to choose and our right to live a healthy
life are now at risk. We strongly demand that environmental assessment,
food safety inspection and labelling on all gene-edited food without
exception.

We demand:
1. Mandatory environmental impact assessment for all gene-edited food
including crops and other produces, livestock and fish.

2. Mandatory food safety assessment for all gene-edited crops and other
produces, livestock and fish.

3. Mandatory labeling for all gene-edited crops, other produces, and
processed food that contain gene-edited ingredients.
———————————————————————-

Nationwide Chinese Consumer Study: 46.7% of Respondents Negative View on GM Food

Biotechnology, Chemical pollution, Food, ,

China has reached a decision point as to whether it should accept, reject, or go slow with the use of genetically modified (GM) technology to produce the food and feed needed to sustain its population growth and economic renaissance. Here, we report a consumer survey on GM food that includes input from all provinces in China. Chinese consumers were surveyed for their awareness, knowledge, and opinion on GM food. The survey resulted in 11.9, 41.4, and 46.7% of respondents having a positive, neutral, or negative view on GM food, respectively.

Genetically modified (GM) technology is a highly controversial topic for today’s global food consumer. The commercial development of GM crops began in 1996 with GM corn and has expanded every year with the cultivation of GM crops.

Chinese food safety scandals have been a growing concern for Chinese consumers in recent years. The incidences of illegal “gutter oil” used in cooking, pesticide residue contamination, use of feed additives and polluted water along the food chain are common problems and even with proper regulatory oversight, the risk for criminal activity is ever present. The consumers in China, as well as consumers in other parts of the world, are increasingly risk adverse and seek out “clean, natural food”.

Public perception of genetically-modified (GM) food: A Nationwide Chinese Consumer Study

npj Science of Food 2, Article number: 10 (2018)

https://www.nature.com/articles/s41538-018-0018-4

Biodiversity In The News: Anything Useful from G20 Japan 2019 Niigata, Agriculture Ministers’ Meeting on May 11 to 12, 2019?

Biodiversity, ,

At the G7 environment ministers’ meeting in France this weekend, The Guardian reported that there was a call for a biodiversity study that is as influential as the Stern review on the economics of climate change. Yes, there is an “economic case” for understanding the value of biological diversity to mankind, and to the planet. But we expect much more from researchers and experts, from governments and corporations. CUJ is opposed to GMOs and the new genome editing technologies, that ignore and threaten the age-old development of species. We expect a full reversal of the free trade economic agreements that promote globalisation without a thought of its effect at the local level.

Small scale farmers need markets to reach consumers, and consumers need to know where their food is coming from. CUJ is calling for food and goods that are “locally made, locally consumed” and we continue to fight for biological diversity that is not subject to multinational corporations and WTO rules with patent provisions that make seed saving impossible.

At the G20 Japan 2019 Niigata, Agriculture Ministers’ Meeting on May 11 to 12, 2019, what policies will be discussed?

https://www.japan.go.jp/g20japan/niigata.html

No recent mention of biodiversity, or climate change. Is that not just a little too outrageous, or what do you think…? You’d have to go back to 2016 to find a pdf document that discusses “Basic Concept of Climate Change Adaptation on Biodiversity in Japan” from the Ministry of the Environment.

Quote: At the summit of Mount Fuji, seed plants have been observed that were not previously present, and mosses whose growth is affected by permafrost have been in decline.

But, yes, there is positive news a too. And a lot of it. Here is a quote from Japan Environment Quarterly, March 2019 (pdf):

Quote: Humans form a part of biodiversity as well as a part of the natural environment. Rather than living in opposition to the natural environment, which can both deliver great bounty and at times pose great threats, we could live in harmony, which would enable us to make the most of the resources of nature. For instance, the city of Toyooka in Hyogo Prefecture has designated the stork as the symbol of its initiatives. Based on rice grown via “the stork friendly farming method”, the city has increased the income of farmers. This rice grown without relying on pesticides and chemical fertilizers is sold at a price 1.3 to 1.6 times that of conventionally-grown rice. Additionally, the city has employed ecotourism in initiatives on returning storks to the wild. Teaming up with local travel agents, the city has proposed “stork tourism” that combine viewing of storks and local scenic spots. Visitors to the city’s Museum of the Oriental White Stork, where one can get a close look at storks, have roughly tripled following release of the storks into the wild.

MAFF will hold another meeting as part of the G20 in Biwa on May 13-15, 2019.

But nobody from the active NGOs in Japan, with a long history of working on these issues since the 1960s, 1970s, are invited. Business as usual? Japan, you can do better.