FSANZ Approve GE Corn That Risks Human Health : Melbourne Indymedia

Dr Jack Heinemann of the Canterbury University’s Centre for Integrated Research in Biosafety in an interview with Tremane Barr from Prism Webcast News expresses his concerns over Food Standards Australia New Zealand (FSANZ) approving a genetically engineered (GE) high lysine corn (HLC) for human consumption.

The Monsanto genetically engineered high lysine corn was made primarily for animal food, but since it is not possible to avoid contamination of conventional and organic corn lines by GE corn they sought and recently got approval for human consumption of the HLC by FSANZ. Since it will not be possible to keep this GE HLC out of the human food chain it may make sense to have approval for human use, but as DR Heinemann points out it should also pass the same scientific scrutiny that all human GE food has to go through, which has not happened.

The HLC point of difference is that it produces the free amino acid lysine which is not normally in vegetables. Every amino acid reacts differently when heated with sugar and lysine has been known to produce substances that are potentially poisonous to humans. While this has been acknowledged with the HLC it is claimed these are at low concentrations.

Dr Heinemann points out that this application is the first time FSANZ has been asked to assess a GE food that is not substantially equivalent to GE free corn. His greatest concern is that Monsanto in its research it submitted to FSANZ for approval of the HLC did not use the internationally accepted protocol for carrying out a rigorous scientific analysis of the HLC. It is recommended in international guidelines for proper GE food research (and FSANZ guidelines) that the line of corn (called a “comparator”) that should be used is the closest non GE relative, that is to say the conventional parent line from which the GE corn was originally made out of. Monsanto, however, scientifically compared its HLC to a comparator line of corn that was “effectively the brother of the HLC”. The parent line and the HLC should have been grown together in various regions over a number of seasons so that they then could be analysed for their biochemical composition to see if there are any new or novel hazards to animal and human health. This has not happened and Dr Heinemann has described this deviation from the scientific consensus as a “Bad move”.

In doing so FSANZ have set a legally binding precedent which they by law have to continue following in order to be consistent with all future applicants. Syngenta have a GE corn line Plant Made Industrial Product (PMIP) designed to help make biofuel awaiting for assessment by FSANZ, where it seems they have also not used the correct comparator. They also want their GE biofuel corn approved for human consumption as cross contamination cannot be avoided.

Despite all of this FSANZ has approved the HLC for human consumption, but the New Zealand Food Safety Minister Annette King and another Australian Minister on the nine member ministerial board of FSANZ have asked for a review of this decision. The only thing that moves FSANZ is that if based on their direct legal obligation you can find a flaw in their risk assessment which Dr Heinemann believes they have. He points out that regulatory authorities like FSANZ do not exist to exercise the will of the majority, they exist only to meet the letter of the law that has created them. With the HLC this review is the last stage in the decision making process, but it is a political decision to be made by the FSANZ council of ministers and is the last time democracy will matter with HLC and the dangerous precedent it will set.

In order to help prevent this terrible precedent from being set people in both Australia and New Zealand need to contact their local Minister on the FSANZ council as well as express concern to their local Member of Parliament. The names of these FSANZ Ministers can be found at: http://www.foodstandards.gov.au/aboutfsanz/index.cfm

Contact details for Australian MPs can be found here: http://www.aph.gov.au/house/members/index.htm

Contact details for New Zealand MPs can be found here: http://www.parliament.nz/NR/rdonlyres/5858C8A5-ACDF-4B35-8D7A-3ABB7B19ACDB/52071/listofmembers1503091.pdf

Dr Heinemann recommends that people should focus on the legal obligations FSANZ has and not just whether one personally dislikes GE food.

Further in depth information can be found in the interview in two parts with Dr Heinemann.