By Cho Jin-seo
Staff Reporter
Though most people do not realize it, a large part of Koreans' staple food consists of genetically modified crop products. Environmentalists and consumer groups demand a total ban on growing and selling of such mutant crops, but biotechnology researchers, firms and the government say that they are safe to eat, and the production of the so-called GMO (genetically modified organism) products will inevitably increase.
GMO refers to the plants and animals of which the genetic material is deliberately altered using modern DNA engineering techniques. Many GM crops are manufactured to be either tolerant to herbicide or pests, so farmers can have high yield without using much herbicide or insecticide.
Corn, soybean, cotton and canola are four major biotech crops in the world. There are no farms in Korea that grow GM crops for commercial purposes, but it imports a large amount of GM soybeans and corn from the United States and other countries every year. The government estimates that about $700 million worth of GM plants were imported in 2006.
But many consumers do not realize that they eat GM crops everyday. According to a survey of 500 housewives in Seoul by the Green Consumer Network, 76 percent said that they had never seen a GM food product. This is because almost all of such biotech crops are consumed in the form of processed food, such as soy sauce, cooking oil or the meat of animals bred on corn and soybeans.
``The word `genetically modified' has a negative nuance, so most people do not buy GM food products if labeled so, even if cheaper than non-GM products,'' said Kim Sol, an official of the Korea Food & Drug Administration. ``But as for cooking oils, virtually all products sold in the market are made from GM beans because they are not subjected to the labeling regulation.''
The government requires food manufacturers and distributors to identify the presence of GM ingredients on the package, if a food product contains GM crops that accounts for more than 3 percent of the total weight. However, soy sauces and cooking oils are exceptions of the regulation, because the crops' proteins are altered during the production process so that they cannot be easily recognized, according to the law. The same leniency is applied to meat as well, as it is difficult to find out whether a cattle was bred on GM or normal corns.
The result of such double standards is that virtually no raw GM food products are available in Korea, though almost all cooking oils and soy sauces are products of GMOs. According to Korean Federation of Environmental Movement last summer, 82 percent of all cooking oils sold in Korea were made of GM beans.
``This is an era of confusion,'' said Kyung Kyu-hang, a professor of Sejong University in food science and biotechnology. ``People worry about GM foods not because they may be harmful but because they are a new technology. Some say that there could be potential threats of GM crops that the modern technology hasn't revealed, But if so, I believe no food on the earth should be considered safe.''
The first commercial GM food crop was a tomato named Flavr Savr, which was made to be more resistant to rotting by Californian company Calgene in 1995. Between 1995 and 2005, the global area of biotech crops increased more than 50 times from 17,400 square kilometers to 898,417 square kilometers.
The growing cultivation of biotech crops has been led by American chemical and biotech firms such as Monsanto, and it is now being supported by developing nations such as India, China, Iran and many South American nations where the demand of the food is steeply rising. On the contrary, Japan and wealthy Western European countries have been less welcoming to the biotech crops due to protests from local farmers, environmentalists and politicians. As of 2005, 21 nations were growing biotech crops.
Korea is one of the resisting nations. A number of environmental and consumer groups have been opposing the import of GM crops, even though the country depends on imports for almost all of its corn, soybean and wheat demands. Monsanto, the world's largest GM seed provider, said that such an anti-GM sentiment among local farmers and consumer groups has discouraged it from selling the GM seed in Korea.
``In order to plant biotechnology crops in Korea, support from stakeholders in the supply chain and consumers is required,'' said Jung Yi-jung, public relations manager of Monsanto Korea. ``We do not currently have any plans for planting biotech crops in Korea.''
As for the safety, there is no hard evidence, yet, proving that imported GM crops are damaging to the health or the natural environment. Foreign biotech firms such as Monsanto, Dupont and Bayer have applied for the sale of 20 types of GM crops between 2003 and 2006, with the Korean food & drug regulator approving each type of crop.
In countries such as China and India where the government is more concerned about meeting the growing food demand, the biotech food are more welcomed than ever. Since farmers can save the expense in buying pesticide and herbicide, GM crops are usually cheaper than ordinary ones despite high seed price. According to the White Paper published by the Korea Biosafety Cleaning House last year, the average GM soybean price imported to Korea in 2006 was $269.7 per ton, compared to $336.6 per ton of non-GM soybeans.
Rising oil prices also have played a part in the popularity of GM corn, which are used to make bio fuels. Reflecting the popularity, the share price of Monsanto has soared from less than $8 per share five years ago to over $120 earlier this month.
``The population keeps growing in emerging countries, and China and Russia have begun to levy taxes on wheat exports, which have been pushing up international crop prices since last year,'' said Lim Ji-sun, fund manager of alternative investment at IBK-SG, expecting that GM crops will be even more popular in the coming years.
indizio@koreatimes.co.kr