1.UK: Ask your MP and MEPs to sign the "GM Wheat - No Thanks!" Pledge
2.UK: Unlicensed GM Wheat Contaminates US Farm - Implications for the UK
3.Global: Outbreak of unapproved GE wheat shows GM crops cannot be controlled
4.Australia: Illegal GM wheat contamination in the US. Will Australia be next?
5.Canada: Illegal GM Wheat Contamination Discovered in US - Contamination Status in Canada is Unknown
NOTE: It's happened to Canadian flax. It's happened to US rice. Now it's happened to US wheat.
Time and again experimental crops that farmers and consumers do not want commercialised have ended up contaminating the food and feed chain despite all the reassurances that there is no possibility of any such thing happening.
In the case of wheat we have been told that it couldn't happen because wheat is self-pollinating and the pollen is short lived. But now it has happened - just as it did with rice, and again it is as a result of GM trials.
In the case of the Rothamsted GM wheat trials in the UK, Guy Smith, himself a former GM trial farmer as well as a long-time member of the biotech industry lobby group CropGen, has declared that they are not just a massive waste of public money but little short of insane:
"The main question I have is why are we spending a large chunk of our finite R&D budget on a crop no one wants to buy? Even in the USA, GM wheat has stalled because of consumer resistance. Can anyone think of another example of money being spent on the development of a crop that has no market prospects? What's next, research on apples that taste of herring?... It is as if the R&D committee got drunk before the meeting."
http://www.spinwatch.org/index.php/issues/science/item/163
As a wheat grower Smith is part of the very constituency whose interests Rothamsted claim to serve - just like the GM researchers claimed to be serving the interests of US rice farmers and Canadian flax growers until they suffered massive harm.
EXTRACTS: “We need a moratorium on all new GM crop approvals and field tests until the contamination risk is adequately recognized in regulation, and the environmental, economic and social impacts are fully evaluated." (item 5)
"The only way to protect our food and environment is to stop the releases of GE crops to the environment – including a ban on field trials." (item 3)
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1.UK - Ask your MP and MEPs to sign the "GM Wheat - No Thanks!" Pledge
http://www.gmfreeze.org/actions/25/
This is a good time to remind your MP that we don't want GM wheat so we don't need this trial, and we certainly don't want it extended to include a Winter wheat crop - for details see http://www.gmfreeze.org/actions/24/
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2.Unlicensed GM Wheat Contaminates US Farm
GM Freeze, 30 May 2013
http://www.gmfreeze.org/news-releases/220/
US regulators announced yesterday that unauthorised GM Roundup Ready (RR) wheat was found growing on a farm in Oregon. [1]
The incident coincides with the second year of GM wheat trials at Rothamsted Research in Hertfordshire. It reinforces GM Freeze’s objection to the trials on grounds that include the risk of the trial crops contaminating non-GM wheat varieties and the additional complications to UK wheat supplies that would be caused by measures to prevent GM contamination if commercial growing took place.
The USDA’s Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS) launched an investigation after wheat plants survived being sprayed with Monsanto’s Roundup herbicide (active ingredient glyphosate). Analysts at Oregon State University confirmed the presence of GM glyphosate tolerance traits in the wheat. So far no data on the levels of contamination have been released, and there is no evidence that contaminated wheat grains have entered the market.
How the contaminated plants got onto the farm remains a complete mystery. No GM wheat is authorised for commercial growing in the US. The USDA has not approved any test sites for the GM wheat found in Oregon, but 100 test sites of the same wheat were grown in 16 US states between 1998 and 2005. [2]
The GM contamination of Oregon wheat has the potential to seriously disrupt exports. APHIS says Oregon exports 90% of its wheat, some of which goes to food aid. All states where the GM wheat was grown experimentally will need urgently to check grain and crops for contamination. USDA and APHIS issued a statement saying the RR GM trait in the wheat is “as safe” as conventional wheat, an assertion based on data provided by Monsanto. [1] No full safety assessment has been carried out on the GM wheat.
The EU does not permit the import of unauthorised GM traits in food at any level, although up to 0.1% is allowed in animal feed if the GM variety is approved in other countries or an application to the EU has been reviewed by the European Food Safety Agency. This exemption does not apply to the Oregon wheat contamination because it is not approved in the US or anywhere in the world, and no application has been made to the EU. [3] Any contaminated cargoes would therefore be turned back at EU ports.
This incident closely echoes the 2006 contamination incident in which Bayer’s experimental rice LL601 caused widespread contamination of US long grain rice despite the variety only having been grown in test sites up to 2001. That GM contamination seriously disrupted US exports for months and resulted in a series of lawsuits against Bayer, which was ordered to pay millions in compensation to thousands of farmers. The cause of the rice contamination was never established because of poor recordkeeping on the experimental sites. [4]
Pete Riley of GM Freeze said:
“There is a real sense of déjà vu about this situation after the very costly and disruptive incident involving US GM rice in 2006. An urgent investigation needs to try to understand how the GM wheat came to grow in Oregon, and a swift and thorough cleanup is needed to prevent the contamination spreading – if it hasn’t already. Port authorities right across the world need to be on alert and closely monitor US wheat shipments to ensure all GM wheat is detected and prevented from entering the market.
“European and UK regulators should take careful note of what has happened in Oregon. GM Freeze has repeatedly pointed out that coexistence of GM and non-GM crops without contamination is almost impossible because of the difficulties in containing GM pollen and seeds and the fact that human error can never be eliminated. So far biotech companies refuse to accept liability for the contamination they cause, so farmers suffering economic losses have to go to court to get help.
“GM wheat is not needed, not wanted by shoppers and presents a further intensification of food production that will only cause more problems. The Oregon incident could easily be repeated here if Europe were crazy enough to allow the widespread testing and commercial growing of GM wheat.”
Calls to: Pete Riley 07903 341 065
Notes
[1] USDA APHIS, 29 May 2013. “Investigating Decetions of Genetically Engineered (GE) Glyphosate-resistant wheat in Oregon”
[2] USDA APHIS, 29 May 2013. “Questions and Answers: USDA investigating detection of positive genetically engineered (GE) glyphosate-resistant Wheat in Oregon”
[3] Reuters, 24 June 2011. “EU allows unapproved GM material in feed imports”
and GM Freeze, 12 November 2010. “Zero Should Mean Zero – No imports of untested GMOs”
[4] GM Freeze, 31 July 2010. GM in The Dock: US Courts step in where regulators fail - Briefing III: Bayer brought to book for contaminating rice
and GM Freeze, 31 May 2007. GM Contamination: Imports of food and feed at risk - measures needed to reduce the threat
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3.Outbreak of unapproved GE wheat shows GE crops cannot be controlled
Greenpeace, 30 May 2013
Responding to news that unauthorised genetically engineered (GE) wheat has been found growing in the US, Greenpeace International scientist Janet Cotter made the following statement:
"This outbreak of GE wheat growing in the US confirms our concerns that GE crops cannot be controlled. This is the latest in a long line of incidents involving the contamination of our food supply with GE crops not approved for human consumption.
"The developers of GE wheat have repeatedly said that GE wheat will not contaminate conventional or organic wheat because it is predominantly self-pollinating (i.e. the pollen does not spread very far, unlike crops such as maize and oilseed rape). Despite these empty promises, GE contamination has happened.
"The only way to protect our food and environment is to stop the releases of GE crops to the environment – including a ban on field trials."
More information: http://www.greenpeace.org/international/Global/international/publications/agriculture/2012/GEFactSheet-03-2012.pdf
Contact:
Janet Cotter, Greenpeace International Science Unit, +44 (0)781 217 4783 or This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. (European timezone)
Eric Darier, Greenpeace International ecological agriculture senior campaigner, +1 514 605-6497 or This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. (North American timezone)
Greenpeace International press desk: +31 (0)20 718 24 70 or This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.
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4.Illegal GM wheat contamination in the US. Will Australia be next?
Safe Food Foundation, May 29 2013
http://safefoodfoundation.org/2013/05/30/media-release-illegal-gm-wheat-contamination/
Melbourne – Yesterday, the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) confirmed a farmer from Oregon found illegal genetically modified (GM) wheat plants in his field[1]. This herbicide-tolerant wheat developed by the biotech transnational Monsanto to withstand direct application of Roundup was last authorised to be tested in open air fields in Oregon in 2001. It is uncertain how the contamination happened.
GM wheat is not commercially grown anywhere in the world. The Australian Gene Technology Regulator (OGTR) has already approved thirteen GM wheat field trials in five states and territories across Australia[2] and commercial varieties could be authorised as soon as 2015[3]. Wheat is Australia’s most important agricultural commodity with an estimated gross value of $7.5 billion in 2011-2012[4]. From the USDA findings and many example of contamination around the globe[5], it is clear the cultivation of GM wheat carries unacceptable contamination risks for farmers and consumers.
In September last year, molecular biologist and risk assessment researcher Professor Jack Heinemann of the University of Canterbury, NZ, and Associate Professor Judy Carman, biochemist at Flinders University warned that GM wheat using dsRNA technology may cause Glycogen Storage Disease IV, resulting in an enlarged liver, cirrhosis of the liver, and failure to thrive[6]. The objective of dsRNA technology is not to produce a protein, as in GM crops already commercialised, but rather to prevent a protein being produced. This new technology is still the source of many surprises to researchers and is prone to unexpected and unpredictable effects that have not been considered in the risk assessments done by the OGTR.
A 2013 report[7] from the Safe Food Foundation, Gene Ethics, the Network of Concerned Farmers, Madge, FoodWatch and Sagfin details the results of an extensive investigation into the attitudes towards GM wheat of major wheat buying companies in Australia and in key export markets. Twenty-five major food companies, including Barilla, Bakers Delight, Coles, Sanitarium, and General Mills, stated that they are not interested in buying GM wheat, or have a policy excluding all GM ingredients. There concerns give a clear indication that our existing Australian wheat markets would be jeopardised by the introduction of GM wheat or contamination of our wheat supply.
GM wheat commercialisation poses an unacceptable threat to Australia’s billion dollar wheat industry. Given the risks to consumers, wheat farmers and the food industry, the Safe Food Foundation is calling the Governments to create a secure future for Australian wheat by adopting and implementing policies to ban open air GM wheat field trials and to revoke any plan to commercialise GM wheat in Australia.
For comment :
Scott Kinnear, Safe Food Foundation director : 0419 881 729
[1] http://www.aphis.usda.gov/newsroom/2013/05/ge_wheat_detection.shtml
[2] Office of the Gene Technology Regulator, 2012. Fact Sheet – GM wheat field trial approvals. [online] Available at: <http://www.ogtr.gov.au/internet/ogtr/publishing.nsf/content/gmwheatfactsheet-htm> [Accessed 30 May 2013].
[3] CSIRO, 2008. GM wheat and barley trial, OGTR application DIR093. Food Futures Flagship. [pdf] Available at: <http://www.csiro.au/files/files/pr3w.pdf> [Accessed 30 May 2013].
[4] Australian Bureau of Statistics, 2012. ABS 7501.0 – Value of Principal Agricultural Commodities Produced, Australia, Preliminary, 2011-2012. Canberra: ABS.
[5] Biosafety Clearing House. Convention on Biological Diversity, 2009. Biosafety Information Resource. [online] Available at: <http://bch.cbd.int/database/record.shtml?documentid=42132> [Accessed 10 December 2012].
[6] http://safefoodfoundation.org/wp-content/uploads/2012/09/SFF-media-release-SCIENTISTS-WARN-ON-CSIRO-GM-WHEAT-THREAT1.pdf
[7] Safe Food Foundation, Gene Ethics, Network of Concerned Farmers, Madge, FoodWatch, Sagfin, 2012. No appetite for Australian GM wheat. [pdf] Available at:<http://safefoodfoundation.org/2013/05/06/no-appetite-for-australian-gm-wheat>
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5.Illegal GM Wheat Contamination Discovered in US - Contamination Status in Canada is Unknown
CBAN, May 29 2013
http://www.cban.ca/Press/Press-Releases/Illegal-GM-Wheat-Contamination-Discovered-in-US
Ottawa. – Today, the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) confirmed that Monsanto’s unapproved genetically modified (GM, also called genetically engineered) herbicide tolerant wheat was found growing in a farmer’s field in the state of Oregon (1).
The USDA has not identified the source of contamination and does not know how widespread the contamination is. No contamination has been discovered in Canada.
“This contamination incident is extremely alarming,” said Lucy Sharratt of the Canadian Biotechnology Action Network, “The Canadian government needs to begin taking the risks of contamination from GM crops very seriously.”
“Canadian farmers are still eliminating GM flax contamination that was discovered 10 years after farmers successfully stopped GM flax from entering the market” (2).
Monsanto asked the Canadian and US governments to approve its GM herbicide tolerant (Roundup Ready) wheat but withdrew its requests in 2004 after intensive farmer and consumer protest across North America and in our export markets. There is no GM wheat approved anywhere in the world. According to the USDA, 2005 was the last year that this GM wheat was tested in field plots in the US. Canadian government records show that 2004 was the last year Monsanto field-tested GM wheat in Canada.
“Contamination risks from growing and field testing GM crops are not fully assessed by Canadian authorities because the government doesn’t care about the economic impacts of contamination,” said Sharratt. “We need a moratorium on all new GM crop approvals and field tests until the contamination risk is adequately recognized in regulation, and the environmental, economic and social impacts are fully evaluated. The Canadian government needs to take urgent steps to stop the release of GM alfalfa, for example.”
This latest case of genetic contamination is, unfortunately, not a rare event (3). In 2006 the USDA announced contamination from unapproved GM rice, an event that ultimately devastated global markets for US rice farmers (4).
“How many cases of genetic contamination will it take before governments learn the lesson and apply the precautionary principle to GM crops and food?” concluded Sharratt.
Notes:
(1) http://www.aphis.usda.gov/newsroom/2013/05/ge_wheat_detection.shtml
(2) http://www.cban.ca/flax
(3) http://www.gmcontaminationregister.org/index.php?content=re®=0&inc=2&con=0&cof=0&year=0
(4) http://www.greenpeace.org/international/en/publications/reports/bayer-cropscience-contaminates/
For more information: Lucy Sharratt, Coordinator, Canadian Biotechnology Action Network, 613 241 2267 ext 25