"Genetically modified food must be labeled"
Genetically modified foods are terribly controversial in Asia, with no commercial farming of GM crops in Japan or Korea. As I have written before, you find lots of soy-based foods in Japan, such as tofu and miso, that are clearly labelled as made from Non-Genetically Modified soy. Consumer organizations here are even lobbying Australia to keep its ban on GM canola (rape seed) used for cooking oil. And time after time, illegal US crops turn up in Japan, prompting recalls and trouble for food companies and authorities - most recently it was yet another GM corn that still had not been approved here.
South Korea will introduce new, more strict GM labelling rules from June 29 this year, according to JoongAng Daily. They note in an editorial that "genetically modified food must be labelled". With higher grain prices, South Korea is finding it more difficult to continue procure Non-GM crops. Expect this debate to pick up steam as consumers find out more.
"If the companies go ahead with the move the groups will join hands and carry out campaigning and boycott products from those manufacturers," said spokesman Kim Dae-hoon of ICOOP, South Korea's largest consumer lobby group, according to Reuters.
And according to Donga, Choi Jun-ho of the civic group Korean Federation for Environmental Movement said, “Current law does not mandate food companies to indicate the use of GMO ingredients in starch sugar and oil on product labels. This must be changed to protect the consumer’s right to know.”
Read more about the heated debate in South Korea:
JoongAng Daily: Food for thought
Chosun Ilbo: High Grain Prices to Bring Flood of GMO Foods
Reuters: South Korea Breaks GMO Food Taboo With First Corn Deal
Donga: Surging Corn Prices Causing Rethink of GMO Foods
(Image from Chosun Ilbo)
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