The study, done by Delhi-based environment think tank Centre for Science and Environment (CSE), said that 32 percent of the 65 randomly selected products yielded positive results under the GM category.

The samples, which were picked up from retail outlets in Delhi-NCR, Gujarat and Punjab regions, included baby food, packaged snacks and edible oil among others.

The said samples are mostly imported either from North American or Middle Eastern countries.

"The products which were found to be GM-positive include infant food, edible oil and packaged food snacks. Most of these are imported from the US, Canada, the Netherlands, Thailand, and the UAE. These productswere produced from or containsoya, cotton seed, corn or rapeseed (canola), which are known GM crops of the world," the release read.

Reflecting on the study, CSE director general Sunita Narain said: “Our government says it has not allowed the import of GM food products. Then how is this happening? We have found that laws are not the problem – the regulatory agencies are.”

We had been hearing about the presence of illegal GM food in India, and decided to do a reality check by testing processed foods. We were shocked to know the scale in which GM foodshave penetrated the Indian market. The regulatory authorities are to blame here – the FSSAIhas not allowed any GM food on paper,but has failed to curb its illegal sales.

-Chandra Bhushan, deputy director general, CSE

Key findings of the study

• 32 per cent (21 out of 65) of the food product samples tested were GM-positive. About 80 per cent (16 out of 21) of those which tested positive were imported. These were made of or used soy, corn and rapeseed and were imported from Canada, the Netherlands, Thailand, the UAE, and the US.

• 56 per cent (9/16) of oil samples, 25 per cent (10/39) of packaged food samples and 25 per cent (2/8) of infant food samples were GM-positive.

• The CSE lab also tested five samples of cottonseed oil from India – all tested positive.This is because BT-cotton is the single GM crop that has been allowed for cultivation in the country. Says Bhushan: “But this should worry us. Firstly, no permission has been given for the use of GM cottonseed oil for human consumption. Secondly, cottonseed oil is also mixed in other edible oils, particularly vanaspati, which means we are consuming it without knowing.”

• GM contamination was found in infant food, sold for children with medical ailments, including allergies. Two products by Abbott Laboratories, the American healthcare company, were found to be GM-positive -- one was for lactose-intolerant infants and the other was a hypoallergenic (for minimizing the possibility of an allergic reaction). Neither product has any label warningparents that this food has GM ingredients.

• Other than edible oil, no processedfood sample manufactured in India was found GM-positive.

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65 per cent (13/20) GM-positive samples did not mention anything about GM on their labels. These include the following

• Canola oil brands (‘Farrell’ imported from UAE by Jindal Retails (India) Pvt Ltd; ‘Hudson’ from UAE, marketed by Dalmia Continental Pvt Ltd; ‘Jivo’ imported from Canada by Jivo Wellness Pvt Ltd);and cottonseed oil brands from India (‘Ankur’, ‘Ginni’, ‘Tirupati’ and ‘Vimal’).

• Packaged foods like ‘Pancake syrup original’ and ‘Popcorn Hot N’ Spicy’ -- both products of American Garden – imported in India by Bajoria Foods Pvt Ltd; ‘FrootLoops’ -- a sweetened multigrain cereal from Kellogg’s imported by Newage Gourmet Foods;and ‘Crispy corn snacks’ from Bugles – distributed by General MillsInc, USA and imported by Newage Gourmet Foods.

• Three products made false claims suggesting that no GM ingredient is used. These were ‘Candrop’ Canola oil from Canadaimported by Century Edible Cooking Oils Pvt Ltd; ‘Mori-nu silken tofu’ from the US, imported by Olive Tree Trading Pvt Ltd; and ‘PromPlus sweet whole kernel corn’ from Thailandimported by Guru KirpaImpex.

• Four products that carried labels of genetic engineering technology were ‘Butter and Garlic Croutons’ from MrsCubbison’s; ‘Corn puffs’ by Trix – distributed by General Mills Sales Inc, USA; ‘Original syrup’ from Aunt Jemima – distributed by Quaker Oats in the US; and ‘Dark corn syrup’ from Karo, US. All four products were imported by Newage Gourmet Foods.

What are genetically modified (GM) organisms and GM foods?

According to WHO, genetically modified organisms (GMOs) can be defined as organisms (i.e. plants, animals or microorganisms) in which the genetic material (DNA) has been altered in a way that does not occur naturally by mating and/or natural recombination.

The technology is often called “modern biotechnology” or “gene technology”, sometimes also “recombinant DNA technology” or “genetic engineering”. It allows selected individual genes to be transferred from one organism into another, also between nonrelated species. Foods produced from or using GM organisms are often referred to as GM foods.

GM foods are developed – and marketed – because there is some perceived advantage either to the producer or consumer of these foods. This is meant to translate into a product with a lower price, greater benefit (in terms of durability or nutritional value) or both.

However, the human health concerns of GM foods are premised on three main issues- the potentials to provoke allergic reaction (allergenicity), gene transfer and outcrossing.

Different GM organisms include different genes inserted in different ways. This means that individual GM foods and their safety should be assessed on a case-by-case basis and that it is not possible to make general statements on the safety of all GM foods, according to WHO.

Image: downtoearth.org.in / Screenshot of protests against GMO