GM foods are both praised as well as detested depending on who is talking about it. According to seed producers who generate the foundation seeds for selling to the farmers and their supporters, GM food is the only option for bridging the gap between food supply and demand. Antagonists point out that GM foods cannot raise productivity and are dangerous to the health of consumers in the long run besides posing cataclysmic environmental dangers to be borne by the future generations. But when some one knowledgeable points out technical faults in assessment of dangers inherent in GM crops, one has to sit and listen. Here is the take.
"The present regulatory system is a complete sham. It has been designed by the pro-industry scientists (who are the beneficiary of the GM technology) for the industry. There is a need for 29 tests to be done before a GM food crop is allowed. In India, we conduct hardly 4 tests and that too just to satisfy the ignorant media. For instance, I don't understand how could health risks be ascertained after 90 days tests. It should be for a lifetime. At least, for the lifetime of a rat, which is 2 years".
Too much industry bias on the part of regulatory agencies and collusion of scientists with vested interests are being blamed for the recent recommendation by the government safety committee to permit cultivation of Bt Brinjal in India . It is not sure why the focus is on Brinjal which is after all a minor vegetable crop in the horticultural landscape oft he country. In this ping-pong game of accusations and counter-accusations, the poor consumer appears to the loser!
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