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This is not a joke
Posted: Thursday, June 18, 2009 1:49 pm
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In the European Union, what do you call a food ingredient that's been harvested from a GMO developed and patented by a giant multinational corporation with historic ties to the chemical industry, denounced by activists, and submitted for approval in 2006? Approved, and no label required. This is not a joke.

The product actually exists, and was just approved, after only three years.

Here's another hint. The product, derived from a GMO, has been filtered so that no "live cells" from the GMO remain. No, it's not oil from GM soybeans, maize, or canola.

Still don't get it? Here's another hint. It's a protein. No, it's not lecithin from GM soy.

If those were your guesses, they're all good guesses. Except for the fact that all these food ingredients are subject to EU tolerance limits, labeling, and traceability, even when the most sophisticated tests available cannot detect any signs of their having come from a GMO.

Give up? It's Ice Structuring Protein (ISP), originally isolated from an Arctic fish and and produced by genetically modified yeast. According to Unilever, the corporation that developed and patented the product, ISP can help reduce the fat and calorie content of products by up to 50 percent. Its ability to improve the stability of ice cream also allows for a higher fruit content, an improved taste, better structure and slower melting.

Why does this product get European approval, and so quickly, when other food ingredients meeting the same criteria do not? The European Commission explains why:
Pursuant to recital 16 of Regulation (EC) No 1829/2003 of the European Parliament and of the Council ( 2 ), food and feed which are manufactured with the help of a genetically modified processing aid are not included in the scope of that Regulation. The Report from the Commission to the Council and the European Parliament on the implementation of that Regulation ( 3 ) has clarified that the authorisation and labelling requirements set out in the Regulation are not applicable to food or feed produced by fermentation using genetically modified micro-organisms.
Does calling it a 'processing aid' explain things? Not really.

Lecithin is an emulsifier often added to chocolate during the manufacturing process to help give it a smooth, fluid consistency. Lecithin stabilizes fat drops and keeps them from congealing and separating. That is to say, it's a processing aid--but if the lecithin comes from GM soy, it's subject to all the regulatory punishments the EUhas been able to devise.

Does it make any difference to say that it's 'produced by fermentation'? Such as, perhaps, like soy sauce? It's a product of fermentation--fermented soy beans. No, it doesn't. Soy sauce made from GM soy must be labeled.

However, soy beans are not microbes. Do you suppose there's a relevant difference between GM microbes and GM plants? No, and that's because we're talking about a protein, instead. And historically, technophobes in Europe and elsewhere collapse in hallucinatory fits at the otherwise whimsical suggestion that foods from GM crops might result in GM microbes in their intestines. So, the notion of Europe just giving a pass to all GM microbes is a bad guess, too.

Give up? Here's the real reason why a food ingredient, harvested from a GMO, that's been developed and patented by a giant multinational corporation with historic ties to the chemical industry, and denounced by activists, can get unfettered approval from European officials in three years: it doesn't compete against an existing domestic product.
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GMO (noun) 1. An acronym for the term, 'Genetically Modified Organism'. 2. A plant, animal or microbe with a genetic code which has been intentionally altered, such as through forced evolution (see selective breeding); through random mutations induced with radiation or chemicals (see mutagenesis); or through the selective transfer, promoting or silencing of specific genes (see genetic engineering). 3. Most generally, any descendant of a primordial urbiote. (See evolution.)

obelus (noun) A dagger-shaped typographical symbol [ † ] which directs a reader's attention to important matters. From the Greek, obelus, literally, a roasting skewer.

GMObelus (noun, proper) A publication directing the attention of readers to the latest news and commentary regarding the development and use of genetically modified organisms in agriculture and related fields.

peer (noun) 1. One of two or more computers sending data to each other over the same network. 2. One of two or more persons sharing information with each other over such a network. (See also, 'remote peer'.)

peer review (noun phrase)  A process by which peers review information shared over a network, rather than each other. (Compare, argumentum ad hominem.)

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