Processors may be walking into a trap if they start promising consumers “GM-Free” products, warns a University of Saskatchewan agricultural economist.
“How’s anyone going to prove it?” asked Peter Phillips at the Saskatchewan Seed Potato Growers Association annual convention.
“People that are making the assertions (that products are not genetically modified) don’t have the capacity to guarantee the consumer that they are GM-free.”
A number of food companies have said they will not produce foods that contain genetically modified material.
But Phillips said most food products contain a variety of ingredients, many of which could be genetically modified.
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And even materials that are not intentionally genetically modified may contain genes from GM plants because of cross-pollination, Phillips said.
If a company makes a claim that a product is free of genetically modified material, anti-GM groups could send the product for testing. If any GM genetic material was found, the company could face a scandal and public confidence in food claims would be diminished, Phillips said.
“We may get a worse situation than we have today…. The consumer’s going to be even less confident about the product,” said Phillips.
Another problem processors might face is a shortage of supply. About 20 percent of potatoes are genetically modified and half of Canadian canola comes from GM crops, Phillips said. If buyers stopped accepting GM food products, they would have trouble finding replacements.
“That’s what people haven’t really thought through yet.”
