Recently, several Chinese lawyers filed a lawsuit with the aim of forcing China’s government to address China’s current ambiguous regulations and regulatory enforcement on labelling of commercial edible oils produced from GMOs. The safety of GM foods is a globally contentious issue that divides the scientific community and is also a huge concern amongst Chinese consumers. Most people are unwilling to choose GM foods but are likely to have unwittingly consumed GM foods due to unclear labelling. What make the problem worse is many unscrupulous manufacturers, distributors and even major catering companies do not follow GMO labeling requirements at all. Once KFC soymilk tested positive for transgenic soybean without any accompanying labeling or visible notification.
In regards to edible oils food dealers often have “non-GMO” very clearly marked and give wide publicity to the fact products are “100% non-GMO”. However, for GM ones, the information is not clear which violates consumers right to know. The problem is not isolated to oils, lots of other GM crops, such as rice, soybean, potatoes, corn, pawpaw, etc. and all of subsequent processed products usually lack requisite labelling.
According to a series of regulations like “Regulations on Administration of Agricultural Genetically Modified Organisms Safety”, “Provisions on Administration of Food labeling”, Regulations on Administration of Safety Labeling of Agricultural Genetically Modified Organisms”, etc. GMO products must be clearly indicated on labels. The Ministry of Agriculture also issued the Labeling of agricultural genetically modified organisms with label (MOA 869 Announcement-1-2007) which set out detailed requirement on how to label GM foods. However, the standard is criticized for its vague requirements which allow profit driven companies to exploit regulatory loopholes. Lawyers have issued this lawsuit with the intention of forcing an amendment or reform of GM food labelling regulations. In addition to regulatory revision, enforcement must also be strengthened. Premarket and postmarked testing of foods must be frequent and conducted under stringent conditions and accompanying punishments for violators of labelling requirements must be swift and severe.
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