Labeling of Gene-Edited Food in Japan

From Jul 3 to 6, 2019, Wellness Food Japan (the largest natural food & health food exhibition in Japan) was successfully held in Pacifico Yokohama, which attracted more than 30 thousands participants. ChemLinked was invited to deliver a keynote speech regarding China's food import procedure and the supervision mechanism here.

On March 28th, 2019, Japan MHLW released a report and pointed out that gene-edited food will be exempt from safety evaluation when it involves no foreign genes (please click here for the detailed analysis) ^[1]. During the seminar, an official from Japan’s Consumer Affairs Agency introduced future trends in gene-edited food labeling requirements. Prior to any actions Japanese authorities will initially conduct research to understand the social and health implications.
 
During the seminar industry also expressed its opinions regarding gene-edited food labeling obligations, focusing on the following 3 aspects:

1. The label compliance of imported and exported gene-edited food

A representative of Foocom questioned about the compliance requirements for gene edited foods during both importation and exportation. An official from Consumer Affairs Agency replied that the labeling requirements of imported gene-edited food are still under discussion, while exports should comply with requirements in the destination country.

1. Verifiability of gene-edited ingredients

The government official stated that it is hard to identify whether gene-edited ingredients are contained in final products because raw materials usually undergo multiple processing procedures during production. However, a reporter from “Food Life Association” argued that the gene-edited ingredient could be distinguished by its manufacturer using data records.

1. Indication of “gene-edited”

Some enterprises suggest that “gene-edited” should be indicated on the package and detailed information could be presented by scanning a QR code. Currently Japanese consumers are still conservative about genetically modified or gene-edited food products ^[2].