Australians are likely to consume genetically-modified (GM) foods every time they eat at a restaurant, or buy food from a take-away or bakery, despite the country having one of the world's strictest labelling regulations for GM products.
According to Food Standards Australia and New Zealand (FSANZ), foods that are intended for "immediate consumption" or sold from vending machines are exempt from mandatory GM labelling requirements.
This means that the local fish-and-chips shop or bakery can use GM canola oil or grains without the consumer's knowledge. They are, however, required to disclose the presence of GM products upon request.
Flavours that are present in amounts of no more than 1g per kg are excluded from the labelling requirements. Another grey area is where GM products are "unintentionally present" and do not exceed 1 per cent of the final weight.
Furthermore, regulations exclude the labelling of foods made from animals fed with GM feed, which means that many dairy, meat and poultry products may contain modified traces.
No uniform laws
Although GM labelling is said to be mandatory in Australia, there is no Federal law that enforces testing of all products and the policing is left up to individual states.
Furthermore, testing of foods for GM presence is costly.
"The labelling [is] set so that enforcement agencies can go in and test if there is altered DNA in the final product," said Lydia Buchtmann, Media Officer from FSANZ.
"I understand the cost is quite expensive," she added.
Critics say such an approach leaves many loopholes and call for greater control.
"This is a national food supply; they should be the people who [are] policing these laws. But it's not being done," says Judy Carman, director of the Adelaide-based Institute of Health and Environmental Research.
"Consumers [must] have a choice. Consumers repeatedly said: we don't want GM food. That means they [FSANZ] need [to implement] labelling.."
Added to this is the difficulty to trace products from countries that are less GM-conscious. To date, there have not been any independent testing ordered by FSANZ or by the Australian Quarantine and Inspection Service on any imported foods, says Dr Carman.
Singapore, Hong Kong, the Philippines and Mexico currently have no explicit regulations in place for the labelling of GM foods, while in Canada and the US, the regime is voluntary. Japan and China are only required to label a product if GM components are present in amounts greater than 5 per cent of the final food.
GM crops widely available
Most GM foods involve GM crops. There are currently over 50 approved GM products in Australia, which include soya bean, canola, corn, potato, sugarbeet, rice, alfalfa and cotton seed oil.
The foods are widely present in breads, pastries, snack foods, baked products, oils, fried foods, confectionary, soft drinks and sausage skins. No fresh foods are approved for sale, unlike in the US where GM papaya is widely available.
The majority of GM foods in Australia are imported, as currently only canola oil and cotton have been approved to be grown locally. This year, NSW and Victoria have agreed to harvest the GM canola plant, while WA remains "GM-free".
There are two main labelling methods in the world for GM foods – the "method of production" and the "composition of final product".
It is the second method that is more popular and is currently used in Australia and New Zealand. It requires foods to be labelled as GM only if the final product contains modified components and ignores the production process.
"We think there should be a strict degree of labelling. [If] something has been changed by whatever process, [that] does not mean it's not a GM food…People need to know in a way that is open and transparent if there are GM products in any food and then they can make their own decision," says Christopher Zinn, media spokesperson for CHOICE, Australia's largest consumer organisation.
GM crops are made by inserting DNA from bacteria, viruses, plants or animals into a plant to get the plant to produce one or more proteins that it would not normally produce. The process is therefore very different from conventional plant breeding.
At present, almost all GM crops currently eaten are herbicide-tolerant or produce their own pesticide(s), or both. This can lead to possibly higher residues of herbicides in food, according to the Australian Public Health Association.
Although there is no concrete evidence to say that GM foods are unsafe, some research suggests that the products may lead to unknown allergic reactions. The modified DNA can also cross from mother to foetus, while long-term effects of GM foods are not known.
Though not all agree. Professor Higgins, genetics expert from Australia's leading research institution CSIRO, says GM foods are totally safe.
"There is vast evidence to say that GM products are entirely safe…People have been eating GM foods for 12–13 years. They have been approved to be safe for human consumption."
No consensus
An overwhelming majority of consumers, however, have shown some opposition to buying GM foods. According to Roy Morgan Research, Australia's most established market research and public opinion polling company, more than half of the Australian and UK population will not buy GM foods if they can help it. Americans, however, were more divided with 47 per cent saying they would avoid GM products.
Although what most seem to agree on is that labelling of GM foods is paramount. According to CHOICE Online survey, 94 per cent either strongly agree or somewhat agree that there should be comprehensive labelling of foods containing ingredients derived from gene technology or genetic modification.
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