Greenpeace warns the public and politicians not to believe
Syngenta, the financer of Golden Rice and their misleading
promises. They aim at nothing but creating an easy pathway for GE
crops in developing countries so they can increase their own
profits.
Potrykus severely attacked the current legal regulations for GE
seeds last Friday. He demanded that GE crops should be treated as
normal plants, and that no environmental or health assessments were
needed.
"Syngenta claims to be trying to help people suffering from
vitamin A deficiency, but Potrykus' attack made it clear that the
GE industry uses Golden Rice to campaign for an easier marketing of
GE-seeds," says Christoph Then, Greenpeace GE campaigner who
witnessed Potrykus speech. "It looks like the industry is
campaigning for their GE seeds while abusing people that suffer
from severe malnutrition."
While claims were made of a much higher content of pro-vitamin
A, it was admitted during the speech that there are still a lot of
unanswered questions. The researchers - even after five years of
study - don't know how much pro-vitamin A is left when the rice is
cooked, it is unclear how much the human body will take up from the
rice and no risk assessments for the environment, nor human health
have been performed.
Greenpeace reports, released last Thursday (3), show that the
problem of vitamin A deficiency (VAD) needs a diverse approach. VAD
exists predominantly in developing countries and affects millions
of people. Solutions such as increased food diversity, vitamin A
supplementation and home gardening, have proven to be working
solutions for VAD. The false hope of Golden Rice distracts the
political support that is needed for these solutions. Golden Rice
can even make the situation worse, as it promotes rice as a main
diet.
"Unfortunately there is no magic solution for this serious
problem. This propaganda for Golden Rice will not help people, but
take away public awareness from already existing, cheaper and more
sustainable solutions for vitamin A deficiency," says Then. "But
the message from Potrykus' speech was clear, the GE industry will
take on everything to promote their product, whatever the risk for
the environment or people will be".
Notes: (1) Ingo Potrykus during the seminar "Golden Rice, vitamin A and blindness - public responsibility and failure" at the Institut for Plant Science in Zurich.(2) Potrykus claimed during his speech that the new generation of Golden Rice can contain up to 40 micrograms pro-vitamin A per gram of GE rice, compared to 1,6 micrograms per gram of GE rice five years ago. These results will be, according to Potrykus, published in Nature Biotechnology in the beginning of April. (3) Greenpeace 2005. Not all that glitters is gold: the false hope of "Golden Rice" (www.greenpeace.org/goldenrice); Lorch, A. 2005. Vitamin A deficiency: diverse causes, diverse solutions (www.greenpeace.org/vitaminA); Frei, M. and Becker, K. 2005. On rice, biodiversity and nutrients (www.greenpeace.org/ricebiodiversity)