Vitamin Green

I have to admit that brinjals (or aubergines or egg plant) have never been my favourite food – so I’m a little biased . But a recent development has given me even more reason to distrust them. The clearance of these genetically modified brinjal (Bt Brinjal) for consumption (supposedly no health risks) seems premature and ambiguous.

Why should we care?

Because this is the first GM ‘food crop’ that has been allowed in India, and there’s much more where it came from. GM is being pushed by ‘agro companies’ aggressively, but there is enough evidence that its not the best choice for farmers.

Specifically 3 MAJOR concerns that we need to be very wary about:

Is it healthy? The jury is out on that, with various views on the subject. But Europe seems to have done the smart thing and has a wait and watch policy. We need to study them longer to judge the health impact well.

Can we choose? Will sellers of these vegetables and food processing companies that use them be required to label them clearly, so we as consumers can make a choice? That’s critical. Also, will these ‘infect’ other indigenous varieties and reduce the diversity available to us?

What about liability? Will GM producers be legally liable if their produce or processed food using it, is found to have an adverse health impact? This is critical too.