Ruling on GMO-based product labeling urged

Annastashya Emmanuelle, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

The Indonesian Consumers Foundation (YLKI) expressed concern on Sunday over the government's tardy progress in issuing a regulation on the labeling of GMO-based products, even though such products were widely distributed and consumed in Indonesia.

According to the YLKI, genetically-modified organism (GMO)s and transgenic products had been sold in Indonesia for the last 20 years, and yet consumers remained misinformed about the contents of such products as manufacturers failed to state them on the labels.

"Consumers have the right to choose which products they consume by having adequate information," YLKI chairwoman Indah Suksmaningsih told The Jakarta Post on Sunday.

The organization cited health concerns and possible impacts on the environment caused by transgenic experiments -- a way of creating higher-quality crops and stocks by inserting genes from other species.

Although there had been no report of Indonesian consumers being harmed by the products, the potential health risk remained, she said.

"How can there be any data (on victims) if there's no studies being made? People might think they were suffering from a certain illness due to another reason, while actually the GMO-based products they consumed were the cause," Indah said.

Allergic reactions were the most common occurrence as the consumers did not realize they were consuming products containing substances they were allergic to.

Indah gave as an example the preserving of tomatoes, where producers injected the genes of an Antarctic fish to make the tomatoes stay fresh during storage.

"A person who's allergic to fish could suffer an illness as he does not realize that he's consuming tomatoes with fish genes," she said.

The YLKI conducted a study from December 2001 through January 2002 and found seven food products that used GMOs in their raw materials. The products were Isomil Soy and Infant Formula (PT Abbot Indonesia), Indofood ketchup (PT Indosentra Pelangi), ABC ketchup (PT Heinz ABC Indonesia), Bangau ketchup (PT Sakura Aneka Food), Pringles potato chips (Procter & Gamble), corn flakes and Simba (PT Simba Indosnack Makmur).

The findings were, however, contested by the Indonesian Food and Beverages Association (Gapmmi), which said that the YLKI had failed to carry out a thorough study or to mention the amount of GMOs in each of the products examined.

The food labeling and advertising regulation, which was issued in 1999 as part of the implementation of the 1996 Food Law, stipulates that consumers have the right to information on and protection against GMO-based products.

The regulation, however, has yet to be widely implemented as the Ministries of Agriculture, Forestry, Food and Horticulture, and Health, which jointly issued the ruling, have yet to decide on the level of GMOs that must be declared on the product's label.

"We plan to finalize it in March this year," Dedi Fardiaz, the deputy of the hazardous substances and food safety control section of the Food and Drug Control Agency (BPOM), said on Sunday.

Dedi acknowledged the potential health risks to consumers who were allergic to certain proteins in product, while underlining that not all transgenic products were harmful.

"It really depends on the person. Therefore, this matter cannot be generalized," Dedi told the Post.

Although many scientists have given assurances that the technology is harmless, most governments around the world agree that "the jury is still out" on the real long-term effects on people's health.