EAT GENETICALLY MODIFIED PRODUCTS - THEY`RE "GOOD FOR YOU"

As early as in 2009, the National Hygiene and Epidemiology Center (RGTsE) issued a statement saying that the Azerbaijani draft law on the presence of genetically modified food additives has loopholes and needs to be amended.  However, R+ was told by RGTsE head of department Imrad Abdullayev that the appropriate amendments have not been discussed in Parliament, and that this is unlikely to happen before autumn.  In the mean time, the expert said that finding a solution to this issue cannot be prolonged because RGTsE studies show that Azerbaijani-made food products contain genetically modified additives, although the packaging does not include this information.  Abdullayev noted that several organizations have been created in the country recently which are supposed to test food samples from the produce available on the Azerbaijani market, but none of them has powers to ban the entry of substandard products into the retail network.

The expert emphasises that tests for genetically modified components in products are very important, because the threats they pose have not been studied in full and there is some probability that they will finally lead to the extermination of life on the planet.  Genetically modified products are obtained by introducing so-called "target genes" into the genetic structure of an organism.  This is done to give plants new qualities.  But it is conventional wisdom that everything which is not natural may result in dire consequences, and human interference in the fundamentals of life might result in upsetting the fragile environmental balance.  The Azerbaijani specialist's opinion is confirmed by Russian researchers, who argue that in the process of introduction genes might not only mutate themselves, but may also have a negative effect on the genome of plants.  In addition, genetically modified plants may synthesize unknown toxic proteins, which is why transgenic products might cause poisoning and allergies in humans.  And the results of experiments on rats shocked the Russian researchers.  Several series of experiments were conducted.  Physiological tests and the mortality of rats in the first and second generations were studied.  In the first series, 30 female rats were studied, divided into four groups.  The first group received genetically modified soy flour in addition to ordinary food.  The second group ate ordinary soy, the third group was fed protein extracts from the genetically modified soy flour and the fourth (control) group was fed standard food without any additives.  These female rats gave birth to 221 first-generation offspring.  Negative results were observed in the "genetically modified soy" group.  More than a half of the young rats (51.6%) of the first generation died during the first three weeks of life, of the survivors, more than one third had weights and sizes 1.5-2 times lower than rats from the control groups.  They were weak and underdeveloped.

Russian experts cannot say with certainty whether the genetically modified foods are dangerous for humans, but the experiments on rats give rise to more than serious concerns.  In this light, the Moscow authorities introduced unprecedented amendments to the city's statute on food security, according to which the city's funds cannot be spent on the purchase of transgenic products or issued as credit to manufacturers of genetically modified foods.  In Azerbaijan, the situation regarding genetically modified foods is worse, because in Russia the law which makes it mandatory to indicate on packaging of both domestically made and imported goods what the components are, was adopted five years ago.  In particular, if transgenic components comprise more than 30% of the product, this should be indicated on the packaging.  And, two years later, amendments were made to the law, according to which packaging should indicate a 0.5% concentration of genetically modified products.

In Azerbaijan, on the other hand, despite the establishment of the State Service for Oversight of the Consumer Market and the work of the State Standardization, Metrology and Patents Committee, and studies conducted by these organizations, no large-scale action against genetically modified products is under way because a number of effective laws need to be adopted.  Essentially, all the above mentioned organizations have their hands tied:  they need appropriate conditions, high-tech laboratories and so forth.  At the same time, as the RGTsE admits, the Azerbaijani market is full of produce which contains genetically modified components.  The situation is worsened by the fact that the transgenic epidemic has spread in the agricultural market.  Just 10 years ago, 12 kinds of watermelons were grown in Azerbaijan, but in the last five years, only one kind, saban, has remained, say agricultural experts.  Genetically modified components destroy the diversity of unmodified plants.  The same is true of potatoes, tomatoes and vegetable oil.  Genetically modified components are present in potato chips, fast-food meals, ketchups and even in baby foods.  In addition, the probability that genetically modified seeds will not grow is very high.  In India, a spike in suicides among farmers has been detected.  They were sold mixed seeds, both unmodified and genetically modified.  Within two years their crops failed:  seeds did not grow.  Even normal plants became infertile as a result of cross-pollination.  In this situation, manufacturers of transgenic seeds can orchestrate famine anywhere in the world by simply refusing to sell seeds to a country.  In the past, the Monsanto company, a major producer of genetically modified crops, announced that all the seeds on the planet would be transgenic within 10-15 years.  And the majority of genetically modified crops become infertile in a generation or two.  This is why biodiversity in fields of genetically modified crops is dramatically reduced.

Experts say that all government-controlled institutions of Azerbaijan - schools, kindergartens, hospitals and so on - should be instructed not to buy products with genetically modified components, but appropriate amendments to the Azerbaijani draft law on genetically modified products should be introduced first; this would make it mandatory to include all the information on packaging.  It is interesting that in 2000, 828 researchers from 84 countries signed an open letter to the governments of all countries on the dangers of genetically modified organisms.  Today, there are more than 2,000 signatures under that letter.  Scientists demand that a moratorium be introduced on the use of transgenic products in foods.