Study 'needed to assess GM organisms in food'

Dubai: A scientific study to assess genetically modified organisms in UAE food is needed to know for certain how much of what we eat, comes from genetically engineered crops, says a food official.

However labelling of food containing genetically modified organisms (GMOs) is absolutely vital, said Dr Ameen Yousuf, food safety consultant at the General Secretariat of Municipalities.

He said he could not say whether or not GMOs are dangerous to health as more studies are needed, but foods with GMOs should be labelled to alert consumers and give them a choice.

Following the recent statistics from Greenpeace that 40 per cent of food available in the supermarkets in the UAE contains GMOs, Yousuf said scientific research needs to be conducted before releasing such figures.

"We can't say that 40 per cent of food from supermarkets has GMOs. We need to collect food and data to have real research, otherwise it is not fair. It might not be true and it scares the consumers," said Yousuf.

He said that although it is unknown if genetically engineered food is bad for health, it could be discovered in 20 years that there are serious side effects.

Greenpeace conducted a study with 35 products bought in the UAE, Kuwait and Qatar. Eleven of the products, including Doritos chips and Quaker corn meal, were bought in the UAE and seven of those tested positive for GMOs.

He said a campaign to tackle GMOs was in the pipelines in the UAE.