Global Policy Forum

By José Eduardo Mora

Environmentalists in Central America have accused the World Food Programme (WFP) of distributing genetically modified food in this region, including one kind of corn that has never been approved for human consumption. The U.N. agency refuted the accusations.

In simultaneous press conferences in five Central American nations Wednesday, some 70 civil society organisations said laboratory tests of food handed out by the WFP as part of its aid efforts in the region found a high proportion of genetically modified (GM) products. Most of the aid distributed in Nicaragua, Honduras, El Salvador and Guatemala, as well as the commercial food imports analysed in Costa Rica and the Caribbean island nation of the Dominican Republic (which do not receive food aid), came from the United States.

Genetic ID, an independent U.S. laboratory, analysed over 50 samples of food aid and imports from these six countries, and detected the presence of GM organisms in more than 80 percent of them, including all of the food aid samples. In the only sample in which GM levels were tested, which came from Guatemala, 70 percent was found to consist of GM organisms. The samples, of corn and soy, were collected from June to November 2004.

The activists also said the laboratory tests confirmed that WFP food aid handed out in Guatemala contained StarLink, a GM variety of corn that has never been authorised for human consumption due to the risk of allergic reactions but was found in human food products in the United States in 2000, leading to supermarket recalls.

Friends of the Earth International (FOEI), which issued the complaint along with other environmental groups, as well as human rights organisations, trade unions and small farmers' associations, expressed concern for the health of women and children, the main recipients of WFP food assistance in Central America. The activists demanded the immediate recall of U.N. food products containing GM organisms. A member of FOEI told IPS that even though only 0.1 percent of the sample analysed from Guatemala consisted of StarLink, the actual proportion was not important, "because any percentage makes it illegal," since that variety of GM corn was designed for animal, not human, consumption.

In response to questions from IPS, Alejandro López with the WFP regional office for Latin America rejected allegations that the food aid distributed by the U.N. agency poses any threat to the health of the beneficiaries, and said that all of the products handed out by the agency meet the health standards of the donor countries. According to López, the food donations are approved and certified by the Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO) and World Health Organisation (WHO). He added that as soon as the agency receives a copy of the formal complaint, it will analyse the situation.

With respect to the possible distribution of GM food products, López said the WFP is responsible for ensuring that the food handed out is in good condition and does not pose a threat to the health of the recipients, but that it does not carry out DNA testing of food products. "This question of transgenic foods is an old controversy in which the WFP is not going to get involved," he added.

Mario Godí­nez, who represents Friends of the Earth-Guatemala, said it is "not acceptable" for food aid to contain corn that is not authorised for human consumption. "Finding StarLink four years after it was banned clearly shows that genetically modified foods are not under control," he added. The activists described the situation as "very serious," and urged the WFP to recall all food aid containing GM organisms in Central America, because the possible effects of these products on human health have not yet been determined.

Wagner Ochoa, another Friends of the Earth activist, told IPS that several recipients of the food aid in Guatemala have complained that the corn "has a funny taste". "Many of the people we have asked say that when they have corn of their own to eat, they feed the corn they get from the WFP to their chickens or pigs, because it's in bad condition," he added.

Ochoa said the WFP delegation in Guatemala imported 22,000 tons of corn last year, at a cost of 72 million dollars. "There are regions in our countries with a surplus of corn and other grains, which means food could be purchased here, with guarantees that it has not been contaminated by transgenics," said the activist.

Jaime Vallaure, director of the WFP in El Salvador, said FAO is the most competent global body for judging whether or not food is fit for human consumption. FAO certificates of origin thus allow the WFP to ensure that StarLink GM corn is not distributed in the region, he said. "There is no doubt that we do not distribute StarLink", he added.

Vallaure challenged the non-governmental organisations that made the complaint to present "one single case in which a recipient of WFP food aid was affected by the use of transgenics." "In 2004, the WFP distributed food aid to 105 million people worldwide, and there has not been a single report of anyone affected" by GM food products, he said.

Nevertheless, the environmentalists, trade unionists and small farmers who took part in the news briefings Wednesday maintained that food aid has become the main route for introducing GM products into the region. Fabián Pacheco of the Social Ecology Association in Costa Rica said there is "a great lack of knowledge" on the possible effects of transgenics on human health.

In an interview with IPS, the activist said GM foods are at the centre of a struggle between the public welfare and the private sector, in which transnational corporations have so far emerged victorious. He said a "moratorium" on GM food imports and sales is urgently needed in Costa Rica, in order to carry out an in-depth assessment of the issue.

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