As you may have noted from the publicity surrounding the New Leaf, there is
a bit of confusion surrounding the exact list of currently approved
genetically engineered food products in Canada. There are a large number of
products in the pipeline, at various stages of approval with a variety of
agencies.
However, to the best of our knowledge, the current list is:
New Leaf Potato (Monsanto): approved for import, sales, and contained
production as of last month; resistant to Colorado Potato beetle
Canola: about 4 or 5 companies have a pesticide resistant variety approved,
for growth, sales, etc., in Canada, as of this summer; it is expected to hit
the market this winter
FlavrSavr Tomato (Calgene): approved for import and sale in Canada; as far
as we know none have actually been imported yet, as Calgene has not caught
up to US sales.
Chymesin (Chymax): This genetically engineered rennet substitute has been
used in Canadian cheese making for about five years. There are also two
other genetically engineered enzymes in use in Canada.
Canadian-specific info regarding current regulatory status is hard to find.
We are just in the process of trying to collate such a list, looking at
upcoming products as well as current ones, but won't get too far before
Christmas. Once we've had a chance to confirm some of the information, I'd
be glad to send you a copy.
For non-Canadian specific info, lists are easier to find. The best is a
fairly recent and quite comprehensive listing from BIO, the US industry
organization, in an article called "Agricultural Biotechnology: The Future
of the World's Food Supply". You can obtain this directly from the BIO home
page (http://www.bio.com/); I believe this page is also accessible from
Access Excellence. Products in Canada are usually about 6 months to two
years behind the American ones in the regulatory approval process, with the
exception of rBST.
The EU has attempted to place a political ban on all genetically engineered
food products, although a number have been approved through the regulatory
system, and I know of a couple which will be sold (are being sold?) in the
UK.
Please feel free to send me a personal e-mail if you would like me to mail
you (the old fashioned way) a package of info with more details about any of
these products or the biotech processes, or for more info and/ or a copy of
our list when we have one.
Hope this helps! Michelle
Michelle Campbell, Operations Manager
Canadian Institute of Biotechnology Tel:(613) 563 8849
130 Albert Street, Suite 420 Fax:(613) 563
8850
Ottawa, ON K1P 5G4, CANADA
INTERNET: michelle at biotech.cahttp://www.biotech.ca/
----------
From: BIOSCI-REQUEST
To: plant-ed
Subject: Approved genetically altered plants
Date: Sunday, December 17, 1995 11:12AM
Return-Path: <BIOSCI-REQUEST at net.bio.net>
To: plant-ed at net.bio.net
From: mulligan at kean.ucs.mun.ca (Martin E. Mulligan)
Subject: Approved genetically altered plants
Date: 17 Dec 95 11:12:17 -0330
Message-ID: <1995Dec17.111217.1 at leif>
NNTP-Posting-Host: leif.ucs.mun.ca
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
--
There was a news item in the local paper last week about the "NewLeaf"
potato being approved for human consumption by Health Canada. I'm
interested in knowing what other plants have received approval for
release and what their genetic modifications are for a senior level
molecular biology discussion course. Does anyone have such a list or
can you point me to a suitable web site? I'm most interested in plants
that have received approval in Canada but I'd be interested in comparing
them with those that have been approved in the US or Europe as well
THanks for any help,
Martin Mulligan
Dept of Biochemistry
Memorial University of Newfoundland
mulligan at morgan.ucs.mun.ca
