Singapore to ensure safety of GM food

AVA prepares to handle a possible increase in such items

SINGAPORE is gearing up to handle a possible onslaught of genetically  modified food in the next five years. A laboratory has been set up by  the Agri-Food and Veterinary Authority (AVA) to test such food items  and make sure they do not pose any health risks for people here. Six AVA staff have also been trained to test for food that has been  altered, said the local food watchdog's chief executive  officer, Dr Ngiam Tong Tau. He was speaking to The Straits Times after opening the International  Conference on Genetically Modified Foods - Prospects, Challenges and  Safety at the Mandarin Hotel yesterday. The laboratory, which was set up last year at its public health laboratory  in Jurong, will be relocated to its new Lim Chu Kang public health centre  soon.   Genetically-modified (GM) food is from plants or animals that have been  injected with special genes to give them certain properties. In 2001, more than 52 million ha of such soya bean, corn, cotton and  canola oil were grown in 13 countries. About half of the soya and a third of the corn sold here is genetically  modified, but they have all been tested stringently before hitting the  shelves. I didn't know that corn sold here was GM modified! Taken from the straights times, 2003 Geraldine