A DECADE after genetically modified crops went on sale, the first GM products claiming to have direct benefits for consumers have arrived. The products will be welcomed in the US, but may struggle to dent European opposition to GM.
Monsanto, the biotech crop giant based in St Louis, Missouri, unveiled plans for its Vistive range of GM soybeans on Tuesday in London. It says Vistive soya is leading a second generation of GM crops that benefit consumers and not just farmers. 鈥淚t鈥檚 positive that they鈥檙e starting to look at consumer benefits,鈥� says Sue Davies, chief policy adviser at the London-based consumer association, Which? 鈥淏ut because of the way the first generation were introduced, European consumers will still be very sceptical.鈥�
Monsanto says that the new soybeans will make processed foods and snacks healthier. When added to processed foods, oil from the beans doesn鈥檛 form trans-fatty acids, saturated fats thought to cause heart disease and strokes by clogging up arteries with fatty deposits.
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Farmers in America鈥檚 mid-west will soon be planting around 45,000 hectares with Vistive soybeans. The bean鈥檚 arrival is timely because from 1 January 2006 US food processors must reveal the trans-fatty-acid content of foods to consumers. Using the new soybeans will enable manufacturers to label their products as free of trans-fatty acids, and so claim that they are 鈥渉ealthier鈥�.
The secret was to slash concentrations of linolenic acid in the soybean oil from 8 to 3 per cent. Before it can be used in food, normal soybean oil needs to go through a process called partial hydrogenation, which turns linolenic acid into trans-fatty acids. But oil from the new beans has so little linolenic acid that it doesn鈥檛 need this step, so food fried or processed with it will be free of the offending fats.
Ironically, the soybeans got their low-linolenic-acid trait through conventional breeding. Monsanto crossed these low-linolenic soybeans with strains of soya genetically modified to resist the weedkiller glyphosate. Hurley says they did this because US farmers are already set up to grow the GM variety and would not want to make changes to the way they manage their crops. US consumers are much readier than Europeans to accept GM produce.
鈥淔ood fried or processed with the new genetically modified soya oil will be free of artery clogging trans-fatty acids鈥�
In Europe, GM sceptics wonder why Monsanto didn鈥檛 develop conventional Vistive soybeans to meet demands for non-GM produce in Europe. 鈥淭hey鈥檝e almost shot themselves in the foot from a European perspective,鈥� says Sue Mayer of lobby group GeneWatch UK. 鈥淚f they wanted to convince Europeans they could have maintained it as a conventionally bred, non-GM soybean.鈥� Monsanto says it has no plans for a non-GM version.
The company also revealed that field trials with drought-resistant maize, soybeans and cotton are progressing well. 鈥淔armers don鈥檛 use as much water on the crops, and they get better yields,鈥� says Bryan Hurley of Monsanto, adding that maize is the most advanced.
Environmentalists caution that the trait could escape into wild relatives, allowing them to invade new habitats. However, maize at least does not survive well outside a pampered farm environment and has no wild relatives in the US.
