Source: CropBiotech Update

According to European Union (EU) rules, foods containing less than 0.9% genetically modified (GM) ingredients need not be labeled as containing GM, provided that this presence is “adventitious or technically unavoidable during seed production, cultivation, harvest, transport, or processing.”

In relation to this, Tristan Funk of the Technische Universität München, Germany and colleagues look at “Outcrossing frequencies and distribution of transgenic oilseed rape (Brassica napus L.) in the nearest neighbourhood.” Their research, published in the January 2006 of the European Journal of Agronomy, focused on the possibility of GM canola outcrossing into nearby non-GM plants, and arose out of work on a two-year field trial.

By checking on the resistance of plants in surrounding acceptor plots, researchers found, among others, that 1) an average gene flow of 0.28%, 0.01%, and 0.0065% was detected for 100%, 1.0%, and 0.1% transgenic donor plots, respectively, clearly below the EU labeling threshold of 0.9%; 2) outcrossing events in short distances are mainly due to insects, such as honey bees and wild bumblebees; 3) a separation distance as low as 1.1m would already be sufficient to comply with the EU threshold.

Subscribers to the European Journal of Agronomy can read the complete article at http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.eja.2005.04.002.