Alberta wheat contaminated with GMO

As a result, Japan has suspended its tender and sale of wheat from Canada. “We are suspending the tender and sale of Canadian wheat until we confirm that the Canadian wheat that Japan buys contains no GMO,” an official at the Japanese farm ministry said to Reuters.

Canada is one of the world’s largest wheat exporters. The Canadian Food Inspection Agency (CFIA) reacted to the discovery of genetically modified (GM) wheat in southern Alberta.

“The Canadian Food Inspection Agency has recently completed testing of a few wheat plants found on an access road in Alberta that survived a spraying treatment for weeds. When the CFIA was notified of this finding, CFIA scientists conducted tests to determine why the wheat survived. The CFIA’s tests confirmed that the wheat found was genetically modified and herbicide-tolerant.

Since GM wheat is not authorised in Canada, the CFIA worked collaboratively with partners at all levels to gather as much complete, accurate and credible information about this discovery as possible. Based on extensive scientific testing, there is no evidence that this GM wheat is present anywhere other than the isolated site where it was discovered. In addition, Health Canada has concluded that this finding does not pose a food safety risk.

While genetically modified wheat is not approved for commercial use in Canada, the same genetically modified trait has been approved in canola, corn and soybeans for over 20 years. In these crops, previous Health Canada and CFIA safety assessments have demonstrated that this trait does not pose a risk to public health, the health of animals or the environment. The CFIA will continue to work with the landowner to monitor the area over the next 3 years to help prevent any GM wheat from persisting”.

Source: Reuters and CFIA