Say No To B.T Brinjal

Brinjal (eggplant, aubergine) is one of the most traditional vegetables in India and probably its land of origin. "Bt Brinjal, the first ever such Genetically Modified (GM) food crop anywhere in the world with the toxin-producing Bt gene in it."

The spreading of GMO products concerns all of us, not the least in the U.S., the only country where proper labeling of GM foods is not legally required and has repeatedly been attacked in court by the gigantic biotech company Monsanto, which is aiming at owning the entire food supply of the world. This has happened in several states, in particular as far as rBGH milk is concerned.Even we are also concerned about it.Here are some of the reasons to say no to B.T.Brinjal.

1.GM crops are created by the unnatural insertion of foreign genes into host DNA of a plant, which leads to numerous unpredictable changes that are potentially dangerous for health. Bt Brinjal has been artificially created by insertion of a bacterial gene (Bacillus thuringiensis-Bt) to produce a toxin 24X7 inside the plant to target one pest—the Brinjal Fruit & Shoot Borer.

2.India is the Centre of Origin/Diversity of Brinjal (more than 2500 varieties) and no GM version of any crop has been introduced in its Centre of Origin/Diversity anywhere in the world. This diversity—national heritage---is now under great threat from Bt Brinjal. Remember, brinjal is also a crop of great socio-cultural significance to Indians.

3.Health implications of Bt Brinjal—No independent research to prove the safety of Bt Brinjal exists. All decision-making happened based on the crop-developer’s data. Further, no long-term (i.e., 90 days plus) or human feeding studies exist. This Bt Brinjal also contains anti-biotic resistant genes and poses serious public health concerns with the possibility of ‘horizontal gene transfer’ . What’s more, independent analyses of the crop developer’s biosafety data concluded that this Bt Brinjal is unsafe and unfit for human consumption.

4.If Bt Brinjal is approved, we, as consumers, will have no way of knowing whether the brinjal we consume daily is GM or not, as all brinjals in the market will look the same. This will be a violation of every consumer’s right to know, right to safe food and right to choose which food she/he wants to eat. Further, labeling cannot be a solution for India where the majority of consumption is of unpackaged foods in the open market and from local mandis.

5.Bt Brinjal has not been assessed for its impact on Indian Systems of Medicine (ISM). Brinjal and related species are used widely in Ayurveda and other medicinal systems. One can hence not predict whether the entry of Bt Brinjal would make ISM medicines/practices ineffective or even toxic!