Only a couple of days after Russia's angry response to news that natural wheat crops might be contamined with genetically modified crops, Japan and South Korea follow suit by banning all wheat imports from the United States.
Just this week, news of contamination of non GMO crops with genetically modified seeds has raised many red flags from both US authorities and foreign wheat buyers.
An Oregon farm was found to contain a wide number of gmo plants in a field that was not designated for gmo farming.
The European Union has told to effect tests on all wheat products from the US, to avoid buying contaminated product.
Japan for its part immediately cancelled a 25,000 tonnes order for Western White, a special kind of wheat grown in the American northwest.
The Japanese authorities have also asked that the results of an inquiry on the contamination be disclosed as soon as possible.
Japan buys almost three million tonnes of wheat a year from the US, making one of the largest buyer of the product.
In fact, no gmo wheat is allowed for human consumption in the United States, however, gmo wheat is used for many things, including animal feed, and the US farming department contends that gmo wheat is safe to eat.
In addition, the type of gmo wheat that was found is not even the one farmed for industrial use, but a genetically modified crop that was tested many years ago by Monsanto, but never approved by the FDA for use in the United States. The finding is troublesome, since there is no record of the seed been bought by any farmer.
Soft white wheat, the type that was contaminated, makes up almost 80% of wheat exports to the European Union.
Source : France 24/ 5.31.13
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