"If a supplier is buying his corn in Ontario and selling it here, there is no way for the consumer to know. You can ask, but the grocer may not know," she said.
The groups have launched a petition demanding the Quebec government apply the recommendations of a report it commissioned called Food Security: A societal challenge, a responsibility for all the stakeholders in the food chain. That report, adopted unanimously by the National Assembly in 2004, recommended obligatory labelling of genetically modified (GM) foods and a system to trace the origins of foods sold in Quebec.
The groups are calling for those recommendations to be adopted by July 2012, for the government to increase its support for organic farming, and pressure the federal government to tighten approval procedures for GM foods. They also want Quebec to adopt laws to make GM food producers responsible when non-GM food crops are contaminated by GM crops.
Health Canada's website claims that "no GM food is allowed on the market in Canada unless Health Canada's scientists are satisfied that the food is safe and nutritious."
But the Réseau claims Health Canada has approved the sale of corn grown from Syngenta's Attribute sweet corn varieties, which have been genetically modified to protect against damage by European corn borers, corn earworms and fall army worms. The modified corn carries a gene that enables it to produce the same insecticidal protein as the naturally occurring Bacillus thuringiensis (Bt) bacterium, which binds to their digestive systems, and causes them to stop feeding and die within 48 hours.
The product was authorized despite the results of a recent Quebec study that showed the presence of the Bt toxin in fetuses and pregnant women who consumed genetically modified foods. The groups say since it is not known what impact this toxin has on babies and women, more research should be done before selling this corn to consumers.
They are also concerned that GM crops can contaminate nearby organic farmers' crops, and threaten various species important to biodiversity.
Gingras notes that surveys show that more than 80 per cent of Quebecers favour obligatory labelling of GM foods.
Health Canada has developed a program for voluntary labelling of foods that are the products of genetic engineering, but critics say the program does not result in enough information getting to consumers.
