PETALING JAYA: More stringent labelling could be on the cards for food items on Living Modified Organisms (LMOs) and Genetically Modified Organism (GMO) following proposed amendments to the Biosafety Act.
The proposed regulations intend to regulate LMOs and LMO products beyond human food. This includes animal feeds, seeds, fertilisers and others.
Sensitive ingredients or those that can trigger allergic reactions must also be labelled.
This standard includes animal- derived LMOs, which should be labelled for vegetarians and those with religious dietary restrictions, according to a document on the proposed amendments released by the Natural Resources and Environmental Sustainability Ministry.
LMO containing allergenic or hypersensitive elements must also be labelled.
An exception is given to ingredients where the LMO content does not exceed 3% for products which have an “unintentional presence” of LMO.
This includes LMOs that have been highly processed.
The highly refined process refers to methods such as filtration, high-temperature heating, bleaching or intense chemical purification. These processes destroy or remove nearly all of the original genetic material of the product, resulting in either a very small amount remaining or complete elimination of it.
As a result, the DNA becomes difficult or impossible to detect.
It will be mandatory to list down GMO items on the label, for example, soya (genetically modified).
“Importers must have a Certificate of Analysis to record and retain it for inspection purposes by enforcement officers,” the document read.
It stated that the proposed amendments would be done through additions to Section 61 and Section 69.
There had been news reports that the amendments could be tabled in the Dewan Rakyat this year.
