The Department of Trade and Industry has handed down a ruling for mandatory labelling of genetically modified foods in South Africa.

From now on, you have a choice as to whether or not you want to buy GM, but better still, you will actually know which foods contain GM.

The ruling came after a clause about labelling, which had been removed from the draft Consumer Protection bill last year, was reinstated. SAFeAGE has been lobbying for two years to have this clause reinstated; one that gives shoppers the right to choose once the Bill is implemented.

At the moment no GM foods on the market are labelled as such. The Bill will mean that GM food can be tracked from farm to fork, linking any long term issues with GM food directly to the parties responsible.

The only downside to the exciting ruling, is that “our multinational-friendly, people-unfriendly department of Agriculture” (to quote the ethical blog) remains responsible for determining the thresholds and technical requirements of the new regulations. We need to remain vigilant, in other words...

For more about GM foods on urban sprout

Visit the SAFeAGE website