Farmers’ activists led by Kavitha Kuruganti have condemned the Food Safety and Standards Authority of India’s (FSSAI) draught regulations on genetically modified (GM) food, calling them “unacceptable.”
The Coalition for GM-Free India, which Kuruganti represents, has urged that the FSSAI specifically state that GM foods will not be permitted into India through manufacturing or imports. “Any form of GM food in India is a threat to our people’s health, our environment, and our unique food traditions,” claimed Kuruganti, who is best known for getting PepsiCo’s Lay’s potato variety’s India registration certification overturned by the court. “FSSAI is attempting to go around all of this,” she explained.
The Food Safety and Standards Authority of India (FSSAI) recently announced proposed regulations for genetically modified foods, recommending that all food products with individual genetically engineered ingredients of 1% or more be labelled as “Contains GMO/ingredients derived from GMO.” Activists interpreted this as a tacit permission of GM food imports rather than a prohibition.