Potential Risks to Human Health

• direct health effects (toxicity)
• tendencies to provoke allergic reaction (allergenicity)
• specific components thought to have nutritional or toxic properties
• the stability of the inserted gene
• nutritional effects associated with genetic modification
• any unintended effects which could result from the gene insertion

Positive Environmental Issues

1. Reduced Pesticide Usage
   Reduced pesticide usage is one of the benefits of genetically modified crops that are pest resistant. Currently, genetically modified pest resistant crops include Bt cotton, Bt corn, Bt sweet corn, Bt potatoes, and virus resistant squash. These crops are able to resist certain pests and need fewer pesticide sprays. In the past, pesticide usage on cotton, sweet corn and potatoes has been very high with some of these crops requiring more than a dozen insecticide sprays per season. However, Bt sweet corn needs less than 15 percent of the insecticide sprays than those traditional varieties.But Bt crops still do need some insecticide sprays. Bt is very selective and only controls some insects, and the protection provided by the Bt only protects against some pests. So while Bt crops are protected from the primary pests, control of secondary pests may sometimes require the use of insecticide sprays.
   
2. GM Crops Compliment Biological Control
   One group of non-target organisms that need to be encouraged is the natural enemies of our crop pests. Natural enemies are composed of a wide array of parasitic and predatory insects and other arthropods. Control of crop pests by natural enemies is referred to as biological control. Unfortunately, biological control cannot prevent crop damage in all circumstances and farmers often need to apply pesticide sprays.When these sprays include non-selective insecticides, the natural enemy populations are often hurt more than the pest that needed controlling. The reason is that while the pesticide may kill both the pest and its natural enemies, by killing the pest it has also eliminated the food source that the natural enemy populations will need to recover. Because of this, it often takes much longer for the natural enemy populations to recover than the pest population. In the absence of natural enemies, pest populations are able to increase much more rapidly. This can result in greater reliance on pesticide sprays after the natural enemies are eliminated.Genetically modified crops that produce their own plant pesticides are more compatible with biological control. The plant pesticides are more selective than most insecticide sprays.In addition, because the need fewer pesticide applications, they preserve natural enemies populations and are more compatible with biological control.
   
3. Plant Pesticides Impact less on Non-target Organisms
   Genetically modified plants that produce their own plant pesticides include Bt cotton, Bt corn, Bt sweet corn, and Bt potatoes. These plant pesticides are very selective, for example, the type of Bt in Bt corn only controls the caterpillars of some moths and butterflies. The type of Bt in Bt potatoes controls Colorado potato beetles. In addition, the Bt is inside the plant, so only insects that feed on the plant or plant parts are exposed to the plant pesticide. An exception to this is with the pollen from Bt corn which is wind blown. The Bt-corn pollen also contains the Bt toxin. It has been shown in the laboratory to reduce the survival of monarch caterpillars that have been feed on milkweed plants that were dusted with this pollen.But it is important to keep in mind that these genetically modified crops that produce their own plant pesticides require fewer pesticide sprays. Most of the commonly used insecticides used on these crops are referred to as broad spectrum insecticides. They are generally as toxic to non-target organisms as they are to the target pest. Plants that produce their own plant pesticides are more selective in terms of controlling pests without damaging non-target organisms. Their impact on non-target organisms is further reduced because they require fewer broad spectrum pesticide sprays.
   
4. Increased Yields, Reducing the Need to Expand Agricultural Acreage
   While the genetically modified crops on the market today do not increase yields. For example, the GM crops that produce their own plant pesticides do not yield more than traditional varieties; they just protect the plants from yield loss. Differences in yield do not represent the ability of the plant to produce more. In fact, in the absence of pests, these hybrids should have yields equal to comparable to traditional hybrids.However, GM crops that increase yields are under development and the future looks very promising. Unless yield increases are able to keep in pace with population growth, more land will be need to be devoted to commercial agriculture. Current tends show that the amount of prime agricultural land available is decreasing. Crop yields may need to increase by 20 to 40 percent in the next 20 years in order feed an expanding population. Biotechnology provides some of the tools needed to continue to increase the yields of the world's important staple crops.
5. Issue: Some GM Crops May Reduce Soil Erosion
   New herbicide resistant crops may help to reduce soil erosion. There is a need to prevent soil erosion in order to maintain farm sustainability and to reduce pollution of streams, rivers and wetlands. This allows the producer greater flexibility in terms of when to control weeds. Rather than using reemergence herbicides that may need to incorporated into the soil, these are applied over the crop and the weeds as they are actively growing. GM herbicide resistant crops are compatible with and encourage no-till agriculture.
   

Controversies

Controversies surrounding GM foods and crops commonly focus on human and environmental safety, labelling and consumer choice, intellectual property rights, ethics, food security, poverty reduction, and environmental conservation.

Safety
Potential human health impact: allergens, transfer of antibiotic resistance markers, unknown effects Potential environmental impact: unintended transfer of transgenes through cross-pollination, unknown effects on other organisms (e.g., soil microbes), and loss of flora and fauna biodiversity

Labelling
-Not mandatory in some countries (e.g., United States)
-Mixing GM crops with non-GM confounds labelling attempts

Access and Intellectual Property
-Domination of world food production by a few companies
-Increasing dependence on Industrialized nations by developing countries
-Bio-piracy—foreign exploitation of natural resources

Ethics
Violation of natural organisms' intrinsic values
Tampering with nature by mixing genes among species
Objections to consuming animal genes in plants and vice versa
Stress for animal

Society
New advances may be skewed to interests of rich countries

Genetically Modified Food

Genetically Modified (GM) foods are produced from genetically modified organisms (GMO) which have had their genome altered through genetic engineering techniques. The general principle of producing a GMO is to insert DNA that has been taken from another organism and modified in the laboratory into an organism's genome to produce both new and useful traits or phenotypes. Typically this is done using DNA from certain types of bacteria. Genetic engineering techniques allow scientists to insert specific genes into a plant or animal without having to go through the trial-and-error process of selective breeding. Therefore it is extremely rapid compared to selective breeding.

Product recall

Product Recall Plan includes:

1. Recall Management Team

Include members from different departments of the firm

• production-line workers
• quality control
• purchasing and marketing
• sales
• legal services
• accounting
• technical
• distribution
• public relation departments

Recall team’s task:

• to evaluate whether the product constitutes a threat to the health or safety of the consumer
• recommend whether a recall should be initiated and the appropriate recall strategy

2. Recall Contact List

• allows effective and fast delivery of notices to put unsafe products off shelves as quickly as possible
• contact list includes:
• recall team
• senior management
• suppliers of all ingredients
• distributors
• sources of technical advice and support (like laboratory facilities)
• local regulatory authorities (Food Control Department; USA regulatory authorities: USDA and FDA).

3. Product Recall Decision Tree

• to ensure a systematic and logical approach at whether to execute recall plan or not
• different strategies for different classes of recall as follows:
  

a) Class 1 Recall: Carried out when there is a reasonable probability that the use of product
will cause serious adverse health consequences or death

b) Class 2 Recall: Carried out when defect products may cause temporary or medically
reversible adverse health consequences and the probability of serious
adverse health consequence is remote.
c) Class 3 Recall: Carried out when defect products is not likely to cause health
consequences, but violates some specific food regulation.

4. Scope of Recall

• to decide which batch of products should be recalled

5. Records

• determine the causes of adulteration and help in defining the scope of recalls

6. Products’ Traceability

• allows identification of unsafe products
• limits the scope of the recall
• removes the products from sale quickly and accurately
• products can be identified accurately with product names, product description and batch codes

7. Recall Procedures

• a set of procedures on how products are to be identified, collected, disposed off and post-recall follow-up during a recall
• include how communications are made between food manufacturers, distributors and consumers

8. Records of Recalled Products

• to ensure that the quantity of unsafe products distributed tallies with the quantities of recalled products
• serve as a reference and would be needed to show to the local regulatory (Food Control Department) during recall follow-up

9. Testing and Reviewing of Product Recall Plan
The plan should be examined for errors, particularly in the contact lists or in light of any changes in the company’s product recall or trading status. It is essential that a product recall plan is periodically tested using a ‘trial run’ or mock recall exercise. This can be considered as a validation of the product recall plan. This procedure should also be documented and held as part of the product recall plan itself. Companies that develop product recall plans but do not test them may face problems when a real food safety incident occurs. Food businesses involved in product recall should review the product recall process and amend the product recall plan if necessary.

Food Safety

What is Food Safety?

Food safety is a scientific discipline describing the handling, preparation and storage of food in ways to prevent food borne illness. Randomly sampling of product biologically, physically and chemically is done to ensure that that batch of production is safe for consumption, within legal issues and of good quality.

Food can potentially become contaminated through improper practices from the time it is produced to the time it is consumed. Hence, from the government bodies to the people in the food industries to us consumers, everyone plays an important role in maintaining food safety.

Who ensures food safety?

The government is responsible for establishing a framework that promotes the delivery of safe food by the industry, and the provision of adequate information to consumers.The Agri-Food and Veterinary Authority (AVA) is the national authority for food safety in Singapore. To ensure that food sold in Singapore is safe, AVA sets stringent food safety standards that are consistent with international standards.

People in the food industry have to maintain high food safety standards by complying with AVA's stringent requirements.

Datails of vegetables

Vegetables – Diseases and Possible Microbes which can cause illness.


Food poisonings – caused by Bacillus cereus


Botulism Type A and B – caused by Clostridium botulinum


Listerosis – caused by Listeria monocytogenes


E.coli infection – caused by Escherichia coli


Ascariasis – caused by Ascaris lumbricoids