GMO-based Products To Be Labeled To Allow Options To Consumers

Food manufactures will have to label products that have more than one percent of genetically modified organism (GMO) content to give consumers knowledge on what they want to consume.

The National Biosafety Authority (NBA), the bureau responsible for regulating biotech products in the country, says the move is not a safety concern but only meant to guide consumers in decision-making.

Eric Korir, principal biosafety officer at NBA says it will be mandatory for manufacturers to have labels that indicate that the product is either GMO or non-GMO.

“Labelling is not a safety issue but for traceability of the GMO products in the market, with the label, we will be able to trace them and know where they are placed,” he said.

“Secondly, labelling is also done to give consumers a choice. It is there to inform the public that the product is GM and make them decide whether they want to buy it or not.”

The official said labelling of GMOs is a requirement by law and there is a regulation on how these products would be labelled once it is cultivated or released into the market. “It does not end there because we are required to do post-release or post-commercialization monitoring. This will be done to check if there is any adverse effect as a result of the cultivation of this GMO,” he said.

Mr Korir said the monitoring will be done for 20 years and after that, the law does not require them to do further evaluation but only regulate.

Martin Mwirigi, acting institute director, of the Biotechnology Research Institute at the Kenya Agriculture and Livestock Research Organization said climate change has occasioned frequent droughts, necessitating the adoption of new technology to improve productivity.