ON THE MARKET: Jinlongyu cooking oil made from genetically modified soybeans on promotion on March 25 in a supermarket in Jiujiang City, Jiangxi Province (CFP)

In response, a number of Chinese scientists firmly defend the safety of GM food.

"I never think of genetically modified food as a safety issue," Chen Junshi, head of the National Institute of Nutrition and Food Safety. "So far no scientist has presented evidence that proves GM food contains any poisonous or harmful substances at all, let alone in the levels required to damage human health."

Chen believes his opinion has a scientific basis—any new crop strain is the result of genetic change, even if it comes through natural breeding, and it is actually quite common in agriculture and fundamental to its development. "The public tends to believe that hybrid rice developed by traditional methods is safe while GM rice is not, which is irrational," Chen said.

Zhang Qifa, Director of the National Center of Plant Gene Research at Huazhong Agricultural University in Wuhan, central China's Hubei Province, has developed two types of GM rice at the university and the Ministry of Agriculture certified both as being safe.

"The benefits of GM food far outweigh the potential risks. Their higher yields and capacity to resist diseases and pests reduce the need for fertilizers and chemicals," Zhang said.

"After 20 years, all the arguments against GM food today would seem ridiculous," said Rao Yi, former dean of Peking University's School of Life Sciences. "GM food has been on the market for 17 years, and so far there has been no single case of GM food being unhealthy or dangerous."

Transparency

Up to now, China has not approved any commercial production of GM crops.

"We have been cautious with GM food because we want to make sure that it is safe," Minister of Agriculture Han Changfu told a press conference on the sidelines of this year's full session of the National People's Congress, the country's top legislature, on March 6.

According to Han, the government has never allowed any GM agricultural products to be planted except cotton and papaya.

"Whether GM food is safe or not should not be decided by departments or individuals, it should be decided by scientists following strict standards and procedures," Han said.

However, according to Cui's six-month survey in 2013, GM crops, including GM corn and rice, are illegally grown on a large scale in some Chinese provincial-level regions, including Jilin, Guangxi, Hunan and Hubei. "The reality is that many GM crops have already entered our food supply," Cui said.

At the end of March, some leading Chinese brands of cooking oil, including Jinlongyu and Fortune, announced price reductions of 10 percent on oil mainly made with GM soybeans.

"I don't know much about GM crops on a professional level, but almost all my friends told me that GM food are not healthy, so I would not choose oil with GM ingredients," said a consumer surnamed Liu in Suzhou, Jiangsu Province.

Xiong Lei, a guest professor of journalism at Tsinghua University, said that it is not whether the food is safe or not that matters, but whether people's rights are upheld, especially their right to choose what they eat.

"GM products must go through substantial testing before they reach consumers," said Chen Xiwen, Deputy Director of the Central Agricultural Work Leading Team, the top authority on agriculture.

"Consumers have every right to know whether a product is or is not GM through clear labeling," Chen said. "With the appropriate information available, it can be up to the consumers to decide whether to buy or not."

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