Soy bean mas multiple uses in the food and feed industry due to its high content of oil and protein.
Products from soy bean are found in an estimated number of 30,000 foodstuffs. Crushed soy is an important source of proteinin animal feeding. A quantity of approximately 163 million tons of soy beans was produced in the year 2000, on a cultivation surface of estimated 75 million hectares.
The most important producing countries are the United States of America, followed by Brazil and Argentina. The European Union is the largest importer of soy beans. 80 percent of imported beans are processed to animal feeds in the EU, the remainder goes to the food industry.
Genetically modified soy beans have been produced on more than 25 million hectares inthe year 2000. In Europe there is a high demand for non-genetically modified products. The consumer wants to make an informed choice in the selection products with regard to genetically modified constituents. However, in order to ensure that a product does in fact not contain any genetically modified constituents the producers must master the full traceability of all food consituents including the cultivation, storage, transport and processing.
Regulations for food labelling with and without genetically modified constituents state that up to a limit of 0.9 percent in the foodstuf there is no requirement for mentioning the fact that genetically modified materials have been used. Only when the product contains more than 0.9 percent of the genetically modified material a labelling is mandatory.
The declaration "without genetic engineering" is only allowed when no genetically modified material at al is used in the production of the foodstuff. In practise this declearation can rarely be applied, as it can already now never be excluded that unavoidable traces of genetically modified materials find their way into the food item.
Ways for the separation and control of trading channels must be sought to secure the production of non-genetically modified food and to stay within the limits of maximally 0.9 percent of genetically modified materials. Corresponding control systems are called "Identity Preservation Programs" (IP). They define suitable measures for the control beginning with the identification of the seeds planted by the farmers down to the processed and packaged beans. Such programs give full traceability of the foodstuff down to the field where the plant was grown.
At exactly defined points of the manufacturing chain the absence of genetically modified constituents is tested using a highly sensitive analytical method called "PCR test". PCR testing must be performed by laboratories submitted to regular international quality testing in order to ensure the reliability of the analytical results. Independent bodies specialized on certification organize analytical controls. As a result the consumer of correspondingly labelled products can be sure that there is in fact no genetically modified constituent in the foodstuff.
Isoflavone Research Initiative
