The Peruvian Association of Consumers and Users (Aspec) publicly reiterated its request to issue the Regulation for the labeling of transgenic foods, which has been pending for more than 12 years, despite the express mandate of art. 37° of the Consumer Protection and Defense Code.
As recalled, in November 2023, the consumer association requested the PCM and Indecopi for its publication. The PCM did not respond, but Indecopi just did. “However, the tenor of his response left ASPEC more concerned,” the organization says in a statement.
In detail, Indecopi assures that, in 2010, a “Multi-sector Working Group” was established in charge of preparing the preliminary draft of the aforementioned Regulation.
This group, attached to the PCM, was made up of representatives of Indecopi – which chaired it – the PCM, the Ministry of Economy and Finance and the Ministry of Justice and Human Rights and had the support of the Ministry of the Environment, the Ministry of Foreign Trade and Tourism, Digesa and Senasa.
“As can be seen, there were many State entities involved but, in the end, nothing was achieved. Meanwhile, as a result of this omission, thousands of children and adults have continued to consume various products with transgenic content without knowing it,” denounces Aspec.
The most common examples are chicken nuggets, frozen foods, hot dogs, canned or packaged soups, potato chips, corn flakes, sweetened cereals, beverages sweetened with high fructose corn syrup, milks, oils, pop corn, cookies, etc
Transgenics: labeling is a demand by law
Transgenic foods are those that have been manipulated at a genetic level and, therefore, have in their composition at least one ingredient that comes from an organism other than the original species.
“While these scientific doubts are definitively clarified, in virtue of the precautionary principle, it is essential that the State ensure that suppliers inform the consumer, through labeling, about the true nature of the food they sell so that they can freely make an informed decision. “said Crisolucion Cáceres, head of Asepc.
In simple terms, two species that nature could never have united are fused in the laboratory to obtain a product with specific characteristics. To date, it has not been proven that GMOs harm human health, but the opposite has not been conclusively proven either.
“If genetically modified foods are so good, why is the industry so afraid to inform the population about their true nature through labeling?” he reiterated.
Source: Larepublica
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