GMO "CHICKEN" COMING TO ROOST!-LEGAL CHALLENGE AGAINST THE PERPETRATORS

Genetically modified food is so common in the US, it does not make news any more with many Americans, resigned to their helplessness as the State is refusing to check the spread of these potentially harmful versions of many staple foods. Obviously the regulatory authorities are either afraid of the financial muscle of giant GMO companies which are dominating the landscape in that country or the dangerous nexus between politicians and these monopolists, paralyzing the entire food safety monitoring system of the country. It is shocking that more than 80% of foods in the American market contain varying levels of GMO foods without the citizen ever knowing about it because of the non-transparent labeling policy. It is in this context that the accidental contamination of natural wheat fields in some farms in the US with GM wheat came as a shock to many GMO sensitive consumers and traditional wheat farmers. It befitting that the affected farmers have gone for legal action against those responsible  for it demanding financial compensation. Here is a take on this new development with far reaching implications.  

Two wheat farms in Eastern Washington filed a lawsuit Thursday against agricultural giant Monsanto, claiming their business has been damaged by the discovery of genetically modified wheat in Oregon. The suit, filed in U.S. District Court in Spokane, seeks class-action status and damages to be determined by the court. Separately, the Center for Food Safety filed a lawsuit in the same court Thursday also seeking class-action status for Northwest wheat farmers. Its fellow plaintiffs are Clarmar Farms and wheat farmer Tom Stahl, both of Douglas County The actions come after the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) said last week that a farmer in Oregon found genetically modified wheat in his field almost a decade after Monsanto stopped testing that type of wheat. The two Washington farms in the first suit — Wahl Ranch in Adams County and Dreger Enterprises in Lincoln County — grow soft white wheat, the variety prevalent in the Northwest and the type grown by the Oregon farmer who found a genetically modified strain in his field. As a result of the discovery, Japan stopped its customary order of soft white wheat last week. "We've seen a drop in future and current cash prices on wheat already, and at least one shipment of wheat turned away or refused. We think this is actual damage," said Kim Stephens, a partner at Tousley Brain Stephens in Seattle, one of two firms representing the farms. The other is the Hausfeld, a Washington, D.C., firm. Monsanto Chief Litigation Counsel Kyle McClain said in an emailed statement that there is "scant basis for a lawsuit."

Of course the GMO lobby will protest with all its power that they are not responsible for the accidental contamination and condemn the class action suit with contempt! The consequences of the discovery of GM wheat among natural wheat plants will definitely affect American wheat exports in a very significant way. While almost the whole world is shunning GMO products, America is stubbornly clinging to GMO products which are being showed through the throat of millions of consumers who have no choice but to continue with their lives like a conditioned flock of sheep! It is still not clear as to how the American government certifies GM products as safe and natural when tons of scientific data say otherwise! It is time that the rest of the world massively boycott American agricultural products to send the message that GM foods are not acceptable unless independent confirmation about their safety is established. 

V.H.POTTY
http://vhpotty.blogspot.com/
http://foodtechupdates.blogspot.com

THE GREAT GLUTEN SURGE!-WHY PICK ON THIS HUMBLE PROTEIN?

In the US a new fad by the name "Glutenphobia" seems to be emerging for reasons not easily understood. Whether people are being mis-educated by the gluten free food products industry which had invested billions of dollars in developing hundreds of new products devoid of gluten or due to genuine experience of feeling better by avoiding gluten is a mystery which has to be probed further. What is intriguing is why scientists are not coming forward to categorically say that Gluten is harmless to people without any history Celiac disease or bring out any fact that implies this protein in any other human ailment. WHO has a role in demystifying the confusion surrounding Gluten through transparent studies involving human beings. Here is a commentary on this crazy trend in the US which speaks volume about the unimaginable clout food industry enjoys to day!  

"Around the beginning of 2012 this thing starts to rise, and it has yet to peak," Balzer says. "Right now 29 percent of the adult population says, 'I'd like to cut back or avoid gluten completely.' "Indeed, he says, people in his biweekly survey of 1,000 people were more likely to say they're trying to go gluten-free than to say they're dieting. That's interesting, since less than 1 percent of people have celiac disease, according to the National Institutes of Health. Those people can't tolerate gluten, a protein in wheat, rye and barley. For them, avoiding gluten is the only way to avoid painful gastrointestinal problems and other symptoms caused by this autoimmune disorder. But if the other 28 percent of people don't have celiac, why are they trying to shun gluten? It could be that they're sensitive to gluten. As we've previously reported, a small number of studies have found that people who don't have celiac can still have difficulties digesting gluten. Or they could just think it sounds healthful.

Occasionally there are reports by individuals that their undefined or non-diagnosed  health problems are relieved by avoiding Gluten in their daily diet though such claims have no scientific basis. If gluten free food products are tastier or more appealing to the consumers, such facts should be brought to surface through scientifically controlled sensory studies. Of course it is very difficult to predict consumer behavior. The example of the so called energy drinks, loaded with caffeine which is doing roaring business in spite of reported deaths among those consuming this beverage, is an example of wrong consumer perception regarding connection between health and food. Or for that matter the defeat of the proposal in California for fair labeling of GM foods is still an enigma with no rhyme or reason! If the rising demand for gluten free products in the US is driven by the industry with vested interests claiming non-existing advantages, it is time this bluff is rebutted by those responsible for consumer well being.   

V.H.POTTY
http://vhpotty.blogspot.com/
http://foodtechupdates.blogspot.com

FLOUR MILLING INDUSTRY-SEEKING LOWER COST WHEAT

Any industry will always try to maximize its profits through many honest way and it is to be admitted that input material invariably forms a sizable component in the end product price. This is no exception to flour milling industry also which uses wheat as its raw material. Unlike Chakkis, modern Roller Flour Mills process the wheat into consumer products like Suji and Maida while Bran and Germ are by products. With slow disappearance of Chakkis in many parts of the country, big flour mills have entered into the Atta market with their own brands and to day branded Atta costs any where from Rs 35-40 per kg while the raw wheat sells at Rs 18-20 per kg. Naturally the industry can be expected to have comfortable margins in the manufacture of Atta, Maida and Suji. However the stand being taken by the flour milling industry that they are all incurring heavy losses is some what puzzling. Recent GOI modification of wheat pricing with uniform prices across the country seems to have gladdened the hearts of the millers probably because their profitability is bound to go up under the new policy. Here is a take on this issue.

"Roller flour mills in the northern region are gearing up to step up capacity utilisation after the Central government revisited its decision on the price of wheat under the open market sales scheme to provide a level playing field to flour mills across India. Flour mills in the north — particularly in the states of Punjab, Haryana, Uttar Pradesh and Madhya Pradesh — had been keeping their capacities idle, as wheat in the producing states was available to them at a higher price than in the consuming states, making business unviable. Under the latest guidelines, wheat prices (per quintal) in the producing states have been fixed at Rs 1,403 in Uttar Pradesh, Rs 1,417 in Madhya Pradesh, Rs 1,446 in Haryana and Rs 1,484 in Punjab. In the consuming states, the price of wheat will now be the price in the state from where it is imported, plus freight charges. Earlier, freight charges and state taxes in the consuming states were subsidised, making wheat dearer in the producing states. The president of the Madhya Pradesh Roller Flour Millers Association, Sunil Aggarwal, said, "About 50 per cent of India's flour mills are located in the producing states, as it makes business sense. The state has close to 50 flour mills with an installed capacity of 200 tonnes per mill per month. All of them were running at 30-40 per cent capacity. This will now increase substantially." Adi Narayan Gupta of the Roller Flour Millers Association of Uttar Pradesh said wheat is available in Delhi at Rs 1,328 per quintal and in Uttar Pradesh at Rs 1,403. The state has over 140 flour mills and all are battling for survival. The new price has created a favourable climate for mills in Uttar Pradesh, which can now sell in Delhi. Taxes are the highest in Punjab and Haryana. These taxes come in the form of VAT (value-added tax), mandi fee, arhtiya commission, labour charges, handling charges and rural development fund. The taxes are close to 15.5 per cent in Punjab and 13.5 per cent in Haryana. In Uttar Pradesh and Madhya Pradesh, they are slightly lower than in Haryana, but small flour millers were finding it difficult to compete with millers in other states in the wake of differentiation in wheat prices. The Food Corporation of India pays these taxes to the state on procurement of wheat over and above minimum support price of wheat, which is Rs 1,285 per quintal. The president of the Roller Flour Millers Association of Punjab, Naresh Ghai, said wheat products (wheat flour and refined wheat flour or maida) were coming from other states (Rajasthan, Delhi, Chandigarh), and this would now get discouraged. Wheat is sold to millers through the open market sales scheme. Punjab's millers did not participate in the tenders for wheat under the scheme, as the prices were unviable for them (the neighbouring states were offering wheat to their millers at lower rates). Now they will have better access to wheat at a viable price, Ghai said. Millers in Haryana are hopeful, as they expect sales to double now. Close to two dozen mills have shut down in the past few months due to the Centre's unfavourable policy, said C P Gupta, the president of Roller Flour Millers Association of Haryana. "Of 65 mills only 40 were functional and had been operating at 15-20 per cent of capacity. The amendment in the policy will help us revive operations."The country has a buffer stock of wheat, and there are no supply constraints. Consistency in government policy, millers said, was imperative for the growth of small and medium flour mills".

It is alleged, probably with some justification that wheat that is siphoned off from the leaky PDS often ends up in flour mills and that may be the reason why the mills were working at lower capacity to just process the quantities received through back channels. Other wise it is difficult to understand why these mils are still working at all incurring losses! Normal economic sense tells that lower the margin higher should be the volume of production through higher capacity utilization. Good days can be expected for the industry in the coming days under the new policy! The recent announcement by the Prime Minister about rolling out the government's newly discovered Direct Cash Transfer alternative to PDS may still upset the apple cart of this industry.

V.H.POTTY
http://vhpotty.blogspot.com/
http://foodtechupdates.blogspot.com

PREDICTABILITY OF FOOD RIOTS-INTERNATIONAL PRICES AN INDICATOR?

Estimates vary regarding the percentage of global population that go hungry every night, especially in African, Asian and South American continents. Probably it may be fair to presume that at least one third of the population are suffering from food shortage either due to inaccessibility or unavailability. There are many field studies which go to support the above assumption. The prices of staple grains like rice wheat and corn have an important bearing on the peace on this planet and unrest becomes a norm when these prices rice uncontrollably due to many reasons. While natural causes like drought and flood cannot be controlled or predicted, diversion of food for non -food purpose like bio-fuels is definitely avoidable to reduce the impact of shortage on international prices of food grains. The issue of food riots assumes added significance in the light of unexpected drought in the US creating supply shortages for grains like corn. It is in this context that recent attempts to predict riots in some of the undeveloped, under developed and developing countries on the basis of price movements in the global market need to be appreciated. Here is an expose on this interesting theory that seems to be helpful in anticipating food riots and taking preventive action to reduce such incidences in the world.

"The researchers define the riot danger zone in relation to the U.N.'s FAO Food Price Index, which tracks the monthly change in international prices for a basket of cereals, dairy, meat, sugars and oil/fats. Riots become more likely, their model showed, when the index goes above 210. The index has been hovering above that "disruption threshold" since July, pushed upward by the drought in the U.S., the world's biggest exporter of corn and wheat. "What happened was that food prices went up exactly as predicted," Bar-Yam says. Wheat is now at $9 per bushel — higher than the high of $8.94 hit in February 2011, when the Arab Spring was in full swing. Corn is at $7.56 a bushel, close to the $7.65 highs of 2007-2008 — though it spiked well above $8 a bushel this summer. The Mideast is particularly sensitive to wheat prices; it imports most of its wheat, which is a major staple for the region. While the drought is causing the current spike in food prices, prices have also been on a steady, long-term trajectory upward. So what's behind that trend? NECSI's model has fingered two key suspects: speculation and the conversion of corn to ethanol. (More on that later.) Even without the drought, Bar-Yam says, food prices were headed toward the riot zone by early next year. The institute's work isn't without critics. Blogging at G-Feed, economist Dave Lobell notes that NECSI's papers aren't peer-reviewed — they are simply released publicly. "But in the case of NECSI, I think they have come up with a pretty satisfying solution — making testable predictions about the next year," Lobell writes.

How far this theory will hold good in future is not sure though there is a good possibility that such predictions can enable the governments in the third world countries to be prepared to handle the situation more effectively, if and they arise. The world is increasingly becoming a global village with porous borders and no country can remain isolated from events taking place in another country related to essential materials like food. It must be realized that very few countries are self sufficient in food and inter dependency is the corner stone of WTO trade regimes and policies equitable to all. Quest for land to expand food production is taking some rich countries to buy out or lease out vast stretches of cultivable land from countries having such lands without being able to raise productivity any where near to the levels achieved in technologically powerful countries. This is a sign that food will remain the single most critical factor that will decide whether peace will prevail in this world in the coming years.

V.H.POTTY
http://vhpotty.blogspot.com/
http://foodtechupdates.blogspot.com