GM crops covered under Food Safety Act, says govt

The government today assured Lok Sabha that all concerns related to genetically modified crops were covered under the Food Safety and Standards Act.

The assurance was given by Minister of State for Health and Family Welfare Dinesh Trivedi in the Lok Sabha.

He said during Question Hour that the Food Safety and Standards Act, 2006 covers such products.

"Parliament has passed the Food Safety and Standards Act (FSSA), 2006, integrating the multiplicity of provisions under various food related laws and inter alia regulating the food safety standards and uniform licensing in the country," he said, adding even life imprisonment could be given to culprits.

Trivedi also said the government had constituted the Food Safety and Standards Authority of India in September, 2008 to carry out the purposes of Act.

Earlier, Jyoti Mirdha (Cong) asked why introduction of an unrelated gene in a crop should not be treated as adulteration and compared this to mixing urea in milk and animal fat in edible oil.

Lalu Prasad (RJD) alleged that he had heard horse faeces were being mixed in spices and asked the government about steps being taken to check this.

Sharad Yadav (JD-U) said MNCs were spreading misinformation about local confectioners using adulterated milk while Mulayam Singh Yadav (SP) alleged that some powerful adulterers in Uttar Pradesh were being shielded.