Environment watchdog Greenpeace demonstrates in the Indian capital against
the hazards of genetically engineered food.

NEW DELHI (APRIL21,2008) ANI-

 Activists wearing masks resembling the face of Indian Science and
Technology minister, Kapil Sibal and distributing 'Biohazard' labeled
vegetable to passers by in New Delhi marked Greenpeace's protest against
genetically engineered food on Monday (April 21).

Environment watchdog Greenpeace has been campaigning for past two years
against the hazards of genetically engineered food, demanding the federal
government to make public, the information on the results of trials on the
safety of genetically engineered food items.

Introduction of genetically engineered food items in India has incited
wrath from many quarters and several self-help groups have come out to oppose
the entry of such vegetables and food grains in the country.

Rice, tomatoes, brinjal, maize, groundnut, potatoes and cabbage are some of
the food items that are genetically engineered.

Upping their ante against these genetically modified crops, Greenpeace
activists staged the unique protest to highlight the threat allegedly posed by
these crops to public health and safety, blaming the Indian government to be
in league with the companies promoting such food crops in the country.

"We are here to mock the regulatory authorities and the policy makers
of this country for introducing genetically engineered food without any safety
testing. We are trying to get information for the last two years about the
safety of these crops and it has been deliberately denied for the last two
years, giving the reason that, it is company data and needs to be protected
for company's secrets. We are here asking the Science and Technology ministry,
under which comes the DBT (Department of Biotechnology) which approves all
these crops to say why is investment of the company more important than public
health and safety," said Jai Krishna, an activist.

In a landmark judgment on bio safety, India's apex Supreme Court had issued
an order directing the federal government to publicize the results of trials
on the safety of genetically engineered food items.

But, still nothing has been done so far to make these reports public.

Genetically engineered crops are subjected to laboratory tests to check for
animal and human safety before they are allowed to be sold in markets.

Many countries have adopted a cautious approach on genetically engineered
crops and many more have imposed moratoriums on the release of such crops. In
many instances, across the world, serious harmful effects have been found in
the laboratory animals, which came to light after information on these tests
was made public in these cases.