Could oils contain GM DNA?
The Leeds researchers found one processing method that degraded DNA in the final product better than the others – oil extraction. The authors write, “Extraction of oil from seeds leaves a residue in which the DNA is highly fragmented.” At first glance, this seems reassuring. Can we conclude that oils extracted from GM crops are free from GM DNA? Certainly, the human and animal food industries and their regulators have resisted labelling oils and other derivatives of GM crops on the grounds that there is no DNA present. They sometimes add that even if there is DNA present, it would be too fragmented to be “viable”. However, an interview we conducted with Dr Gordon Wiseman of RHM Technology, of High Wycombe, Buckinghamshire, casts doubt on these assumptions. RHM has developed a test which can detect GM DNA even in highly processed foodstuffs such as oils and lecithin. Dr Wiseman says that all soy lecithin and about 50 percent of oil samples contain enough DNA for his company to test for
