Contamination found in foundation seedstocks of NATTO soybeans

[Guest guest]

Contamination found in foundation seedstocks of Natto soybeans JoAnn Guest

Feb 02, 2005 21:31 PST

Roundup Ready soybean genetics recently discovered in foundation seeds

used by breeders -- " the seed for the seeds "

 

http://www.newfarm.org/news/111502/foundation_seeds.shtml

 

TAKE ACTION

 

Earlier this fall The New Farm® worked with the NPSAS to develop an

automated email campaign allowing you to express your concern about the

GMO contamination of foundation feedstocks. This new discovery of

contaminated foundation soybeans adds new urgency to the need to make

your voice heard on this issue.

 

Please check out our email letter campaign. It will only take a moment

to send your concerns to leaders in land grant universities across the

upper midwest who are charged with protecting foundation seedstocks.

 

 

NOVEMBER 18, 2002: A press release from the Northern Plains Sustainable

Agriculture Society. In the debate surrounding the commercialization of

Roundup Ready wheat, the ability to segregate GMO and non-GMO varieties

has been used to assure concerned farmers of their continued freedom of

choice.

 

Yet, in spite of the North Dakota State University Foundation Seedstocks

Program's attempts to segregate and keep transgenic varieties out of its

non-GMO varieties, it has been discovered that two lots of Foundation

Seedstocks for NDSU’s Natto soybeans have been contaminated with

Monsanto's Roundup Ready soybean genetics.

 

Foundation seedstocks, as the name implies, is the foundation for our

entire seed system. The Foundation Seedstocks Program is charged with

taking the seed produced by our plant breeders and increasing that seed

to provide pure seed to producers of registered and certified seed.

Foundation seedstocks is the “seed for the seed” and therefore must be

true to the variety developed by the plant breeder.

 

“Contamination of foundation seedstocks strikes at the very heart of the

segregation argument. Not only does it call into question how realistic

it is to think we can keep transgenic varieties out but it raises the

issue of at what cost and who bears the liability for the costs

associated with such an event,” states Duane Boehm, a producer near

Richardton, ND.

 

Dale Williams, Director of the NDSU Foundation Seedstocks program,

stated that two lots of the Natto varieties were found to be

contaminated after having been shipped down to Chile to grow more

foundation seed during the winter months. When the lots were brought

back to North Dakota this spring, they were distributed to growers of

registered seed, some of it destined for producers of Identity Preserved

(IP) and organic production.

 

The contamination was discovered after harvest in October, when the

Foundation Seedstocks Program identified and weeded out uncharacteristic

plants from their Natto plots grown from these lots and had the plants

tested for suspected transgenic contamination. Some of those plants

tested positive for the presence of Monsanto’s Roundup Ready genes.

 

The Foundation Seedstocks Program then harvested their seed lots,

cleaned the lots, and tested the cleanings for Monsanto’s Roundup Ready

genes. The tests again showed levels of contamination.

 

At this point, Williams called on the producers implicated through the

sales from those contaminated seed lots this last spring, notifying them

of the contamination issues with the seed they bought. Those issues

carry over then to the seed they have subsequently produced.

 

The decision to destroy these foundation lots has not been made despite

statements made early this spring, that if foundation seedstocks were to

become contaminated with transgenic varieties they would be destroyed.

Using differences in the size of the Natto soybeans and Roundup Ready

soybeans, which are larger, the Foundation Seedstocks Program is

attempting to clean up the contamination and follow up with testing.

However, Williams acknowledged the limits of this approach. He stated

that the Foundation Seedstocks Program is operating under a “full

disclosure policy” to notify customers of these Natto soybean seed lots

of the transgenic contamination. Williams pointed out that the

Foundation Seedstocks Program can go back to the small amount of

breeders seed being kept in cold storage to again increase the

foundation seedstocks for these lots of Natto soybeans.

 

The risks to the Foundation Seedstocks Program demonstrated by this

transgenic contamination event are clear.. " As a producer of certified

wheat seed, this is a risk we don’t want to take!” states Warren Craft,

a certified seed producer near Stanley, ND. We must say “NO” to Roundup

Ready wheat, or we risk the same headlines for our wheat seedstocks!”

 

This is a risk we don’t want to take!

 

Warren Craft,

Stanley, ND

NORTHERN PLAINS SUSTAINABLE

AGRICULTURE SOCIETY

9824 79th St. SE, Fullerton, ND 58441

Phone & Fax: 701-883-4304

Web site: www.npsas.org

Email: tpnp-

 

For more information, contact Theresa Podoll, NPSAS Executive Director,

at 701-883-4304.

 

For more information on the risks posed by transgenic varieties to

foundation seedstocks and NPSAS’s

 

“Save Our Seed” campaign visit http://www.npsas.org/SaveOurSeed.html

NPSAS is a non-profit educational organization dedicated to sustainable

food production and distribution

systems. The Society has over 345 members in the Northern Great Plains

region.

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02-Dec

AHITBio, a Hokkaido based bio venture, has started selling its natto

(fermented soybeans) made from GMO soybeans with a seal saying

 

“this natto was made from GMO soybeans,”.

 

This is the first time any food products have been sold in Japan,

labeled as " made " from GMO agricultural products.

 

The GMO natto was made from GMO soybeans imported from the United

States. The selling price is 800 yen per 15 packs.

 

AHITBio is selling the GMO natto via its homepage.

(2 Dec 2003 Nikkan Kogyo)

 

http://www.uknow.or.jp/be_e/science/science_news/sciencenews.htm?catg_code=CG000\

003 & month=12 & year=2003

 

 

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2-Plants: GE contamination in U.S. soy bean foundation seeds

 

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GENET-

2-Plants: GE contamination in U.S. soy bean foundation seeds

hartmut-

Thu, 14 Nov 2002 08:41:48 +0100 (MET)

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TITLE: AGRICULTURE: Seed raises control issues

Sustainable ag group says genetically modified soybeans spilled

into nonmodified stocks

SOURCE: Grand Forks Herald, USA, by Mikkel Pates

http://www.grandforks.com/mld/grandforksherald/4498432.htm

DATE: Nov 12, 2002

 

archive: http://www.gene.ch/genet.html

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AGRICULTURE: Seed raises control issues

Sustainable ag group says genetically modified soybeans spilled into

nonmodified stocks

 

FARGO - North Dakota State University's Foundation Seedstocks Program

has been contaminated with genetically modified crops and cannot be

trusted to segregate GM and non-GM wheat seed, a group critical of

genetically modified crops said.

 

Theresa Podoll, executive director of the Northern Plains Sustainable

Agriculture Society, sent out a news release Monday, saying NDSU's

non-GM,

 

Natto-type soybeans planted in 2002 may have been contaminated with GM

beans.

 

 

Natto beans are specialty soybeans destined for premium food grade

markets in Japan, typically unwelcoming to genetically modified

products.

 

Podoll's group has been a strong opponent of commercialization of GM

wheat, which also would have to be marketed to some countries and buyers

who don't want it. NDSU officials acknowledge a problem occurred but say

it was properly handled.

 

 

Rogue seeds

 

Two lots of non-GM Natto beans were found contaminated with Monsanto's

Roundup Ready soybean genetics, Podoll said.

 

NDSU officials say that sufficient steps have been taken to minimize

the problem and avoid repeating it. " In soybeans, we make every effort

to prevent contamination and - if it occurs - we

correct it, " said M. Dale Williams, director of NDSU Foundation

Seedstocks.

 

" Roundup Ready are two different animals, " Williams said. “Roundup Ready

soybeans are not regulated.

 

Small amounts of it, or tolerances of amounts, are allowed in most

markets. It's not approached with the same amount of diligence as

Roundup Ready wheat.

The soybean contamination occurred when the Natto beans were planted in

Chile for seed increase.

 

The seeds then were harvested and shipped to North Dakota and planted at

NDSU's Agronomy Seed Farm near Casselton, N.D. Those fields produced

some off-type plants, but GMO was not suspected, Williams said.

 

Later, when some of the larger, off-type seeds were " scalped " off to be

discarded, some of

them tested positive for GMO.

 

Natto beans are characteristically small.

Foundation seed from " rogued " 2001 fields were tested and no GMO was

detected, Williams said.

 

In 2002, seeds from those fields were sold to about 10 growers who would

plant them for export or seed increase.

 

When the Agronomy Seed Farm produced its own seed in 2002, it again was

screened for size, and again there were GMO positives in the large

seeds.

 

In late

October, Williams phoned the 2002 customers to inform them " there could

be a

minor presence " in lots they were sold. " Although we did not anticipate

that

the minor amounts . . . we'd found in our fields would ever be enough to

be

detected in very sensitive tests, we wanted them to know so that the

'scalpings' of the very largest seed should not be saved because they

might have the

presence of the transgenics in them. " Williams said the response from

the

growers was " very positive, " and that they were glad to be informed.

 

 

Careless combines

 

Williams says any contamination was in the seed from Chile. NDSU

suspects

the Chilean company that produced the seeds failed to clean its

combines. " The

seed we got from Chile had the contamination in it. They could have been

 

careless in a number of steps, " Williams said. He said NDSU has changed

Chilean

cooperators and is beginning to test advanced breeding lines as a

potential

precaution.

 

Podoll said Williams told her there would be more on-site inspections of

 

cooperators. " That raises the issue of who's going to pay those costs, "

Podoll

said. Podoll said Foundation Seedstocks should develop its own set of

protocols on how to avoid such contamination and how to handle

contamination when it

occurs. Foundation seedstocks are literally the “foundation for the

entire

seed system, " Podoll said. She said contamination " strikes at the very

heart of

the segregation argument. "

 

Podoll said she's troubled by the fact that the " decision to destroy

these

foundation lots has not been made, " despite statements made early this

spring

that if foundation seedstocks were to become contaminated with

transgenic

varieties, they would be destroyed. " It looks like they intend to go

ahead with

putting them on the market and not recalling them, and/or destroying any

 

seedstocks they have in their possession at this time, " Podoll said.

 

 

Purity important

 

Ted Helms, an NDSU soybean breeder who developed NDSU's Natto bean

varieties, said such drastic measures probably would not be applied to

soybeans, as

they would to wheat seeds. GM wheat seed cannot be legally exported.

Robert

Sinner, president of SB & B Foods Inc. of Casselton, who specializes in

" identity

preserved " shipments of food grade soybeans, acknowledged contamination

is a

problem. He said the North Dakota State Seed Department must take

precautionary measures when certifying and registering seed to " not only

verify purity

of the variety but also whether it's free of contamination of

transgenics. "

 

NDSU, from its initial varietal work, needs to take very strict

management

procedures and do regular testing to maintain purity, Sinner suggested.

" All

the money that is spent to send those increases to Chile are all for

naught if

it's contaminated, " Sinner said. Sinner said he would be disturbed if

NDSU

planned to continue to market contaminated seed as certified or

registered.

" That, to me, goes against the principles of certified and registered

seed.

You've lost your purity, " Sinner said.

 

 

 

 

http://www.gene.ch/genet/2002/Nov/msg00037.html

 

 

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Hartmut Meyer from Nov 11 - Nov 17

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_________________

 

JoAnn Guest

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AIM Barleygreen

" Wisdom of the Past, Food of the Future "

 

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