Greenpeace alarmed at US-backed GE food trial on Chinese children
Beijing, 29 August, 2012 – Greenpeace International has expressed alarm at a recent scientific publication (1) that
suggests researchers, backed by the US Department of Agriculture (USDA) (2), fed genetically engineered (GE) Golden Rice
to 24 children (3) in China aged between six and eight years old.
This study could not have taken place without a serious breach of scientific and medical ethics, and goes against a
Chinese government decision to abort plans for the trial. It would be a scandal of international proportions if it is
true that this trial, supported by the USDA, exposed children in China to genetically modified rice that had not yet
been tested on animals.
In response to this alarming news, Fang Lifeng, Sustainable Agriculture Campaigner at Greenpeace East Asia, said:
“It is incredibly disturbing to think that an American research body used Chinese children as guinea pigs for
genetically engineered food, despite a clear directive against this very experiment issued by Chinese authorities in
2008.
“How did these researchers apparently by-pass this emphatic decision? More importantly, did the children’s parents fully
understand the potential risks that this trial was exposing their children to?”
In 2008 Greenpeace East Asia first heard of this experiment and immediately informed the Chinese Ministry of
Agriculture. The Ministry confirmed with Greenpeace that no Golden Rice had been imported and the trial had been
stopped; however these new findings reveal that not to be the case.
The relevance of this study is questionable, as it tested the conversion of pro-Vitamin A from Golden Rice in the bodies
of healthy, well-nourished children – not the target population of malnourished children, whose bodies might not in fact
react similarly. Nor does high conversion rate solve all the technical, environmental and ethical issues around Golden
Rice.
This experiment might try and position Golden Rice as the golden bullet to vitamin A deficiency, especially for
developing countries. However, Greenpeace East Asia believes that Golden Rice as a solution to Vitamin A deficiency is
unnecessary and overrated. The vast sums of money spent developing Golden Rice (4) would be better channeled into
programs that are working against vitamin A deficiency, such as pro-Vitamin A pills and supporting measures for more
diverse diets.
Lifeng concluded: “Greenpeace hopes the Chinese government will uphold its previous emphatic decision to stop this
experiment. Greenpeace calls for a thorough investigation into this case and that adequate support be provided to the
affected children and their parents.”
ENDS
NOTES
(1) Tang et al. 2012, “Beta-carotene in Golden Rice is as good as beta-carotene in oil at providing vitamin A to
children” American Journal of Clinical Nutrition 96: 658–64.
(2) The authors are affiliated with the American Research Service (ARS), which is the in-house research arm of USDA. The
Human Nutrition Research Center on Aging (HNRCA) (where 3 of the principal researchers are affiliated) is one of the six
centers in the US supported by ARS. HNRCA has a cooperative agreement with Tufts University, as the research center is
located within Tufts University.
(3) 68 children were randomly assigned to consume GR. The results of the study indicate that 23 childen in the GR group
were used: 12 boys and 11 girls.
(4) Greenpeace 2010 Golden Rice: Lack of Lustre. http://www.greenpeace.org/international/en/publications/reports/Golden-rice-report-2010/