Is the genetically modified, nutrient-rich Golden Rice as safe as promised?

Subject :Geography

Section: Physical geography

Context:

In April, the Philippines’ Supreme Court heeded farmers’ and activists’ calls to look into the safety promise of Golden Rice, a genetically modified grain created to tackle the vitamin A deficiency that impacts millions, over concerns about its potential impact to rice biodiversity, farmer livelihoods and human health.

Details:

International Day of Action Against Golden Rice– 8 august (started in 2013).
The Department of Agriculture’s Philippine Rice Research Institute (DA–PhilRice) and IRRI (HQ- Manila, Philippines) is spearheading Golden Rice’s development and deployment in the Philippines.
MASIPAG, a network of scientists and farmers who led a petition to the Philippine Supreme Court against the commercial release of Golden Rice, known here as Malusog Rice.
As legal debates over its safety promise continue, the country’s Golden Rice rollout is on track and officials aim on cultivating 500,000 hectares (1.24 million acres) of the crop by 2028.

Golden rice or Malusog rice:

Introduced in 2004, the Golden Rice technology involves adding two genes from maize and a common soil bacterium into white rice, with its developers later donating the technology to combat Vitamin A deficiency (VAD) in less-industrialized nations like the Philippines.
Syngenta maintains full commercial rights over Golden Rice, including all technological enhancements.
This rice variety’s distinct yellow-orange color comes from added beta-carotene, with turns into vitamin A in the body, to tackle the vitamin A deficiency (VAD) that impacts millions of Filipino children.
- VAD is common in the Global South, but rare in the Global North, according to the World Health Organization.
- VAD includes: Diarrheal diseases, irreversible blindness, other sensory losses, and premature death.

Concern against golden rice cultivation:

Potential harm to rice biodiversity and human health.
Commercial cultivation is done without any real scientific basis.
It serves corporate interests, neglects peasants, and poses a risk of genetic contamination to local rice varieties, ultimately endangering local rice biodiversity.
May increase the use of herbicides like glyphosate which can further contaminate the water.
Contamination of local rice varieties by genetically modified Golden Rice.

Regulatory guidelines for GMOs:

Precautionary Principles are enshrined in the Cartagena Protocol on Biosafety, and countries must ensure adherence to these principles before introducing genetically modified crops.
The WHO has not yet issued guidance on the consumption of biofortified foods.

Alternative to golden rice:

There are alternative crops with higher beta-carotene content than Malusog Rice and should be used instead to tackle VAD.
These alternative crops are: tomatoes, squash, malunggay, carrots, and sweet potatoes, various green and leafy vegetables like saluyot (jute mallow), alugbati (Malabar spinach), gabi (taro), and kangkong (water spinach).