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Alert! - GM Wine or Beer Anybody?
A Jug of Wine, A loaf of Bread and … No GM! (Parodied from The Rubaiyat by Omar Khayyam.)
The focus may be on France where vintners are sounding the alarm about what they see as another threat to their centuries-old winegrowing traditions – genetically modified grapes. However, viticulture is also on the also increase in the UK and all of Europe and beyond where climatic conditions permit either to grow grapes or drink wine, which means everyone who drinks wine or eats grapes may be concerned about the latest GM Alert. In France, where on average a quarter of a bottle of wine is drunk a day, it is reported that ‘Earth and Wine of the World’, an association that includes nearly 400 French winegrowers, is worried about a government research project to tinker with the grape’s genes.1 A statement from ‘Earth and Wine of the World’ issued Thursday 8th July, following a strategy meeting in Paris for ‘a plan of action’ is as follows: “It is of utmost importance that the future of our profession is not determined solely under the influence of scientists, industrialists and technocrats.” The president, Alain Graillot, of the vintners association that includes winegrowers from California to Germany said: “We’re not persuaded that the tests will start with the maximum number of precautions we consider absolutely necessary. We want to be certain that there will be no accidental spreading and that any possible toxicity of the plants is completely ruled out.” Not a good forecast for the GM contingent then, because accidents are precisely that and so far there has been no proper sustainable precautions invented to stop spreading of GM pollens and other modes of transportation of genetically modified materials into the environment. The aim of the French National Institute of Agricultural Research is said to be to seek ways to make vulnerable grapes more resistant to disease. It plans to replant a batch of genetically modified vines after a five-year pause. This follows on from a 1996 small crop of genetically modified grapes planted in eastern France by champagne producer Moet et Chandon, then in partnership with the Institute. For this French sacrilege the public made their feelings felt by consumer pressure and the company were forced to dig up the plants in 1999 and limit their research to the laboratory. 2 GM purveyors of vested interest don’t give up easily. Despite obvious consumers’ lack of desire for GM wine and concerns by many professionals in the French wine industry that GM could hurt the image of their brands, the dug-up plants were frozen in a laboratory and it is these same plants that the institute are awaiting for permission from the Agriculture Minister, Monsieur Herve Gaymard, to replant five years later - this August! The institute this time around has apparently agreed to certain restrictions to ease consumer fears, e.g. No wine will be produced from the plants3 (these particular plants), but that’s the thin edge of a very nasty wedge being hammered in like a coffin nail. France’s vintners have complained that there is a lack of dialogue between the researchers and the public, but they are vulnerable. They have for years suffered a steady erosion of their livelihoods by margin-squeezing supermarket chains, falling demand at home – partly due to sterner drink driving laws - and the growing popularity of Australian, American and no doubt more recently South African wines competing in their export markets abroad.4
COMMENT: The UK public majority has made its mostly ignored decisions known to the UK Government regarding its refusal to eat Genetically Modified foodstuffs. Some time ago, we did not get the impression that MPs in the Houses of Parliament were any too keen to eat such foods either. So when were the public anywhere consulted about GM edible fruits or drinks made from them? This grape tampering may all be news to the general public, but back in November 2002, the Institute for Wine Biotechnology, Stellenbosch University, South Africa had this to say: “Grapevine biotechnology is one of the most promising developments in the global wine industry, which is increasingly faced with conflicting demands from markets, consumers and environmentalists. In the grapevine industries, this technology and its supporting disciplines entail the establishment of stress tolerant and disease resistant varieties of Vitis vinifera, with increased productivity, efficiency, sustainability and environmental friendliness, especially regarding improved pest and disease control, water use efficiency and grape quality. The implementation and successful commercialization of genetically improved grapevine varieties will only be realized if an array of hurdles, both scientific and otherwise, can be overcome.”5 America’s GM giant Monsanto is not popular with the EU populations, not matter what political lobbying goes on in the corridors of power or wheeling and dealing behind closed doors. There is a very great determination to break the resistance of the EU public’s will against GM foodstuffs, but infiltration of interference with their ‘drinks’ entering the picture is another string of the same bow. If you think it’s only the grapes in the bottle that are effected, you would be wrong, because ‘table grapes’ have also been undergoing GM research.6 “Transgenic grape plants (V. vinifera, table-grape cultivars Silcora and Thompson Seedless) were produced using a method based on regeneration via organogenesis. … The phenotypic homogeneity of the regenerated plants highlights the validity of this method for both propagation and genetic transformation of table grape cultivars.” And that’s not all that’s happening with the grape. You may not be overjoyed to learn that our traditional Cox’s apples are being subjected by German research “ … to introduce genes with antifungal potential into the commercially important apple cvs. Elstar and Holsteiner Cox in order to establish resistance against fungal diseases,” using a gene from Vitis vinifera responsible for the synthesis of the phytoalexin resveratrol in grapevines and the gene for a protein from Actinidia deliciosa i.e. Kiwi fruit! Oh well, you may muse if not a wine enthusiast or mad about grapes – bring on the Beer! Not a bit of it. A consortium of the world’s largest biotech companies led by Monsanto helped fund a Swedish brewer’s new light lager that is produced with the usual hops and barley, but with a touch of genetically engineered corn.7 This latest ploy to get GE into the public’s already troubled digestive system is intended to sway public opinion, as European regulators slowly reopen the continent to genetically altered foods, is termed as an ‘ice breaker’ – given the public are not already swaying when they drink it and no longer capable of an opinion, a less edifying American expression might be more appropriate. Most of the EU’s 457 million residents don’t want their food genetically modified or genetically engineered in any way, which makes this sudden emphasis on drink perturbing. It comes at a time when many young UK people are not discriminatory about what they drink and the licensing laws are ‘open doors’. 'Kenth' beer was launched earlier this year in Denmark and Sweden and to date it is not a bar-room hit, but 4,000 bottles are on their way to Germany and the brewer is ‘in talks’ with store in the UK. We have to hope they don’t change the name to anything more like ‘Kent’ if viewing the UK market, which could cause consumer confusion. It seems that the corn in Kenth beer was approved for use in 1998, before the European moratorium stated and is grown in Germany! The Monsanto-created corn seed is spliced with a bacterium’s gene to resist the corn borer pest without the need for insecticides.8 Other companies involved in the project are Bayer CropScience, DuPont, Plant Science Sweden, Svaloef Weibull and Syngenta.9 Unfortunately, there is use of genetically modified versions of beer’s basic raw materials, adjuncts such as GM Maize (corn) and GM yeast. It is said that major brewers will deny that they are using these or intend to use them. However, there is one ingredient that many of them are using: Genetically Modified ‘enzymes’. The enzymes themselves are not GM, but they are produced by genetic modification of materials, such as bacteria. If the rate of pressure keeps up in areas where consumables are not clearly labelled as ‘GM’ it looks like brewers of truly natural ‘GM-Free’ ales, beers or wines could create more than a niche market for themselves in the not too distant future. For serious supporters of real ale, the Campaign for Real Ale Kent Beer Festival 2004 is on 22nd – 24th July in Cantebury.11 References:
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