{"id":116,"date":"2015-09-10T14:33:32","date_gmt":"2015-09-10T14:33:32","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/topicsa.wordpress.com\/?p=116"},"modified":"2017-04-01T08:45:35","modified_gmt":"2017-04-01T08:45:35","slug":"frys-hot-dogs-gmo-free","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/topicsa.org.za\/blog\/frys-hot-dogs-gmo-free\/","title":{"rendered":"Fry’s Hot Dogs GMO Free?"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"Frys<\/a>TOPIC verifies Fry\u2019s non GMO labelling claim<\/b><\/p>\n

Fry\u2019s Original Hot Dogs was TOPIC\u2019s top nominated product by consumers in early March. The product claims on the box that it is \u201ca non GM product\u201d and the team went to work uncovering the facts.<\/span><\/p>\n

In line with TOPIC\u2019s policy of engagement, we contacted the family-owned vegetarian food company that is based in KwaZulu-Natal. It was established that they routinely test their products for traces of genetically modified organisms (GMO) with the well-known GMO Testing Facility at the University of the Free State (UFS). Fry\u2019s promised to send us their next test results once they were received.<\/span><\/p>\n

Two weeks later, as promised, we received the Certificate of Analysis from the GMO Testing Facility which conducted a GMO double screen for 35S (cauliflower mosaic virus) and NOS (Agrobacterium tumefaciens) in the soy product. The sample contained less than 0,41% of transgenic 35S promoter DNA in relation to total soy DNA.<\/span><\/p>\n

\"Scan<\/a>
Test results April 2015<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Fry\u2019s Quality Manager, Cornell van Staden, commented: \u201cPlease note that the Hotdogs had a reading of 0.41% which is less than the requirement of 0.9% which is therefore within specification.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

The company exports worldwide and is therefore holding themselves to the most stringent European Union (EU) standards for GM labelling, less than 0.9%. This threshold is set due to the sometimes unavoidable small amount of mixing that can occur during the production, transportation, and processing of agricultural products. South African law is much less strict and allows a product to have up to 5% GM ingredients before being labelled as such.<\/span><\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>\"\"<\/a>However happy we were with how forthcoming Fry\u2019s had been in engaging with us, we could not completely accept the test results as the samples were not randomly selected but sent in by Fry\u2019s themselves. GM testing is expensive and TOPIC lacked the funding to test the product ourselves, so we approached Fry\u2019s and asked if they would be willing to pay for a test where TOPIC sends in a randomly-sourced sample and they accepted.<\/span><\/p>\n

TOPIC sent a sample to UFS in August and this time 35S and NOS were not detected and the product was therefore in compliance with GMO legislation.<\/span><\/p>\n

\"Scan<\/a>
Test results from August 2015<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

When asked why being GMO-free is important to Fry\u2019s, van Staden replied, \u201cAs a family of vegetarians in a family run business we are still intricately involved in the product development at Fry\u2019s Foods. We\u2019ve made our business choices both from an ethical and a health standpoint and so it was a natural decision to ensure that all the ingredients in our products were GMO free.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cWe only purchase our soy from farmers in countries which have GMO-free crops. We work with farmers and the supply chain to ensure all crops are identity preserved from farm to our factory so that no cross-contamination occurs. Validation and test reports are required for each batch being produced for Fry\u2019s, a second test is then done by the University of Free State which we do independently to validate the status of the soy. This is done all at an additional expense to Fry\u2019s,\u201d van Staden said.<\/span><\/p>\n

TOPIC spokesperson Peter Becker said, \u201cWhile conducting our investigations we have had a wide variety of responses from suppliers. Fry\u2019s have stood out for their rapid and friendly responses to our queries, and their commitment to transparency. By allowing us to select the samples and send them directly to the laboratory, as well as sharing the test results, they have shown their determination to ensure that consumers get a non GMO product as the label claims.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

Working with retailers who have committed to transparency, TOPIC is supported by online organic shop Faithful to Nature, health and wellness retailer Wellness Warehouse, Cape Town fresh produce retailers Organic Zone and Garden Route Goodies, Johannesburg-based retailers, Bryanston Organic & Natural Market and Jackson\u2019s Real Food Market, as well as urban agriculture voluntary association Abalimi-Harvest of Hope and The Farm and Garden National Trust.<\/span><\/p>\n

Asked to comment, Glenda Moore from the Bryanston Organic & Natural Market said, \u201cWe support the precautionary principle in relation to GMO\u2019s (the process of forcing genes from one species into another entirely unrelated species where it does not occur in nature), which states that until comprehensive tests are done on the effects of GMO\u2019s on not only human and animal health but also on the effect of the environment, they should not be permitted.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cAs a small business with limited resources, Bryanston Organic & Natural Market welcomes the work done by TOPIC on behalf of the organic sector in South Africa in ensuring that the products offered by the sector to consumers are honest and carry integrity and transparency,\u201d she said.<\/span><\/p>\n

Concluding the comments from Fry\u2019s, van Staden said: \u201cIt is important to have consumer-led organisations to validate the claims made by companies because there are a large number of manufacturers who make falsified claims about the nature of their products. Consumer-led organisations are far quicker and better equipped to investigate such claims when compared to governmental organisations, who are often backlogged with workload.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

TOPIC is committed to working with consumers, producers and retailers towards accurate labelling and ensuring that consumers can trust what they read on a label.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

As an organisation that relies on donations, consumers are also encouraged to contribute towards laboratory testing of products. Bank details are on our website:<\/span> www.topicsa.org.za<\/span><\/a>. <\/span><\/p>\n

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TOPIC verifies Fry\u2019s non GMO labelling claim Fry\u2019s Original Hot Dogs was TOPIC\u2019s top nominated product by consumers in early March. The product claims on the box that it is \u201ca non GM product\u201d and<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":199,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5,1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-116","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-non-gmo-label-claim","category-uncategorized"],"post_mailing_queue_ids":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/topicsa.org.za\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/116","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/topicsa.org.za\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/topicsa.org.za\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/topicsa.org.za\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/topicsa.org.za\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=116"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"http:\/\/topicsa.org.za\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/116\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":300,"href":"http:\/\/topicsa.org.za\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/116\/revisions\/300"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/topicsa.org.za\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/199"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/topicsa.org.za\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=116"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/topicsa.org.za\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=116"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/topicsa.org.za\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=116"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}