Japan exempts GMOs from safety screening

SEOUL, March 18 (UPI) -- The Japanese government is to exempt genetically modified foods from safety screening, according to multiple reports.

Genome-modified foods including "more prolific rice species" and "bigger red sea bream" are under development in the world's third largest economy, NHK reported Monday.

While government regulation would require producers to notify authorities about the kinds of modified foods they will distribute to the public, new rules made public on Monday will let the foods be marketed without safety screenings for toxicity or carcinogenicity.

Businesses must also indicate which genes were modified, and how they were able to confirm the modification would produce no adverse health effects among consumers, Kyodo News reported.

GM food is food from genetically altered plants and animals. The genes of the organism are directly manipulated, and sometimes the gene sequence is rearranged or DNA is transplanted.

GM foods have been consumed and have not caused health problems for decades.

Hirohito Sone, a professor at Niigata University, said gene edited food is no less safe than those created through "conventional breeding techniques."

Some Japanese consumer activists disagree, however.

The National Liaison Committee of Consumer Organizations said there is the "danger" of introducing new allergens through gene editing.

Activists also said it is not enough to indicate on labels the food has been modified.

Japan's consumer affairs agency will "study" the labeling of foods, according to NHK.