Most papayas in China said to be GM products  

农科院专家：市面上木瓜多为转基因品种

昨日，多位专家表示，凭借外形辨别转基因的方法，缺乏科学依据，并不靠谱。消费者真正现在能接触到的转基因食品，主要就是木瓜、大豆油以及一些转基因大豆做的调和油，其他诸如土豆、大米、玉米、西红柿，都不是转基因，消费者在市场上也是买不到的。[查看全文]

(ECNS) -- An expert said most of the papayas on the Chinese market are genetically modified (GM) products, and that papayas and soybean oil are the only GM foods commonly available, the Beijing News reported Thursday.

Zhu Yi, an assistant professor at China Agricultural University, said GM papayas can withstand the deadly ring spot virus.

GM papayas are increasingly becoming common around the world, Zhu said, adding that not all GM papayas are labeled as such.

Experts denied the online information claiming that GM products can be indentified by their appearance.

Huang Dafang, a researcher at the Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences, said imported GM soybean is only allowed to be fed to animals and must be extracted oil, so soybean oil and blended oil may be GM products. Consumers can identity them from the label information, he said.

Zhu said imported GM corn can only be used for animal feed, thus there is no GM corn on the market.

China doesn't allow imports of GM potatoes and GM carrots, they said.

Although China has granted the certificate to import GM tomatoes, no such products have entered China yet, Zhu said.

The agricultural ministry just finished an assessment of GM rice in Hubei, but hasn't approved it for commercial cultivation, Huang said.