Genetically modified rice from China approved by the FDA — without independent testing

The debate raging around the genetic modification of food crops is likely to heat up even more now that the Food and Drug Administration has declared a new GM rice known as Huahui 1 to be safe, despite performing none of its own independent tests. The rice was developed by a research team from Huazhong University in China, and has been engineered to be more resistant to pests like the rice stem borer.

The Chinese government has thrown billions of dollars at the development of GMOs, but the unpopularity of such crops with consumers in China has prevented their large-scale agricultural production in that country. Waking Times recently reported that massive demand for organic produce in China has caused food shortages because of the country’s issues with pollution, and has led to the production of “fake organics.”