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Spotted on a package of corn meal...
Oct. 7th, 2025 07:58 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
bunsen_hThe ingredients list on a package of cornmeal (in the form of small flakes, a format I don't recall seeing before), caught my eye:
Well, it was written in Flyspeck 3 Italic, so I had to squint. And get a picture and enlarge the picture.
"containing genes from Agrobacterium tumefaciens, Bacillus thuringiensis, Streptomyces viridochromogenes and Zea mays."
Agrobacterium tumefaciens is a genus of bacteria that causes tumours in plants. It's used commercially to implant gene sequences into plants. Bacillus thuringiensis is a bacterial biological pesticide; the bacterium Streptomyces viridochromogenes produces a biological herbicide and a couple of antibiotics. Zea mays is the corn itself; I suppose that it arguably needs to be included in a declared list of the species whose genes contribute to the product.
In short, it's explicitly a GMO product. I suppose it's good to have the details? Mind you, the description is a bit weak. The concern wouldn't (or shouldn't) be about the genes, but about the substances expressed by them. On the other hand, I wouldn't expect any of those contributors to be producing gluten. (The product may contain wheat and barley, but that qualifier isn't on the gluten.) The product comes from General Mills's Brazilian subsidiary.
Well, it was written in Flyspeck 3 Italic, so I had to squint. And get a picture and enlarge the picture.
"containing genes from Agrobacterium tumefaciens, Bacillus thuringiensis, Streptomyces viridochromogenes and Zea mays."
Agrobacterium tumefaciens is a genus of bacteria that causes tumours in plants. It's used commercially to implant gene sequences into plants. Bacillus thuringiensis is a bacterial biological pesticide; the bacterium Streptomyces viridochromogenes produces a biological herbicide and a couple of antibiotics. Zea mays is the corn itself; I suppose that it arguably needs to be included in a declared list of the species whose genes contribute to the product.
In short, it's explicitly a GMO product. I suppose it's good to have the details? Mind you, the description is a bit weak. The concern wouldn't (or shouldn't) be about the genes, but about the substances expressed by them. On the other hand, I wouldn't expect any of those contributors to be producing gluten. (The product may contain wheat and barley, but that qualifier isn't on the gluten.) The product comes from General Mills's Brazilian subsidiary.
