Farmer holding wheat seeds on an organoic farm

GM Wheat in Alberta Raises Questions

Regulators are scratching their heads after seven genetically modified wheat plants were found in Alberta.

No country, including Canada, allows genetically modified (GM) wheat to be produced commercially, so the discovery raises questions, including some the Canadian Food Inspection Agency (CFIA) can’t answer, like how it got there and the variety of wheat involved.

June 15, 2018 | Source: Manitoba Co-Operator | by Allan Dawson

CFIA stresses what’s most important is Canada’s commercial wheat and seed system are GM-free

Regulators are scratching their heads after seven genetically modified wheat plants were found in Alberta.

No country, including Canada, allows genetically modified (GM) wheat to be produced commercially, so the discovery raises questions, including some the Canadian Food Inspection Agency (CFIA) can’t answer, like how it got there and the variety of wheat involved.

However, during a technical briefing with reporters June 14, CFIA stressed what’s most important is extensive testing, with help from the Canadian Grain Commission (CGC), shows there’s no GM wheat in Canada’s commercial wheat and seed system, that all the wheat in the discovery area on a southern Alberta farm has been destroyed and the site will be monitored for three years.

In that wheat CFIA found a gene Monsanto uses to make plants tolerant to the non-selective herbicide glyphosate, branded by Monsanto as Roundup.