Cooking oil maker sued for GM label

The manufacturer of Jinlongyu, a popular soybean oil brand, have been sued in Kunming, Southwest China's Yunnan Province for not making it sufficiently conspicuous on their product's label that it uses genetically modified soybeans, reportedly the first lawsuit over the labeling of cooking oil in China.

A Kunming resident surnamed Zhang filed a lawsuit on August 20 against the producer and distributor of Jinlongyu, the local supermarket where he bought a barrel of Jinlongyu blended oil, as well as its celebrity brand ambassadors, badminton world champion couple Lin Dan and Xie Xingfang, for infringing on his right to know and to choose as a consumer, the Yunnan Information Daily reported on Thursday.

The court has accepted the case, Zhang's lawyer Xu Silong told the Global Times.

The genetically modified organism (GMO) label on the product appears in small type in the ingredient list, which violates regulations requiring agricultural GMOs to be clearly and conspicuously labeled, said Xu.

"But the font size on non-GMO labels is much bigger. Small print might cause consumers to miss the reminder and choose the wrong oil. The words should be at least half the size of the logo and brand name," Xu said.

Luo Yunbo, a GMO expert with China Agricultural University, however, told the Global Times that there was no clear-cut definition of "conspicuous."

Although Luo suggested detailed requirements for GMO labels so as to settle such disputes, he pointed out that GMO labeling is a placebo for those who say they require the right to know.

He cited Japan and the EU as examples that require labeling if the food contains 5 percent or 0.9 percent genetically modified contents respectively.

"But the requirement, which has no scientific basis in fact, is just an administrative approach to safeguarding people's 'right to know,'" Luo explained.

Yuan Yue, a popular science writer, said in a post on his blog that labeling is a disguised form of discrimination against GM food, since it tends to make consumers nervous about buying and consuming GM-based products.

A total of 11 suits against several well-known cooking oil producers have been filed across the country by lawyers from a coalition with 85 members demanding a response to the issue, Xu said, adding that they are not affiliated with any organization.