Flax contamination threatens to bring Canadian industry to its knees
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A mystery contamination of Canadian flax crops has led to a European halt on imports, and potential devastation for the $320 million flax industry.
A genetically-modified flax seed named “Triffid”, after a sci-fi book about experimental plants that attack people, was developed in the 1990s by Dr. Alan McHughen. The name was probably meant to be a bit of laboratory naming fun. In light of recent events, though, it seems quite unfortunate.
Triffid seeds were never sold in Canada, but some seeds were distributed for educational purposes, with the strict condition that they not be grown. Nonetheless, it seems that some farmers planted the seed anyway – a bit of innocent stipulation-breaking with massive consequences.
The Canadian Grain Commission has been testing flax seed since the genetically-modified Triffid seed was detected in European imports, with the hope of tracking the plants back to the farms they originated from. According to their sample, about one in every 10,000 flax seeds is the genetically-modified Triffid.
Although Triffid is approved for food and feed in both Canada and the United States, European Union countries are not as laissez-faire about genetically-modified foods. Since the news of the contamination broke, Canadian flax has fallen from $11 a ton to about $2 or $3 a ton.
Organic farmers will suffer the most from this hit, as their product must be free of all genetic modification in order to be certified as organic.
It’s almost unfortunate that nature has created such an efficient and self-monitoring system for plant growth. Through wind and insect pollination, Triffid’s journey across Canada’s flax fields has been quite natural, helped along by the birds and the bees, and there’s nothing that Canadian farmers can do about it.
As it stands right now, the Canadian Grain Commission hopes to locate the source farms to get the plants out of the ground. But how much damage has already been done? If the contamination has already spread, isn’t it too late to kill it at the source?
Well, until somebody has a better idea, I guess it’s the only solution going. Man, I would not want to be the farmer sitting at home right now and thinking, “Shoot! I knew I shouldn’t have planted that seed!”
