In Greece, the cultivation of cotton is prohibited by law due to genetic modification. Greek cotton clothing and cottonseed oil are sold at a premium as non-GMO products.

But as of 2000, 120 tons of seeds were contaminated with GMOs. Testing at a laboratory in Freiberg, Germany, found that two out of seven randomly selected samples were contaminated with GMOs. The highest level of recombinant admixture was 2% of the total seed genes. The same thing happened in 2004.

However, even today, Greek cotton is distributed with a high added value as "non-GMO cotton" without any scientific backing.

As those who have seen the site where cotton is handled as raw material will easily understand, huge piles of cotton are handled by huge heavy machinery.

From an economic rationale, the sites where both imported GMO and non-GMO cotton are handled will be almost the same. This is because the cost of moving heavy equipment and constructing multiple warehouses is not necessary. The reality is that it is almost inevitable that GMO cotton will be mixed in.

An environmental group has conducted an investigation into the contamination of genetically modified wagons. The areas marked in red on the map are those that have declared that they have been contaminated with GMOs; the areas marked in yellow are those that have refused to respond to the survey. Yellow marks are areas that refused to respond to the survey, indicating that GMOs are widespread on all five continents.

https://www.google.com/maps/d/viewer?mid=zbaZOjKjysj8.kkzlQTMH4FFw&hl=en_US

(You can also view individual cases reported in newspapers.)

So-called "organic cotton" must not be made from genetically modified cotton seeds. However, certification bodies do not test for recombinant genes. Even if the cotton fibers were tested, the results would always be negative (non-GMO) because there are not enough genes attached to the fibers.

This is a comment from an interview with a biotech information dissemination group that is spreading understanding about biotechnology.

" Even if we obtain non-GMO cotton seed from a country where GMO cotton is not grown, it is difficult to say whether such cotton seed is completely non-GMO or not without analyzing it. As the Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry, and Fisheries (MAFF) says, "Sometimes GMO seeds below the detection limit can be detected, and sometimes not," so it may be difficult to say that the seeds are completely non-GMO. "

The apparel companies are not communicating this to consumers, but from my eight years as a peer in the global cotton business world, I believe this is the reality.

( to be continued )