Philadelphia Inquirer | November 7, 1999 | Michael Zielenziger | KNIGHT RIDDER NEWS SERVICE
TOKYO - The latest threat to American farmers and farm exporters comes from the likes of Toshie Nakamura, a housewife in Tokyo.
As she reached into the refrigerator case at her local grocery store recently, she explained her reluctance to buy any tofu, a staple of the Japanese diet, made from genetically modified soybeans, despite a prominent sign nearby that scientists had declared the bean curd totally safe.
"If the government says it's safe, then I have to be concerned," Nakamura said. "They don't explain why the product is safe. So frankly, I just don't believe them."
Here in the No. 1 market for U.S. agricultural exports, at nearly $12 billion last year, consumer anxiety over genetically altered foods has triggered panic among Japanese food manufacturers.
They are demanding soybeans, corn, wheat and other commodities free of genetically altered ingredients, even as U.S. farmers have embraced genetically modified crops because they require less chemical fertilizers and pesticides.
The debate over the health risks of genetically modified foods demonstrates growing distrust by citizens of government safety assurances, fueled by the recent accident at a nuclear-fuel reprocessing plant outside Tokyo in which 69 workers were injured.
Japan's growing reluctance to purchase gene-altered foods also could spark renewed trade friction later this month when a new round of World Trade Organization talks convenes in Seattle.
"Every day, another food producer rushes to announce it's going to produce GM-free foods," said a U.S. agricultural official here, who asked not to be named. "It's a real panic. And it could affect our ability to sell U.S.-grown commodities into Japan."
The issue also resonates because Japan's notoriously finicky consumers have a deep-seated, almost pathological fear of germs. In grocery stores, Japanese consumers can buy telephone receivers that repel bacteria and germ-fighting colanders. In crowded subways, Japanese commuters routinely don white surgical masks to keep from spreading a cold. Some municipalities heat the sand in children's public sandboxes to reduce the risk that bacteria from dog excrement might infect children.
A survey published this week by the Nihon Keizai Shimbun, Japan's leading economic newspaper, demonstrated that growing consumer anxiety is reverberating. Almost two-thirds of food processors surveyed intended to use only ingredients that had not been genetically modified, while 8 percent said they would abandon foreign commodities altogether.
Unexpected demand for unmodified commodities has already boosted the price here of corn, wheat and soybeans certified as free of genetically altered materials, by 20 to 30 percent.
Japanese consumer groups are demanding that U.S. farmers refuse to plant gene-altered crops next season - or risk losing sales to nations that produce unmodified commodities.
Pressure from Taro Kono, a member of Japan's Diet, or parliament, and consumer activists has led the Japanese Agriculture Ministry to require labeling of 28 foods for genetically modified ingredients starting in April 2001. Some grocery chains, such as the giant Jusco store where Nakamura was shopping, already are labeling products with such ingredients.
"Fundamentally, we believe that if we give the customer more information about the products we sell, we are adding value," said Mitsuteru Koshikawa, manager of the Jusco store on Tokyo's sprawling East Side.
Food-industry executives and U.S. government analysts worry that such labeling will stigmatize the products and reduce U.S. food exports.
"If it's labeled, then suddenly consumers care. Labeling implies there's a safety issue," said Dennis Kitch, Japan director of the U.S. Grains Council, a trade group.
Kitch said there was no evidence that the foods were risky, and he charged that the Agriculture Ministry was trying to use the issue "to scare consumers away from food imports" to boost sales of domestic crops.
Kaoru Yoshimura, an Agriculture Ministry official, rejected the charge of protectionism. He said the only purpose for labeling was "to give consumers a choice. We intend to educate consumers that genetically modified products are safe. But in the meantime, we should inform consumers as much as possible. ... Japanese consumers are far more safety-conscious; they aren't price-conscious. They will pay more money for products they feel are safe."
Yoshimura acknowledged that even though there was no conclusive evidence that gene-altered foods were unsafe, "some consumers are not in a normal psychological state" on the issue.
"No matter what the government says, these consumers simply won't change their minds," he said.
