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FP967 ('Triffid') flax has been gown illegally in Canada and exported around the globe.
The initial discovery of unauthorised GM Flax was in Germany of some flax that had been imported from Canada. This was on the 8 September 2009, Since that first discovery GM flax continues to be discovered around Europe and is thought to have been imported to over 30 countries around the world. The table at the bottom of the page shows the confirmed cases the Contamination Register has been able to record.
Flax (Linum usitatissimum) also known Linseed has a wide range of food, humnan feed and industrial uses. As a food it is valued because of its high levels of omega fatty acids and particularly Omega-3.
Industrial oil and fibres are used in a wide varieties of products, for example linseed oil is used as a preservative on wood and the floor covering linoleum is 30% linseed oil.
In the late 1980’s a flax variety, known as FP967 and later named Triffid was developed by a public research institution, the Crop Development Centre in Saskatoon, Saskatchewan.
Triffid was authorised for commercial use in both Canada and the United States in the late 1990’s. However concerns about the European export market meant Triffid certified seed was never sold for commercial production. By 2001 Triffed was de-registered and it was believed that all known stocks had been identified and destroyed.
There is no Event-specific test for FP967 and it is currently conceivable that the contamination is caused by another very similar GM flax. The Plant Biotechnology Institute (PBI) in Saskatoon is developing a Triffid specific test, which when developed, will be sent to GM monitoring labs in Europe as designated by the European Governments in consultation with the Canadian Government.
Canadian Government officials met with representatives from DG SANCO (Department of Health) of the European Commission on Thursday 23 September. It is thought that they agreed propose a protocol for assuring that Canadian linseed shipments to the EU complied with EU requirements prior to the meeting of the EU’s Standing Committee on the Food Chain and Animal Health on 19 October .
Concerns are growing that as Canadian Flax farmers prepare to harvest this years crop, the extent of the contamination is still unknown.
Canada is the world's leader in the production and export of flax. Canada currently ships 60% of its flax exports to the EU, 30% to the United Sates, and 4% to Japan. Between 500,000-700,000 bushels go to Europe. Before the contamination scandal, cash bids for flax in Manitoba were 9.90-9.92 a bushel. But just based on rumour, before contamination was confirmed, flax bids in Manitoba were down to $6.78 a bushel. This is a fall in price of 32% before the GM contamination was even confirmed.
Contamination incidents involving Flax 967
| Date |
Country |
Distributed to |
Product |
RASFF* number |
| 8 September |
Germany |
Switzerland and Poland |
Cereals/bakery products |
2009.1171 |
| 11 September |
Germany |
Austria and Mauritius |
nuts, nut products and cereals |
2009.1198 |
| 15 September |
Germany |
Netherlands, Luxembourg, Italy and Switzerland. |
Cereals/bakery products |
2009.1208 |
| 18 September |
Germany |
Austria |
Cereals/bakery products |
2009.1228 |
| 21 September |
Germany |
Luxembourg |
Cereals/bakery products |
2009.1232 |
| 24 September |
Germany |
Austria and Mauritius |
Cereals/bakery products |
2009.1247 |
| 1 October |
Germany |
Belgium, Croatia, Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Greece, Hungary, Iceland, Republic of Korea, Luxembourg, Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Singapore, Spain, Sri Lanka, Sweden, Thailand, United Kingdom |
baking mixture manufactured in Germany, raw materials from Canada |
2009.1267 |
| 2 October |
Germany |
None |
Ground brown linseed (origin unknown) |
2009.1270 |
| 5 October |
Germany |
None |
Animal Feed |
2009.1279 |
| 5 October |
Germany |
None |
Animal Feed |
2009.1281 |
| 5 October |
Germany |
None |
Animal Feed |
2009.1286 |
| 5 October |
Austria |
Austria, Croatia, France, Germany, Italy, Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain, Switzerland |
Cereal and Bakery Products |
2009.1287 |
| 6 October |
Austria |
None |
Cereal and Bakery Products |
2009.1295 |
| 6 October |
Austria |
None |
nuts, nut products and seeds |
2009.1294 |
| 6 October |
Germany |
Egypt, France, Germany, Netherlands, Spain |
cereals and bakery products |
2009.1289 |
| 6 October |
Austria |
None |
cereals and bakery products |
2009.1291 |
| 6 October |
Austria |
Bulgaria, Croatia, Czech Republic, Romania, Serbia, Slovakia, Slovenia |
linseed whole grain |
2009.1296 |
| 6 October |
Germany |
France, Germany, Netherlands, Switzerland |
brown linseed |
2009.1290 |
| 7 October |
Germany |
None |
cereals and bakery products |
2009.1297 |
| 7 October |
Germany |
Mauritius |
cereals and bakery products |
2009.1298 |
| 7 October |
Romania |
Austria, Belgium, Cyprus, Czech Republic, Denmark, Germany, Italy, Poland, Romania, Switzerland |
linseed in frozen bakery products |
2009.1299 |
| 8 October |
Germany |
None |
linseed in baking mixture |
2009.1311 |
| 8 October |
Germany |
Austria |
linseed in baking mixture |
2009.1313 |
| 8 October |
Germany |
Netherlands |
linseed |
2009.1316 |
| 8 October |
Sweden |
Italy |
linseed |
2009.1307 |
| 8 October |
Germany |
Macedonia, The Former Republic Of Yugoslav, Greece, |
brown linseed |
2009.1308 |
| 8 October |
Germany |
Poland, Luxembourg, Austria, Czech Republic, Spain and Hong Kong, |
brown linseed |
2009.1309 |
| 8 October |
Germany |
None |
linseed |
2009.1314 |
| 9 October |
Germany |
None |
linseed |
2009.1318 |
| 9 October |
Austria |
Poland |
linseed |
2009.1322 |
| 9 October |
Austria |
|
linseed |
2009.1323 |
| 12 October |
Cyprus |
Switzerland, Belgium, Romania, Poland, Italy, Denmark, Czech Republic, Austria |
linseed in frozen bakery products |
2009.1331 |
| 12 October |
Finland |
Latvia, Estonia |
linseed in frozen bakery products |
2009.1335 |
| 13 October |
Germany |
import via Poland |
linseed |
2009.1339 |
| 13 October |
Germany |
None |
brown linseed |
2009.1340 |
| 13 October |
Germany |
Bulgaria, Austria, Czech Republic, Germany, Croatia, Romania, Serbia, Slovenia, Slovakia |
linseed |
2009.1341 |
| 13 October |
Germany |
Slovakia, Slovenia, Serbia, Romania, Croatia, Germany, Czech Republic, Bulgaria, Austria |
linseed |
2009.1342 |
| 14 October |
Germany |
Austria |
linseed |
2009.1349 |
| 14 October |
Germany |
Austria |
linseed |
2009.1351 |
| 15 October |
Germany |
Italy, Ireland, Hungary, Croatia, Greece, United Kingdom, France, Spain, Germany, Czech Republic, Switzerland, Belgium, Austria, Slovakia, Slovenia, Portugal, Poland, Netherlands |
linseed in bakery mixture |
2009.1363 |
| 15 October |
Germany |
None |
linseed meal (animal feed) |
2009.1365 |
| 20 October |
Greece |
None |
brown linseed |
2009.1388 |
| 21 October |
Germany |
Nonw |
linseed in bakery mixtures |
2009.1397 |
| 21 October |
Germany |
Slovenia, Hungary, Germany, Greece, Austria |
brown linseed |
2009.1400 |
| 22 October |
Italy |
Slovenia |
linseed |
2009.1413 |
| 22 October |
Germany |
Italy, Portugal, Malta |
brown linseed |
2009.1414 |
| 26 October |
Cyprus |
none |
linseed in bakery mix from Germany |
2009.1444 |
| 27 October |
Cyprus |
None |
brown linseed |
2009.1453 |
| 28 October |
Germany |
Sweden, Poland, Netherlands, Latvia, Luxembourg, Lithuania, Italy, United Kingdom, France, Finland, Denmark, Czech Republic, Switzerland, Austria, Slovakia |
linseed in bakery products |
2009.1462 |
| 29 October |
Germany |
Austria |
linseed |
2009.1472 |
| 30 October |
Germany |
Austria |
linseed |
2009.1474 |
| 30 October |
Luxembourg |
None |
brown linseed |
2009.1476 |
| 30 October |
Luxembourg |
None |
linseed |
2009.1477 |
| 30 October |
Luxembourg |
None |
linseed |
2009.1485 |
| 3 November |
Germany |
None |
brown linseed |
2009.1489 |
| 4 November |
Slovenia |
None |
brown linseed |
2009.1497 |
| 4 November |
France |
None |
linseed in wholegrain toasted bread |
2009.1498 |
| 4 November |
Germany |
None |
linseed in bakery mixture |
2009.1501 |
| 3 November |
Germany |
None |
brown linseed |
2009.1506 |
| 4 November |
Finland |
imported via Israel |
linseed in food supplement |
2009.BXE |
| 5 November |
Greece |
None |
organic brown linseed |
2009.1515 |
| 6 November |
Switzerland (via EU Commission) |
None |
linseed in muesli |
2009.1523 |
| 6 November |
Switzerland (via EU Commission) |
United Kingdom |
brown linseed |
2009.1524 |
| 6 November |
Germany |
None |
brown linseed |
2009.1531 |
*The Rapid Alert System for Food and Feed (RASFF) is used by the EU Member States, Norway, Liechtenstein, Iceland and Switzerland. It was put in place to provide food and feed control authorities with an effective tool to exchange information about measures taken responding to serious risks detected in relation to food or feed.
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