Consumers of Genetically Modified (GM) beans, the pod borer insect resistant variety, have testified that it tastes just as the local beans.
The consumers gave this testimonies at the Mobile Kitchen Campaign for Pod Borer Resistant Cowpea, tagged, “Eating is Believing,” held at the headquarters of the National Biotechnology Development Agency (NABDA).
A student of the University of Abuja, Mathew Ukwuasu, said that after consuming the variety, he couldn’t tell the difference in taste, between the local and the pod borer variety.
He said he was now better informed about genetically modified organisms (GMOs) and biotechnology.
Another consumer, Ms Winifred Adejo, said she could also not tell the difference between the beans she was used to eating and the one she was served at the event.
“The taste is really natural and it’s impossible to tell which one is genetically modified and which is not,’’ Adejo said.
Mr. Emmanuel Nwankwo, said he was happy to have a taste of the new variety of beans which tasted “just like the normal beans.’’
Nwankwo recommended that the variety should be used to boost local food production and distributed all over the country.
Prof. Abdullahi Mustapha, Director General, NABDA, said the pod border variety was developed in Nigeria by Nigerian scientists, cultivated and produced in Nigeria.
Mustapha said the variety was very safe to eat and was also an important component of the human system.
“The variety will facilitate the eradication of hunger and malnutrition; the value chain runs down, not just the farmers but from the food vendors. The food vendors outside have cooked up to five varieties and the essence is that biotechnology is a science that can be delivered from the laboratory down to the stomach,’’ he said.
