GM Foods: From the point of view of...
The Consumer Association
CA is the largest consumer organisation in Europe. CA is committed
to empowering people to make informed consumer decisions and achieving
measurable improvements in goods and service.
Choice, safety and what consumers want...
Choice
Our research shows that people want to know if they're eating food
made using GM. In February 1999 we asked around 2,000 people some questions
about GM. Ninety per cent of them had heard of GM and ninety four per
cent of these said that they wanted clear labelling to show if their
food had been genetically modified in any way.
One of the main problems is that GM and non-GM crops don't have to
be kept separate. If both types are mixed together it makes it much
more difficult to stop GM ingredients from getting into our food, or
to be sure which foods definitely don't contain any GM ingredients.
Also, at the moment, looking at the label on many packaged foods won't
always help you decide if ingredients are from GM plants or not. This
is because under the labelling laws not all ingredients used in our
food that come from GM sources have to be labelled as GM. For example,
if the GM protein or DNA can't be detected in the final food, then the
ingredient doesn't have to be labelled as GM, despite the fact it was
made from a GM plant. We think that this stops people having a choice
over whether they eat food with GM ingredients or not.
People only have a proper choice if there's an alternative to GM food,
which can only happen if GM and non-GM crops are separated and are fully
labelled. Then shops can stock guaranteed non-GM food too. Recently
some supermarkets and food manufacturers have been doing this voluntarily.
What we want
- Clear labelling of our food to show all ingredients that come from
GM plants.
- GM crops to be kept separate from non-GM ones.
- Shops to stock food with no GM ingredients.
- Better testing methods so that it's easy to check whether or not
a food contains any GM ingredients
Safety
There's no clear evidence that GM foods aren't safe for us to eat,
but there are still some uncertainties about this technology. Not enough
research has been done into the long-term effects of GM. It's vital
that there are proper controls over GM to make sure that it is as safe
as possible.
CA are concerned about the way in which GM foods are controlled by
the government. There are three main government committees that are
responsible for making decisions about GM. One of the problems with
this system is that, at the moment, each committee concentrates on its
own area of work and decisions, while none have the responsibility to
step back and look at what's happening overall. Our concern is that
this system means that some of the wider concerns - like the long-term
effects of GM or the environmental questions - are missed and there's
no co-ordinated approach. Also, it doesn't allow consumers much of a
chance to give their views.
What we want
- No new GM products in our food until the safety system is changed
- A committee to look at all of the issues about GM
- Government to listen to consumers' views about GM
- All GM crops and ingredients kept track of so that if there's a
safety problem with one of them it's possible to find out which foods
are affected.
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