Government urges MEPs to vote for GM food

The Government is asking UK Members of the European Parliament (MEPs) to vote in favour of the GM contamination of our food and against the widespread labelling of food containing traces of GM materials, Friends of the Earth revealed. The advice comes ahead of the Government's 'public debate' on GM foods.

MEPs are voting on new European legislation to strengthen the labelling of food containing GM-derived ingredients. Currently food containing at least one per cent of GM DNA must be labelled. The new proposals would strengthen the legislation by:

Reducing the GM labelling threshold. MEPs backed a 0.5 per cent labelling threshold at the first reading last year, but the Council of Ministers increased it to 0.9 per cent. MEPs can still vote for the 0.5 per cent threshold, though Friends of the Earth has been calling for the limit to be set at the lowest detectable level (currently 0.1 per cent).
Increasing the scope of the legislation to include GM derivatives, which don't contain DNA, such as oil and lecithin. This would be achieved through a comprehensive 'traceability' regime.
Extending it to cover animal feed.

However, the Government is urging MEPs to weaken the proposals by voting to maintain the current GM threshold of one per cent. The recommendation is contained in a briefing to MEPs from the Food Standards Agency (FSA) and Department of the Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (DEFRA). The briefing claims thresholds below one per cent are unenforceable. But the Government's own Central Science Laboratory has confirmed that a limit of detection of 0.1 per cent is verifiable.

The briefing comes hot on the heels of the FSA's own Citizen's Jury, held in Slough in early April, the 15 jurors unanimously recommended comprehensive labelling of any food containing GM ingredients or derived from GM crops including "a GM logo".

EU citizens strongly support comprehensive labelling, with the latest polls indicating that 94 per cent back strong EU legislation to maintain choice for consumers.

"Consumers have made it perfectly clear that they want comprehensive GM labelling so that they can avoid food containing GM ingredients," said Friends of the Earth's GM Campaigner, Pete Riley. "But once again the UK Government is ignoring public concern on this issue. It is urging MEPs to weaken new European legislation on GM food labels, and reduce the ability of consumers to choose what they eat. So much for the openness of the Government's GM public debate, to be launched next month. The role of the Food Standards Agency must also be questioned. It claims to be listening to consumer concerns, but when it comes to GM labelling, it seem to represent the biotech industry. The major supermarkets are already working to a 0.1 per cent threshold."