Anti-GM groups fight back in Australia

The battle continued on Thursday between the Australian New Zealand Food Authority (ANZFA) and anti-GM lobby groups when GeneEthics director Bob Phelps declared that Food Authority chief Ian Lindenmayer had made "intemperate andmisinformed attacks" on GeneEthics Network's and the Public Health Association.

His vitriolic comments are in response to a statement made earlier this week by Food Authority chief Ian Lindenmayer which expressed his disappointment at attempts by some anti-GM lobby groups to spread misinformation about the safety and labelling of genetically modified foods.

"We are surprised and concerned that the federal regulator, Ian Lindenmayerof ANZFA, so clearly sides with the chemical giants to promote gene technology and its food products,"​ said Phelps in a statement.

"In the public interest, we want ANZFA's GM food assessments to require morerobust testing and all foods produced using gene technology to be labelled,"​ he declared.

"Soy, corn, canola, potato, sugarbeet and cotton seed products which can be sprayed with more herbicide or produce their own insecticidal toxins are now approved. This is despite 93 per cent of Australians demanding GM food labels,"​ he commented.

"We want the same rules applied to GM labels as apply to GM-free label claims - that any use of gene technology at any point in the productionprocess should be disclosed on the label,"​ Phelps added.

In a reference to current political movements in Europe towards stricter legislation on genetically modified ingredients, Phelps said: "We want new French and UK proposals for tightening GM food testing andassessment to be seriously considered for introduction to Australia and NZ. Precaution is the best policy, but ANZFA is recklessly approving GM foods,"​he concluded. We await the response from ANZFA.