The tide is turning down under with a new poll showing Australians
are increasingly worried about genetically modified foods and the
risk they could pose to human health and the environment.
An end to Europe's unofficial five-year ban on new biotech crops
could be imminent as the Commission backs proposals to import a new
GM sweetcorn. Ministers in the EU 15 have three months to decide on
the fate of the biotech...
The adoption of a bill in Germany last week enforcing European regulations on genetically modified
food and feed has done little to calm unease among many consumers.
Parliament adopts contentious report calling for rules to be
established at Community level on the coexistence of genetically
modified (GM) crops with ordinary crops 'without delay'.
After months of risk assessment scientists at Europe's first food
safety agency have given the green light to Monsanto's
herbicide-tolerant GM maize. NK 60 is as safe as conventional
maize, they declare.
Hunger is on the rise again after falling steadily during the first
half of the 1990s, warns the UN's annual hunger report released on
Wednesday. In the same week, a Danish task force asserts that
organisations are falling short...
The advent of new European legislation on genetically modified
organisms - applicable as of last week - will hit all players in
the food industry. In a bid to render the new rules clearer we have
decided to take the step to publish...
If nothing else, the opening decade of the 21st century will go
down in the annals of time as the period the world went to war over
GMOs. When it comes to genetically modified organisms, passions run
deep and the path to reconciling...
The Co-op group, the UK's biggest farm group and one of its largest
retailers, has responded to a recent customer survey on attitudes
to GM by pledging never to plant genetically modified crops or sell
GM products in its stores,...
Parties interested in forging ahead with GM foodstuffs in the UK
have a battle on their hands as the widest public debate ever held
in Britain finds an overwhelming percentage of people uneasy,
suspicious or hostile to the introduction...
Parties interested in forging ahead with GM foodstuffs in the UK
have a battle on their hands as the widest public debate ever held
in Britain finds an overwhelming percentage of people uneasy.
But as European and US politicians fail to see eye to eye on the
issue of genetically modified foods, one country in the southern
hemisphere is getting to grips with tighter GM legislation.
Although privately the debate on whether genetically modified foods
should be present in our food chain has been roaring behind closed,
and sometimes open, doors, yesterday the UK government officially
announced the launch of the...
The Food Standards Agency citizens' jury rendered its verdict
yesterday afternoon, narrowly deciding that GM foods should be
available to buy in the UK. Confidence in safety measures, freedom
of choice, and moving with the times...
As the GM debate takes to the road in the UK this week with
promises of consumer feedback via conferences and meetings, here
below we have selected an article by Lyndsey Greig of market
analysts Frost & Sullivan that takes a closer...
European ministers have reached a political agreement on
genetically modified foods and feed, paving the way towards some of
the toughest legislation on GMOs in the world. Although a supporter
of GM labelling, the European food industry...
The Food Standards Australia New Zealand (FSANZ) this week
announced potential changes to the Food Standards Code involving
the approval of oil and linters from a genetically modified,
insect-protected cotton variety as a food and...
The controversy surrounding genetically modified foods hotted up
this week as environmental campaigners Friends of the Earth (FOE)
on Tuesday launched its GM-free Britain campaign, calling on local
authorities to become GM-free zones.
Britain's consumers believe that the only ones to benefit from
genetic modification of food will be the companies which have
developed the GM technology - feelings which the Consumers'
Association says the government would...
Italy's biggest miller, Grandi Molini Italiani (GMI), refuses to
import genetically modified (GM) wheat because consumers do not
want it, its CEO Antonio Costato said on Monday.
Tougher legislation on the labelling of genetically modified foods
in Europe could have a strong impact on Australian farmers keen to
enter European markets unless the government acts on genetically
modified (GM) crops, the Labour...
Changes to toughen current EU legislation on the labelling of
genetically modified foods were heavily criticised by Europe's
largest biotechnology lobby this week.
While researchers announced last week that they can genetically
engineer a longer-lasting, better-tasting tomato one small company
greeted the news with a sense of déjà vu.
The global debate over the labelling issues surrounding genetically
modified continued this week in Canada. Jenny Hillard,
vice-president of the Consumers Association of Canada (CAC), has
told the House of Commons agriculture committee...
The US government said it has reached a deal with China over
Beijing's rules for the import of genetically modified foods, but
offered few details because it was not yet finalised.The Bush
administration said the temporary agreement...
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...
ANZFA expresses disappointment at recent attempts by some anti-GM
lobby groups to spread misinformation about the safety and
labelling of genetically modified (GM) foods.
The Australia New Zealand Food Authority (ANZFA) this week released
reports for public comment recommending the use of a GM canola and
a GM corn as foodsfor human consumption. ANZFA maintains that food
derived from these two GM crops...
The Australia New Zealand Food Authority (ANZFA) this week released
a new consumer pamphlet explaining the new labelling rules for
genetically modified (GM) foods which will come into effect on the
7 December 2001.
Food manufacturers are being warned that they need to spend money
on tracing where ingredients come from before the commercial
release of genetically modified foods is allowed.
Europe's attempts to solve a transatlantic row over genetically
modified organisms (GMOs) by tough food labelling rules have yet to
bear fruit, leaving the 15-nation bloc vulnerable to legal
challenge, officials say.
A bill that would have mandated labelling of all foods in Canada
containing genetically modified organisms (GMOs) was defeated in
the Canadian House of Commons.
The US-based Pew Initiative on Food and Biotechnology announced
this week that it is to host a debate on issues facing Europe and
the US over genetically modified food.
Fears over genetically modified foods may prevail in the minds of
the European consumer but recent research from the European
Commission suggests that they are as safe as their non-gmo
neighbours, and even safer.
Lower crude soyoil prices are not tempting west European consumers,
who continue to prefer other soft oils that do not contain
genetically modified organisms (GMOs), dealers said on Friday.
Swiss healthcare group Novartis AG confirmed on Thursday
allegations from environmental group Greenpeace that some samples
of baby food it sold in the Philippines contained genetically
modified soy.
Environmental group Greenpeace urged the Philippines on Wednesday
to impose mandatory labelling on food products containing
genetically modified organisms.
Consumer and interest groups criticised the Thai Food and Drug
Administration's draft regulations on the labelling of food
products containing genetically modified organisms for benefiting
manufacturers over consumers.
Monsanto announced that GM wheat should be available for sale
within five years. However, Canadian farmers are reluctant to this
development as Europe, their largest export market, is opposed to
GMOs.
In a bid to stop "genetically engineered food contamination"
Greenpeace activists chained themselves to the entrance of a Nestle
factory in Hong Kong...
The debate over labelling foods for genetically modified organisms
(GMO) might help consumers decide if they want to purchase those
products, but what...