Consumer indifference - not to say hostility - towards
genetically-modified products in the UK means that British
supermarkets are likely to stay firmly GM-free in 2004, according
to an annual survey of retailers carried out by www.gmfoodnews.com.
Food products made with GM maize could soon be on the European
supermarket shelves despite the cynical consumer if policy-makers,
soon to take a decision on the sale of Syngenta's Bt11 GM maize ,
take a yes vote. A recent breakthrough...
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...
As the debate in the UK heats up over GM crops, new research
sourced from Spain claims that co-existence between GM and non-GM
crops can occur without economic and commercial problems.
A letter attacking the UK government's handling of the genetically
modified (GM)debate has been sent to the UK prime minister Tony
Blair on behalf of 114 individual scientists, reports CORDIS.
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,...
Former UK environment minister Michael Meacher is urging consumers
to oppose US plans to use World Trade Organisation rules to force
GM food and crops into the UK.
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.
Environmental campaigners yesterday condemned the European
Commission's recommendation on co-existence between genetically
modified (GM) and non-GM crops, claiming it 'could lead to the
death of organic food and farming.'
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...
MEPs in the Parliament's environment committee have voted in favour
of stricter measures governing accidental contamination and the
labelling of genetically modified organisms (GMOs), reports
Cordis.
Irish consumers concerned about the presence of GM ingredients will
be assured by the results of a recent survey commissioned by Food
Safety Authority of Ireland that set out to identify foods
containing GM maize and/or soya ingredients...
The food industry, consumers and politicians in Europe are alive to
the sound of three words - genetically modified organisms (GMOs).
Barely a day goes by without a reference to this controversial
aspect of biotechnology. And the...
Are recent trials in the UK on genetically modified crops a sham ?
A new analysis published by environmental group Friends of the
Earth yesterday suggests that the four year long evaluations
'will fail to provide any conclusive...
Consumers in Europe are increasingly concerned about risks derived
from genetically modified (GM) foods. New proposals tabled by the
European Commission aim to meet these concerns and propose to
regulate the labelling of food products...
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 first research of its type in Australia has concluded that
genetically modified sheep grow bigger and faster, produce double
the amount of milk, can grow more wool, but require more care,
reports the Commonwealth Scientific and...
The UK Food Standards Agency last week held its first open board
meeting in the heart European bureaucracy, Brussels. On the agenda?
An action plan on food labelling, GM labelling, and consumer
involvement in policy making. Commission...
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...
The UK's fears about GM foods, and the insistence of the government
that GM trials should continue - highlighted by the publication of
the Consumers' Association report which we also report on today -
are shared by the Swiss...
The US has complained to the World Trade Organisation about the
recent decision in the EU to tighten the labelling restrictions for
GM products, increasing the likelihood of a new trade war between
the two blocs, warns Friends of...
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...
An advisory committee to the European Parliament has ruled that
draft rules on the labelling of genetically modified foods should
be toughened, to the delight of anti-GM campaigners throughout the
Union.
Consumers need clear information about genetically modified (GM)
food, but tough European Commission proposals planning compulsory
labels for all food products made from gene crops are unworkable, a
UK parliamentary report said.
Scientists have created Australia's first cloned and genetically
modified (GM) calves, putting the major dairy exporter on the path
to becoming a commercial producer of GM milk.
In what must be seen as warning to other food manufacturers, a UK
company was fined this week for incorrectly labelling a product
containing GM ingredients.
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...
A UK Food Standards Agency (FSA) study published this week confirms
that scientific testing methods are now able to identify very small
amounts of GM in ingredients in some foods.
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.