Date: Sat, 02 Feb 2002 16:06:17 -0800 From: radtimes <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> Subject: Widespread GM contamination of UK foods
-----Original Message----- From: NLP Wessex [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]] Sent: Wednesday, January 30, 2002 3:11 PM Subject: Widespread GM contamination of UK foods PRESS RELEASE 31st January 2002 CONSUMERS UNAWARE OF WIDESPREAD GM CONTAMINATION IN EVERY DAY FOODS In response to the Food Standards Agency survey to-day on improvements in testing foods for GM content, the Five Year Freeze is disappointed to note that over 15% of the baked goods (bread, baps, cakes, pies and pastries) tested, contained traces of genetically modified soya. Consumers believe that they are not eating foods containing GM ingredients. Supposedly supermarkets and food producers in the UK had gone to great lengths to remove GM ingredients from their products in response to public demand. The results of this survey, set up to examine the efficiency of testing methods, will come as a shock to consumers and severely dent confidence. Under current labelling regulations foods containing less than 1% GM ingredients do not have to be labelled. In the survey three products were found to have more than the 1% threshold but this was not declared on the package. And one of the samples containing traces of GM was labelled organic - despite organic certification following a zero contamination policy. Five Year Freeze Co-ordinator, Clare Devereux, said: 'The danger of sloppy traceability, poor enforcement and the contamination of food is a lesson the Government should have learnt from the BSE crisis. It appears not to have done so in the case of GM foods. We welcome the fact that the FSA is monitoring this issue. However it must now show its teeth and put the interests of the consumer first in acting on the results of this survey. If not, it is in danger of being seen to collude with the GM industry in allowing irreversible contamination of the food chain and the removal of consumer choice forever. The first step the FSA must take in this matter is to disclose the names of the products tested in order to help consumers make informed choices.' END [1]For more information contact Clare Devereux, 020 7837 0642 (office), 012373 82270 (home), 07803 002825 (mobile). [2] The Five Year Freeze campaign is run by the Genetic Enigneering Alliance, a coalition of over 120 national organisations calling for a moratorium on the growing, importing and patenting of GM foods. Members inlcude UNISON, Friends of the Earth, the Soil Association, the National Federation of Women's Institutes, the Council for the Protection of Rural England, Oxfam, WWF. For a full list of members see www.fiveyearfreeze.org [3]Food Standards Agency: Assessment of the performance of real time PCR to quantitatively determine genetically modified soya in processed food products, 1 Feb 2002. FIVE YEAR FREEZE CAMPAIGN The Genetic Engineering Alliance 94 White Lion Street London N1 9PF Tel: 020 7837 0642/01273 822700 Fax: 020 7837 1141 [EMAIL PROTECTED] www.fiveyearfreeze.org
