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Consumers unaware of 'eating GM food'

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Published Date: 16 November 2007
GENETICALLY-modified food is entering the UK by stealth via feed given to animals reared for dairy and pork products, a campaign group has warned.
Supermarket chains are widely stocking goods sourced from animals fed GM soya and maize, according to the Soil Association.

GM material could find its way, in small quantities, into the milk and animal tissue of GM-fed livestock, the group said.


The Soil Association, which is pro-organic, said consumers were eating food produced from GM crops without their knowledge.

There is no requirement to label food produced from GM-fed animals.

Most supermarkets have not banned dairy and meat products from GM-fed animals, despite banning GM ingredients from their own-label products, according to the association.

Tests carried out on 35 feed samples from dairy, pig and poultry farmers found 73 per cent contained GM soya.

Of the GM soya samples, 27 per cent had a GM soya content of more than 70 per cent.

Supermarket and feed company sourcing policies showed that GM maize was also widely used, with the dairy and pig sectors most likely to do so.

The Soil Association is calling on the government and the European Commission to bring in compulsory labelling for foods produced from GM-fed animals.

Patrick Holden, director of the association, said the findings were alarming.

"This amounts to deception on a large scale," he said. "This is not just accidental contamination, hundreds of thousands of tonnes of GM grain are being used to produce our food each year.

"Biotechnology companies have clearly used imported animal feed as a 'Trojan horse' to introduce GM into the UK food chain, despite the fact that the British public have voted overwhelmingly against GM."

It says the Little Red Tractor and Freedom Foods labels do not guarantee that products have not come from animals fed on GM food.



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  • Last Updated: 15 November 2007 11:23 PM
  • Source: The Scotsman
  • Location: Edinburgh
  • Related Topics: GM food
 
1

Charles Linskaill,

Edinburgh 16/11/2007 01:06:29

"Little Red Tractor" you gotta laugh!
'Thomas the tank engine'
Well, 'come-on', unless you grow it, cook it, then eat it your self, what the 'He**! do you know, what your putting into you engine!
Unless you are the infamous BW, 'of-course' :-D

2

Jeff, Surrey,

16/11/2007 01:23:17

Give us the choice, label food as GM if it is involved at all in the process.

3

Charles Linskaill,

Edinburgh 16/11/2007 01:27:48

#2. Jeff, Surrey, its all a game! good at 'Ludo'?

4

Boy Wonder,

16/11/2007 08:45:42

#1. Charles! There you are!! Wondered where you'd got to.

You have it right of course. Growing as many of your own veggies is must ... and for those who don't have gardens ... agitate your local councils for allotment space, create community market gardens ...

Don't let the supermarkets and governments dictate what you eat!

5

G,

dundy 16/11/2007 10:35:49

"GM material could find its way, in small quantities, into the milk and animal tissue of GM-fed livestock, the group said. "


How????
This is a biological and chemical nonsense!!!

Please explain how the GM DNA can get into milk or meat of animals fed GM food???

When GM DNA is broken down into its chemcial constituents in the digestive system do they retain their GMness?
OK - there is a story here that GM feeds are being imported and used BUT there is no evidence that eating GM food alters the nature of the animal food - this is scare-mongering.....

6

Sinnerman,

Another Planet 16/11/2007 11:32:20

What is wrong with it? What is wrong with developing foods that have higher yields, last longer, immune to disease?
What is the presupposed argument against GM crops?

7

Sinnerman,

Another Planet 16/11/2007 13:36:06

#10. "Could" does not equal "does". Why be afraid of the unknown? You have still not answered the fundamental question. Why not?

8

wakeupman,

Holmfirth 16/11/2007 20:02:31

Sinnerman - read Jeffrey Smith's `Seeds of Deception' for the TRUTH. It's all about ££ gain for big corporations and the health implications are harrowing,too many to list here. Please read the book.


 

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