Benn backs GM food safety

Asked in Parliament what the Government was doing on GM, Mr Benn said there were still hurdles to overcome, chiefly the effect of GM on biodiversity, but trials had so far demonstrated their safety.

Credit: © FARMERS GUARDIAN please contact 01772 799445.

He told MPs more work needed to be done by the firms producing GM foods and eventually, it would be farmers, consumers and supermarkets who will decide on whether to use the technology.

He said: “The Government have to be able to answer two questions in relation to GM crops: first, is the product safe to eat? The evidence is clearly that it is. The second is, what is the impact on biodiversity?

“We have to have carefully conducted trials, and it is a matter for regret when trials that are approved are trashed within about a month and a bit — a recent example was a trial to demonstrate potatoes’ resistance to nematode — because how can we answer such questions if we do not have the information?”

Have your say

Please do not complete the following form field for security reasons.

Name

E-mail

Comment