Consumers Unaware That Most Supermarket Food Is GM

Mon, 19 Nov 2007
 
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British consumers are unaware of the fact that the food they eat is increasingly produced from genetically modified crops with nearly all milk, dairy products and pork produced from GM-fed animals, a campaign group has warned.

The Soil Association, Britain's largest organic certification body, today announced that UK supermarket chains are widely stocking goods sourced from animals fed GM soya and maize.

The body, which opposes GMO crops, said that a survey estimated around 60 per cent of maize and 30 per cent of soya fed to dairy cattle and pigs is genetically modified and added that small quantities of GM material could find its way into the milk and animal tissue of GM-fed livestock .

The Soil Association, which certifies about 70 per cent of the organic food sold in Britain, said there was no requirement to label foods produced from GM-fed animals so shoppers found it hard to avoid these products.

Despite significant opposition to GMO crops from British consumers, 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.

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 organic body, said the findings were alarming.

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

"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."

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