Britain, Genetically Modified Foods Are Returning September 25, 2007 in Agriculture, Crops, Eating Can Kill You, Food, Genetically Engineered, Genetically Modified, Health, News, Politics, Science | Tags: Britain, Defra, Genetically Modified food, GM, GMO, Minister, Transgenic, UK Well Britain, it looks like Genetic Engineering is coming your way again. Several government ministers are backing a campaign to have genetically modified crops back on the public agenda. Even some senior ministers believe now you are ready to embrace the genetic engineering of your food. Yet recent polls suggest at least 70 per cent of the European public is opposed to Genetically Modified foods. Evidently they are liaising with key agricultural supporters of Genetic Engineering in order to push the government into launching a national debate on the issue to highlight the benefits. (aka The ‘Spin’) One government source said: “GM will come back to the UK, the question is how it comes back, not whether it’s coming back.” Back in the late 1990’s, attempts to introduce Genetic Engineering to Britain were met with hostility from it’s citizens. Activists tore up crops, and supermarkets such as Sainsbury’s and Marks and Spencer barred Genetically Modified ingredients from their products for fear of sparking a consumer backlash. In 2004, the government announced that no Genetically Modified crops would be grown in the country for the ‘foreseeable future’. Lord Peter Melchett, policy director of the Soil Association declared, “This is the end of GM in Britain”. Currently, only one UK company, BASF, is trialing Genetically Modified crops, a blight-resistant potato located in Cambridge and Yorkshire. Currently it is not believed that any other UK companies are applying for licenses to grow GM crops. A Defra spokeswoman claimed: “Ultimately it will be for farmers and consumers to decide whether they want GM products. If there is no market for them, GM crops will not be grown.” Julian Little, chairman of the Agricultural Biotechnology Council, said: “We have absolutely every confidence that GM will be used in the UK.” The health dangers of genetically modified ingredients that have been censored for so long are becoming public. Despite 70 per cent of the European public opposed to Genetically Modified foods, several ministers and key agricultural figures believe now is the time to ‘reconsider’…
Posted on: Tue, 06 Jan 2015 22:12:15 +0000