 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
|
|
|
Foodland products to be GM free - an expert responds Labeling is, alas, always incomplete – otherwise we’d never be able to read the labels. Information on labels is a political compromise between the health and food industry lobbies. I think it could be improved in Australia, no doubt. But this press release seems to represent a weak attempt at some cheap populism by the Chief Exec of Foodland, sluggishly aping what was done in the UK supermarkets some years ago. He says ‘the customer has to know what they are buying’ – correct. But will he tell them what type of genetic modification has been undertaken, for different types of GM have very different consequences for the plant, the environment and the consumer. To say simply ‘GM’ is about as meaningful as saying that the product contains ‘plants’. And will he tell the consumer all the other ingredients that are included in the products, and what the cooking has done to the content of the products? Let’s be told the concentrations of all the heavy metals in his products, and pesticide residues, and all confirmed carcinogens, teratogens and so on. Why suddenly pick on the essentially meaningless label of ‘GM’ as something to tell the consumer, why not all the other, quite possibly more important aspects of the food that he has failed to tell the consumer for the past decades? Any processed food that includes ingredients that are not purely Australian could contain GM. It is the canola oil and the soy products that are mostly GM, and most processed food contains at least one of these. For Foodland even to claim in the first place that their products are GM free is untenable! I wonder what they define as GM-free?! Perhaps anything with < 0.9% GM. I wonder if they tell the consumer what their threshold is?! ------------- Return to main Science Blog page If you are a scientist and wish to contribute to this Science Blog, please contact the AusSMC. The opinions expressed in this Science Blog are those of the authors, and do not necessarily represent the views of the Australian Science Media Centre.
|
| Latest releases | Archive |  |
|
CONTRACEPTIVE PILL NOT ASSOCIATED WITH INCREASED RISK OF DEATH CHILEAN EARTHQUAKE AND TSUNAMI CLIMATE CONFUSION - SCIENTISTS ANSWER YOUR QUESTIONS TROPICAL CYCLONES AND CLIMATE FEEDBACK (NATURE) BAN ON MEAT FROM BSE AFFECTED COUNTRIES SET TO END NEW RADIOACTIVE WASTE BILL TO BE INTRODUCED PAN FRYING WITH GAS MAY BE WORSE THAN ELECTRICITY FOR RAISING CANCER RISK PROTECTING SPACE HERITAGE LAUNCH OF NATIONAL SCIENCE COMMUNICATION STRATEGY WATER, CLIMATE CHANGE AND TREES WA DROUGHT UNIQUE FOR 750 YEARS (NATURE GEOSCIENCE) LANCET RETRACTS WAKEFIELD PAPER ON MMR/AUTISM COALITION'S CLIMATE CHANGE POLICY STAIN REPELLENT CHEMICAL LINKED TO THYROID DISEASE EXPERTS RESPOND TO GLACIER MELT DOUBTS ALCOHOL DURING PREGNANCY AFFECTS GENE EXPRESSION EARTHQUAKE IN HAITI TV TIME MAY CUT LIFE SHORT |
||
 |
© Copyright 2005-2010 | Australian Science Media Centre | Credits | Disclaimer
Street Address: The Science Exchange 55 Exchange Place Adelaide South Australia 5000
