On GM Food

Letter to the Editor:

Also published in The Age, 26 July 2000

Your article "It's safety first, but there's not guarantees" (Herald, July 24) gives the misleading impression that scientists are divided over the issue of GM food and its safety and efficacy.  In fact, the overwhelming majority of scientists favour the technology.  Some 3,000 have signed a petition that says the techniques contribute substantially to enhancing quality of life by improving agriculture, health care and the environment, and that the responsible genetic modification of plants is neither new nor dangerous.

To put all fears to rest, in the past few days seven premier scientific academies (including the Chinese and Indian science academies, the British Royal Society and the US National Academy of Sciences) have issued a joint report promoting the benefits of the technology and their need to feed a growing world population with increasing aspirations for food quality.  Present issues, including those before the Australian and New Zealand health ministers, have nothing to do with the health qualities of these products, the development of which is simply an extension of long-established breeding techniques.

All GM food now available in Australia is identical to food previously available.

The only issue is how best to inform consumers of the ingredients in cost-effective and meaningful terms.  In this latter respect, a recent European Union publication estimated that some labelling approaches could bring substantial cost increases.

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