New GM foods no boon to consumers
13 April 2000
New GM foods ‘no boon to consumers’
By FWi staff
TOMORROWS GM foods will benefit biotech companies and food and feed processors – but not the consumer, according to a new report by The Food Commission and GeneWatch
Biotech companies are exaggerating the benefits of “second-generation” GM crops with altered oils, starches, proteins and vitamins, which are unlikely to benefit consumers, says the report.
“In a desperate bid to reverse its failing fortunes, the biotech industry wants to convince us that there will be real consumer advantages to GM foods.
“But we could find no significant evidence to support this claim,” said Sue Dibb of The Food Commission, which campaigns for safer and healthier food.
The report Biotech – The Next Generation calls on the government to support nutrition programmes which have proven benefits, and for tighter regulation of nutritionally altered foods.
It says there is little evidence that food with enhanced nutritional characteristics “functional foods” have a significant role in improving public health.