Food agency to study effects of eating GM

20 June 2000



Food agency to study effects of eating GM

BRITONS shopping habits are to be monitored in research into the impact of genetically modified food on human health.

The Food Standards Agency testing will use supermarket loyalty cards linked to postcodes to compare buying habits with diseases, reports The Times.

The 18-month experiment will check sales data for GM soya and maize in processed foods, and may extend to ingredients developed using GM technology.

This data will be linked to patterns of birth defects and rates of cancer, diabetes and other diseases.

It will seek to establish whether there is an “early warning” system for foods which affect human health.

The Guardian claims that the experiment is “another attempt to shore up confidence in the new technology”.

Spot checks at food sold at supermarkets will also begin at the autumn to check whether label information is correct.

• The Times 20/06/2000 page 13
  
• The Guardian 20/06/2000 page 8