Quinn calls for informed debate about genetically modified foods

Consumers may be throwing "the baby out with the bath-water" if they take a position against genetically modified (GM) foods, Senator Feargal Quinn has said.

Speaking at the Consumer Education Conference in Dublin yesterday, the chief executive of the Superquinn supermarket chain said the whole concept of GM foods may get such a bad name that "we might be passing up some really enormous advantages".

"These benefits could include cheaper food, safer food and food that is more adapted to varying tastes and preferences.

"Of course, if GM is dangerous then the risks might well outweigh the benefits and we wouldn't want to have anything to do with it," he continued. "But the reality is likely to more complicated than that."

He called for more objective information on GM foods and "a co-operative approach" to their development rather than what he called the current "adversarial situation" between multinationals and the "growing ranks of concerned consumers".

The customers, he commented, are judge and jury in matters that affect them.

"If the debate [on GM foods] goes a certain way . . .[the customers] will decide on the basis of hasty, inadequate information."

His calls come a week after seven supermarket chains across Europe moved to ban GM foods from their shelves. Similar moves have also been made by the frozen-food chain Iceland and the fast-food chain McDonalds.

This afternoon, the Dail is to hear statements from various parties on the GM foods and biotechnology industry.

The Leinster Green Party MEP, Ms Nuala Ahern, yesterday warned the government not to "fudge" the issues in this afternoon's Dail session.

"The government has a history of passing the buck on this issue," she said. Expecting restaurateurs and food outlets to carry the onus was inadequate, she added. In advance of this afternoon's session, IBEC's Irish Bio-industry Association (IBIA) yesterday published its position paper on biotechnology. Titled The Biotechnology Industry - A Unique Opportunity for Ireland to be a World Leader, it makes a number of recommendations to the Government, including the provision of funding mechanisms to assist the start-up of new biotech companies; additional funding for basic and applied research in the bio-sciences; the marketing of Ireland as a key location for biotech- related inward investment and more public information on the benefits and risks associated with biotechnology.

The IBIA director, Mr Matt Moran, said that despite the controversies surrounding the introduction of the first wave of GM foods to Europe, "I feel that when consumers realise the benefits of the second-wave GM foods such as vitamin A-enhanced oils and folic acid-enhanced wheat the true benefits of this technology will become obvious for all to see".

He said that if Ireland were to capture a small percentage of the worldwide industry "it would have a tremendous impact in this country". The biotech industry is forecast to be worth 250 billion euros in Europe by 2005 and affect the employment of three million people, he said.

A recently published report by Forfas, Shaping our Future, identified the biotech industry as one in which the Government should invest.

In his speech yesterday Senator Quinn called for Government funding for food scientists, "in the universities in particular", who might play a watchdog role in surveying emerging food technology.