Sir, – Dr Thomas McLoughlin excoriates the Government for its prohibition and restriction of the commercial cultivation of genetically modified crops (GMO) in Ireland ("Ban on GM crops is a blight on Irish agriculture", Science Opinion, January 31st).
The notion that the “clean, green food image of Ireland and use of GM crops are not necessarily contradictory” is commercial naivety. He might ponder the following question: what would happen to sales of Kerrygold butter in Germany if Irish cows were to start grazing on GM-derived grass?
Dr McLoughlin’s suggestion for replacing conventional forage maize with drought-tolerant GM maize is not convincing. Irish experience is that temperature rather than moisture is the limiting factor in maize growing. He is on firmer ground in relation to GM for the control of late blight in potatoes.
Dr McLoughlin makes the sweeping assertion that Irish consumers are not concerned about the safety of GM food. Bizarrely, this conclusion is arrived at because only 15 out of more than 9,500 queries were related to GM foods labelling. This is a flawed use of statistical data. Accurate inferences cannot be drawn about public opinion without proper scientific sampling and statistical analysis.
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Repeated surveys of EU consumer opinion on GM foods have pointed up the unacceptability of GM food products. Despite the fact that GM crops have been grown in the US for many years, in a 2018 survey nearly half of consumers surveyed avoid GM foods and a majority of those were primarily concerned about the possible human health impact. A national Chinese consumer study found that 46 per cent of respondents had a negative view of GM food. When all is said and done, populations cannot be force fed a type of food that they do not want to eat. – Yours, etc,
DJ COURTNEY, PhD
Virginia,
Co Cavan.