Public `confused' over GM foods

Irish consumers are being subjected to a continuous barrage of rhetoric "proclaiming contradictory and irreconcilable views on genetically modified crops and the foods derived from them".

Speaking at a seminar on genetic engineering staged by the Irish Countrywomen's Association last night in Navan, Co Meath, Dr Eddie Walsh, a UCD plant scientist, said in such circumstances it was not surprising that the GM-food debate was "leading to confusion rather than enlightenment".

Contrasting views ranged from assertions that GM foods represented the only future for this planet to those proclaiming with equal passion that they were the seeds of doom.

It was unfortunate that many participants in the debate were adopting positions based on fear and concern, and not founded in knowledge and understanding.

"Genetic engineering is an elegant and powerful tool that, in theory, allows plant breeders to use genes from any organism. But it is important to remember that it is a genetic tool, not a plant-breeding tool," he said.

The ICA president, Mrs Eva Coyle, said the GM-food debate formed "the ultimate information challenge", as a recent survey showed 79 per cent of consumers knew little or nothing about gene technology. "Yet this is a technology already in use. GM foods are available on our supermarket shelves. We owe it to ourselves and to our families to arrive at informed decisions."

Ireland should not embrace gene foods, but target the growing niche market for good-quality, pure, naturally-produced food, said the cook and food writer Ms Darina Allen. This was reflected in figures showing that the UK organic food market had grown by 40 per cent in the past year.

"Ireland, with its clean and green image, should be a leader in Europe. Instead we are trailing behind and, as our Government procrastinates, other countries forge ahead and apply bans on GM crops which maintain their environmental integrity."

Consumers have difficulty in making informed decisions, according Mr Declan O'Brien of APHA, which represents manufacturers of animal health and plant protection products in Ireland.

"In their search for clarity and objectivity, I would point consumers towards the regulators, the EPA, the Food Safety Authority and Consumer Association of Ireland, bodies above commercial influence, and with the consumers' interest at heart."

Mr Quentin Gargan, of Genetic Concern, said the jury was still out on the safety of GM foods. "Claims that they have been consumed on a vast scale without ill effect are meaningless in the absence of proper epidemiological studies to show that this is the case."

The Consumer Association of Ireland chairman, Dr Peter Dargan, said the public was "plagued by vested interests on both sides of the debate".

Independent science was needed. There was a lack of information and people were "hungry for answers".