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Europe to Label Transgenic Animal Feed and Foods BRUSSELS, Belgium, November 28, 2002 (ENS) - After long and difficult negotiations European food and agriculture ministers have reached a political agreement on the proposal for a regulation on food and feed containing genetically modified organisms (GMOs). President of the Council, Mariann Fischer Boel, Danish minister for Food, Agriculture and Fisheries, said, "With the political agreement on the proposal we have taken an important step towards offering consumers a real choice when it comes to GMOs. This is an important victory for the European consumers."
British cow at feeding time (Photo courtesy Freefoto)For the first time, rules are introduced for the use and labeling of GMO based feed. These rules will correspond to those that apply to genetically modified foods. This means marketing of genetically modified feed will be subject to prior approval and that GMO feed must be labeled as such.Labeling will be required for food and feed produced on the basis of genetically modified material, even if GMOs cannot be identified in the final product, for example in soy bean oil. The labeling requirement will not apply for the "adventitious presence" of GMOs below a 0.9 percent threshold. In a transition period, a common threshold of 0.5 percent will be set for the adventitious presence of non-authorised GMOs that have a positive scientific approval. A decentralized authorization procedure is introduced for new GMOs which offers consumers the same guarantees that the centralized procedure proposed by the European Commission. Resistance to genetically modified foods and feed among European consumers is much stronger than it is among American consumers, although the United States supplies most of the genetically modified grains and legumes such as soy beans to world markets. The British Medical Association, which represents about 80 percent of practicing British doctors, said this month, "There has not yet been a robust and thorough search into the potentially harmful effects of GM foodstuffs on human health. On the basis of the precautionary principle, farm-scale trials should not be allowed to continue."
Genetically modified corn
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration, which regulates U.S. food labeling, has proposed a policy which suggests that corporations "voluntarily" label products that use genetically modified ingredients. No producer of genetically modified foods has agreed to label its products, so American consumers have no way of knowing which foods contain genetically engineered ingredients.
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