Independent (London) / 03/18/99
THE GOVERNMENT'S most senior scientific adviser on genetically modified foods warned yesterday that there could be a world food disaster if the products did not exist.
Professor Janet Bainbridge, chair of the Advisory Committee on Novel Foods and Processes, told MPs that the public needed GM foods and a moratorium on their release would achieve nothing.
Prof Bainbridge's defence of GM foods came as Sainsbury's became the latest supermarket chain to announce a ban on GM ingredients in its own-brand groceries.
Following similar moves by Marks and Spencer and Iceland, Sainsbury's decision means that only Tesco has no plans to phase out the products.
In evidence to the Commons Science and Technology Committee, Prof Bainbridge also said that debate over GM foods had "been and gone".
"Imposition of a ban on the cultivation or sale of GM foods would achieve nothing except jeopardise the competitiveness of UK industry," she said.
Her comments were echoed by the Government's chief adviser on GM crops, who told MPs that his committee should stick to science and leave ethics to Parliament.
Professor John Beringer, chairman of the Advisory Committee on Releases to the Environment, said that it was becoming indefensible to regulate crops purely because they were genetically modified.
"The Americans are not stupid, and we should...examine why there is such a different attitude to GMOs on their side of the Atlantic," he said.
"At worst I believe that GM crops will only add to existing problems of intensification in agriculture and at best they will greatly enhance our ability to solve problems."
Although nine of the 10 biggest supermarkets are looking into the possibility of replacing GM products, Tesco does not plan to replace the 150 of its 20,000 own-label products which contain genetically modified soya and maize.
The company, which has more than 15 per cent of the pounds 90bn UK grocery market, says that its customers want honesty and clear product labelling.
A Tesco spokesman explained: "To go completely GM-free is a very significant move and we don't want to give our customers false hopes."
Safeway, the fourth biggest supermarket, is gradually phasing out GM ingredients. It said yesterday: "Safeway's position on GM soya and maize is that they fail to offer any tangible benefits to our customers."
This frank statement raised eyebrows as next month Safeway's public affairs manager, Tony Coombes, will become director of public affairs at Monsanto, the world's biggest promoter of GM food.
Prof Beringer claimed that his committee's secretariat was far too small, with just nine staff to cover all UK, EU and international regulations.
He also warned that poor publicity for the committee, together with a failure to pay its members, had made it difficult to attract top-grade scientists.
