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United Nations scrutinizes biotech food, 'Mad Cow' dangers
(Monday, June 30, 2003 -- CropChoice news) -- AFP via Agnet: ROME - Food derived from biotechnology and problems of meat consumption
following the "mad cow" health scare, according to this story, come under
the scrutiny this week of a United Nations food safety commission that
convened here Monday, with some 600 experts from 169 countries were set to
adopt controversial new standards in food safety and revise others.
FAO Director-General Jacques Diouf was quoted as saying that, "Food safety
is not a luxury of the rich, but a right of all people."
The story says that with biotechnology, intensive farming and refinement now
major health issues, the Codex Alimentarius Commission will decide on the
adoption of standards designed to safeguard the health of consumers
worldwide, while improving global agricultural trade opportunities.
An FAO statement was quoted as saying, "Standards up for adoption by the
Commission include the establishment of methods to assess the risk of foods
derived from biotechnology and a standard that would allow increased levels
of radiation to be used in food irradiation, a process that delays food
spoilage and increases shelf life. In response to concerns about meat
consumption and consumer safety in the wake of problems such as Bovine
Spongiform Encephalopathy (BSE, or mad cow disease), some of the standards
before the Commission would establish principles of meat hygiene, a code of
practice on good animal feeding, including feed additives and maximum
residue limits in food products for veterinary drugs. These include broad
general principles covering issues such as pre-market safety evaluations and
the role of product tracing for food safety and post-market monitoring.
Separate detailed guidelines have been prepared for the scientific
assessments of DNA-modified plants and foods and beverages derived from
DNA-modified micro-organisms. Special attention has been paid to the
question of assessing whether such products could provoke unexpected
allergies in consumers." | |
