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GM crop taints honey two miles away (Wednesday, Sept. 18, 2002 -- CropChoice news) --
Mark Macaskill, Times of London,09/15/2002, via AgNet:
Evidence that genetically modified (GM) crops can contaminate food supplies
for miles around has, according to this story, been revealed in independent
tests commissioned by The Sunday Times.
The story says that the tests found alien GM material in honey from beehives
two miles from a site where GM crops were being grown under government
supervision. It is believed to have been carried there by bees gathering
pollen in the GM test sites.
The disclosure, showing that GM organisms can enter the food chain without
consumers - or even farmers - knowing they are present, will undermine
assurances by Tony Blair and ministers that such crops can be tested in
Britain without contaminating the food chain.
The test results come as ministers, under pressure from the American
agrochemical lobby, mount a huge consultation exercise to persuade the
public of the virtues of GM foods. They have previously given assurances
that consumers "are not being used as guinea pigs".
The GM material was found in honey sold from farmer David Rolfe's hives at
Newport-on-Tay in Fife, almost two miles from one of 18 sites holding trials
of GM oil-seed rape.
The story says that a test carried out by GeneScan, a respected independent
laboratory in Bremen, Germany, checked for traces of an NOS terminator, one
of four modified genes which make the crop resistant to pesticides. This
proved positive.
A second test confirmed that GM material in the honey could have come only
from oil-seed rape grown at Wester Friarton, in Newport-on-Tay, by Aventis,
one of the world's biggest biotechnology firms. The fact that the GM
material travelled such a distance makes a mockery of the government's
50m-200m crop-free "buffer" zones that were created around GM sites to
protect neighbouring farms. Critics have claimed that the GM crop trial
sites are too close to other farms. America has buffer zones of up to 400m,
Canada up to 800m, and the European Union recommends a 5km (three-mile) zone
for GM oilseed rape.
When Rolfe first raised his concerns, government officials said that
although it was not possible to rule out cross-pollination, they did not
believe it should be "a source of concern".
Rolfe was quoted as saying, "I'm very angry and disappointed. I feel I've
been denied the right and freedom to eat my own GM-free produce. Now we
can't eat the honey or sell it."
This weekend Defra, the ministry responsible for the crop trials, was quoted
as saying, "We have not seen the results of the study but will treat any
such findings extremely seriously."
In the case of GM rape, like most GM products, there is no evidence that
contamination poses a health risk. Concern centres on maintaining the
integrity of traditionally produced products.
Tim Lang, professor of food policy at Thames Valley University, was quoted
as saying, "The early assurances from the industry and the government that a
buffer zone would allow safety and choice for consumers are falling apart.
It raises environmental health worries, and what we don't yet know is
whether these warnings will translate into a risk to human health."
Britain has imposed a moratorium on the widespread planting of GM crops
until it has analysed the impact of GM crop trials at 18 farm-scale sites
around Britain.
However, The Sunday Times's tests confirm earlier work that was carried by
Friends of the Earth, the environmental group, and will increase pressure on
the government to scale down its support for the GM industry.
In Canada, a leading cultivator of GM crops, sales of honey have plummeted
by 50% amid concern that the integrity of the product has been compromised.
A spokesmen for Aventis was quoted as saying, "We would be very interested
in looking at both the origin of the honey sample and how the tests were
carried out. We would like to look at this further." | |
