Fwd: Verdict from UK citizens' jury

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Tue, 8 Apr 2003 04:18:37 -0700

 

News Update from The Campaign

Verdict from UK citizens' jury

 

News Update From The Campaign to Label Genetically Engineered Foods

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Dear News Update Subscribers,

 

As we stated in our last News Update, in the United Kingdom, they are

having a national public debate over genetically engineered foods.

 

As part of the debate, the Food Standards Agency held a non-binding

" citizens jury " that had a three-day trial on genetically engineered

foods. The verdict of the jury was announced on Monday.

 

The jury decided by a 9 to 6 verdict that genetically modified foods

should be available for sale in the United Kingdom. However, all 15

members of the jury agreed that genetically modified foods should be

labeled.

 

Posted below are two articles. The first is from the BBC. The second is

a press release from the Food Standards Agency web site.

 

If you would like to read more about the citizens' jury, you can visit

that section of the Food Standards Agency web site at:

http://www.food.gov.uk/gmdebate/citizens_jury/?view=GM%20Microsite

 

A special web site has been set up for the GM Public Debate:

http://www.gmpublicdebate.org.uk/

 

Many people opposing genetically engineered foods in the United Kingdom

feel the public debate is slanted to provide a pro-biotech food outcome.

At the very least, citizens in the United Kingdom will have labels on

any genetically engineered foods sold in stores.

 

As you know, here in the United States, not only has there never been any

sort of public debate, we are still fighting for the right to have genetically

engineered foods labeled.

 

Craig Winters

Executive Director

The Campaign to Label Genetically Engineered Foods

 

The Campaign

PO Box 55699

Seattle, WA 98155

Tel: 425-771-4049

Fax: 603-825-5841

E-mail: label

Web Site: http://www.thecampaign.org

 

Mission Statement: " To create a national grassroots consumer campaign

for the purpose of lobbying Congress and the President to pass

legislation that will require the labeling of genetically engineered

foods in the United States. "

 

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'Citizens' jury' backs GM food

 

BBC NEWS

2003/04/08

 

A " citizens' jury " sitting in judgement on genetically modified (GM)

food has found in its favour - but with provisos.

 

The social experiment designed to gauge public opinion was designed by

researchers who selected 15 people from Slough, Berkshire, to form the

" jury " .

 

In a live vote broadcast over the internet on Monday, nine of the 15

decided they had heard enough to believe GM foods should be made

available to UK consumers in shops.

 

However, all 15 jurors - including the six who voted against - agreed

further measures were needed before any products went on sale.

 

They want to see GM food labelled with a special logo.

 

Government decision

 

The experiment was conducted on behalf of the Food Standards Agency

(FSA), the board of which will consider the results before making its

submission to a wider debate on GM technology.

 

Among those who addressed the " jury " were representatives from Friends

of the Earth, the United States Food and Drug Administration, GM

agriculture firm Bayer Crop Science and the Consumers' Association.

 

The government has said it will consider the outcome of a public debate

before deciding whether to allow GM crops to be grown commercially in

the UK.

 

According to the FSA, the research company working on its behalf chose

Slough because it contained a cross-section of the population and was

close to London.

 

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FSA citizens' jury says GM food should be available to buy in the UK

Monday, 07 April 2003

 

Ref: R665-37

 

The Food Standards Agency citizens' jury decided this afternoon that GM

foods should be available to buy in the UK, although a sizeable minority

(6 out of 15) disagreed, believing that the UK is not yet ready for GM

foods.

 

Over three days, the jurors - comprised of 15 people from Slough - had

access to the entire spectrum of views on GM food, and were able to

develop an in-depth understanding of the issues via sessions with

witnesses from organisations such as Friends of the Earth, Bayer

CropScience, Sainsbury's and the Consumers' Association. The jury was

also briefed by Professor Kathy Sykes of Bristol University about the

nature of risk, food safety and DNA.

 

After two hours of heated deliberation, the jury presented its verdict

to FSA Chief Executive Dr Jon Bell. The majority of jurors thought GM

food should be available to buy in the UK because:

 

They are confident in safety measures

 

While some anti-GM concerns are valid, there has to be choice

 

If the UK doesn't embrace new developments in science, it will be left

behind, because there are demonstrable benefits from GM

 

All 15 members of the jury agreed that the following measures are vital

if GM food is introduced to the UK:

 

Education to keep the public informed of developments and possible

problems with GM

 

Effective labelling and monitoring of GM foods; for example a GM food

logo to ensure that people can make a genuine to choice to eat or avoid

eating GM foods

 

A number of jurors expressed concerns about the long-term safety of

genetically modified organisms, ethical concerns, and the environmental

impact of growing GM crops in the UK. Although environmental issues are

outside the remit of the FSA, the concerns of jurors about environmental

issues will be included in the final published report of the jury's

considerations.

 

The jury, socially representative of the population of Slough, included

an accountant, two students, a housewife, taxi driver, driving

instructor, and a minister of religion.

 

Thousands of people watched the live internet broadcast of the jury on

the FSA's website over the three days, with over 1000 viewers watching

the jurors deliver their verdict to the FSA. The Jury's deliberations in

reaching a verdict will be available to watch as Video-on-Demand from

midday Tuesday 8 April, on the FSA website.

 

Note for editors

 

The FSA has commissioned Opinion Leader Research (OLR) to run a

citizens' jury on GM Food with the purpose of testing public opinion

about GM food, exploring public concerns and testing their validity, and

informing the Agency's thinking about the issue. A jury of 15 members of

the public considered the question: 'Should GM foods be available to buy

in the UK?'

 

Professor Kathy Sykes, the new Bristol University Collier Professor in

the Public Engagement of Science and Engineering, which was established

to communicate scientific and technological research in a user-friendly

way to the public, introduced the three-day event in Slough. She is also

one of five presenters of BBC 2's Rough Science programme.

 

Citizens' jury members have been recruited by OLR using well-established

methods to reflect the local population. They heard evidence from a wide

cross-section of experts in the field, and were able to question the

experts and ask for additional evidence, before formulating a response.

The jury was also asked to explain the reasoning behind their decision,

including any conditions or recommendations.

 

Witnesses from the following organisations presented evidence to the

citizens' jury and answered questions from jury members: Institute of

Food Research; Genewatch; United States Food and Drug Administration;

Sainsbury's; Europa Bio; New Scientist; Consumers' Association; Friends

of the Earth; Bayer CropScience & Agricultural Biotechnology Council;

Somerset County Council; BEUC. Biographies of all witnesses and details

of the sessions in which they presented evidence are available on the

FSA website: www.food.gov.uk/gmdebate. Witness presentations were

published on the FSA website as they took place.

 

To ensure transparency, the citizens' jury proceedings were broadcast

live on the internet and all evidence presented to the jury will be

published on the FSA website.

 

[ENDS]

 

Room 245 Aviation House,

125 Kingsway,

London WC2B 6NH

 

Telephone: 020 7276 8888

Out of hours duty pager: 07626 414243

Fax: 020 7276 8833

Email: press.mailbox

 

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If you would like to comment on this News Update, you can do so at the

forum section of our web site at: http://www.thecampaign.org/forums

 

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