Scientist in GM potato warning/Industry opposes GM potato trial

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GMW: Scientist in GM potato warning/Industry opposes GM

potato trial

" GM WATCH " <info

Sun, 3 Dec 2006 20:50:20 GMT

 

GM WATCH daily

http://www.gmwatch.org

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1.Scientist in GM potato warning

2.Chip makers oppose GM potato trial

3.POTATO CROP TRIAL 'GM BY BACK DOOR'

 

EXTRACTS: " Sooner or later the same gene will get into our common

potato. " (item 1)

 

The Government's decision yesterday to allow trials of a new strain of

genetically modified potato has been met with strong opposition by the

potato industry and the country's largest maker of chips. (item 2)

 

" There are already techniques employed by organic farmers and growers

to combat blight in potatoes, so you really have to question the

motivation behind this decision. " (item 3)

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1.Scientist in GM potato warning

Press Association, December 1 2006

http://www.guardian.co.uk/uklatest/story/0,,-6252288,00.html

 

A scientist whose controversial study first ignited fears over

genetically modified food has warned the decision to approve trials of

blight-resistant potatoes in the UK meant preventing

cross-contamination was

" almost impossible " .

 

Dr Arpad Pusztai caused an academic uproar when he claimed in 1998 that

rats fed on GM potatoes suffered organ damage.

 

The Hungarian-born nutritionist said he was opposed to the approved GM

trials in Derbyshire and Cambridgeshire, which he described as an

" extremely stupid move " .

 

" If these potatoes are going to be grown on a large scale then it is

almost impossible to avoid genetic contamination, " he said.

 

" Sooner or later the same gene will get into our common potato. There

is no demand for genetic modification in this country and it could be

the death nail for the potato because it is not going to be bought by the

general public. "

 

He added that he felt the Government had approved the trials in order

to change the public's negative attitude about genetic modification. " We

are dealing with a very unstable genome which will almost certainly be

producing some toxic effects and if they get into our human food chain

it will cause a huge calamity, " he said.

 

" I think the general public will have a great deal to say about this

and I don't think the local farmers will be overjoyed. "

 

Dr Pusztai, who eats only organic potatoes, said he felt the company

planning to grow the potatoes saw Britain as a " soft touch " as the trials

would not be allowed in many other EU countries. " If people agree that

they don't want this, then it can be stopped, " he said. " There are very

good natural varieties of potatoes and I think doing this is just

playing with fire. "

 

Dr Pusztai said his research found GM food could weaken the immune

system of rats, stunt their growth and damage their internal organs.

 

His study was discredited by the Royal Society and he later retired

from his job at Aberdeen's Rowett Institute. [Ed - the retirement was

forced and the RS didn't discredit the study - only themselves

http://www.gmwatch.org/profile1.asp?PrId=113 ]

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2.Chip makers oppose GM potato trial

By Charles Clover Environment Editor

The Daily Telegraph, 2 December 2006

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/main.jhtml?xml=/news/2006/12/02/nchips02.xml

 

[image caption: The British Potato Council says the public must be

assured that potatoes and chips are GM free]

 

The Government's decision yesterday to allow trials of a new strain of

genetically modified potato has been met with strong opposition by the

potato industry and the country's largest maker of chips.

 

The British Potato Council said its refusal to endorse trials of a

potato modified to be resistant to late blight, which caused the Irish

potato famine of the 1840s, was based on consumers' mistrust of GM

technology.

 

The council said it was " paramount " that public concerns over GM trials

were addressed and fears about possible cross-contamination were

allayed before the trials began.

 

The Government has given permission for five-acre plots of GM potatoes

produced by the company BASF to be grown in Derbyshire and

Cambridgeshire next year.

 

The conditions stipulate that the plots must be left fallow after the

five-year trial so that overlooked tubers can be destroyed and that none

of the potatoes harvested enters the food chain.

 

Helen Priestley, the BPC's chief executive, said: " While we welcome

steps to further understanding of this technology, the public must be

comfortable with whatever steps are taken to introduce it and we didn't

feel the time was right.

 

" However, there are rigorous procedures in place to ensure that

commercial crops are not contaminated with GM material and that no GM

material

enters the human food chain. The public must be left in no doubt that

the procedures are effective, that they are maintained and that the

trials process is open and transparent.

 

" It is crucial consumers understand that potatoes on sale through

retail or food service outlets will continue to be GM-free. "

 

Bill Bartlett, the corporate affairs director of McCain Foods (GB)

which is the largest manufacturer of chips in Britain, said: " McCain

Foods

is disappointed with this decision at a time when consumer attitudes do

not support GM foods. "

 

Lord Melchett, the policy director of the Soil Association, said that

the Government is " ignoring what consumers want to eat and their health

and safety " .

 

He said: " Even in America, McDonald's, McCain, Pringles and Burger King

rejected GM potatoes years ago. The chances of anyone in the UK

willingly buying GM potato crisps or chips are zero. This trial is a

monumental waste of time and money. "

 

The association claims that GM potatoes are one of the few crops where

there is any scientific evidence of potential risks to human health,

though the Government-sponsored research which found stomach lesions in

rats fed on GM potatoes was widely criticised in the scientific

community. Experts say the use of a natural resistance gene, from wild

relatives of the potato in Mexico to give a commercial strain

resistance to

fungal attack represents a new departure for the GM industry.

 

The first generation of crops submitted for trial in Britain either

contained natural pesticides, such as BT toxin, or were herbicide

resistant. Representatives of companies such as Monsanto were famously

unable

to think of any advantage to the public, other than cost savings for

farmers, of the first generation of GM crops.

 

Government field trials in 2003 showed that the herbicide use they

encouraged was often worse for wildlife than current practices.

 

Built-in resistance to disease for one of the world's staple crops,

however, is one of the potential benefits of GM technology discussed

before the means became widely available.

 

Chris Leaver, Sibthorpian professor of plant sciences at Oxford

University, said the spreading of genes was not a problem because

potatoes do

not reproduce sexually, but are propagated by using tubers.

 

Prof Joe Perry, of Rothamsted Research, said: " Under EU law, GM crops

can only be banned if scientists can find evidence of harm to human

health or the environment. Trials are therefore the only way to gather

evidence to demonstrate actual harm. "

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3.POTATO CROP TRIAL 'GM BY BACK DOOR'

DUNCAN SANDES

The Western Morning News, 2 December 2006

 

Campaigners have accused the Government of trying to introduce

genetically modified (GM) crops " through the back door " after approving

controversial plans for two trial sites in England.

 

Defra yesterday granted permission for BASF Plant Science to grow GM

potatoes at field sites in Cambridgeshire and Derbyshire. The crops,

which will be planted next spring, will be modified to include a gene

from

a wild species of potato in a bid to make them resistant to blight - a

disease that costs growers about £70 million a year.

 

BASF insists the crops will be tested under " carefully-controlled

conditions " , then destroyed. But Westcountry campaigners fear the

tests will

herald the widespread introduction of GM crops being grown throughout

the country.

 

Andrew George, Lib-Dem MP for St Ives, said: " I have real concerns that

this will be the first in a number of progressive steps by the

Government to introduce GM crop growing through the back door.

 

" It seems the Government is being faced with political pressure to

introduce these crops, irrespective of the public's concern over the

matter. "

 

The controversial trials will see BASF trying to develop potatoes

resistant to phytophthora infestans, a fungal organism that produces

blight.

 

The firm says it has found a trait in a wild potato from a remote

valley in the Central American Andes, that causes resistance to the

organism.

 

Chris Wilson, from BASF, yesterday insisted the trials would not see

the imminent introduction of GM crops across the UK.

 

" Nothing from these trials will be eaten. The potatoes grown will be

tested under carefully-controlled conditions and then destroyed.

 

" The possibility of a food crop from it is maybe ten years down the

line. "

 

But Robert Vint, a campaigner with Totnes-based Genetic Food Alert UK,

labelled the trials " the thin end of the wedge " . Mr Vint said: " There

is really no reason for these trials, except political pressure placed

on the Government to introduce GM crops come what may.

 

" There are already techniques employed by organic farmers and growers

to combat blight in potatoes, so you really have to question the

motivation behind this decision. "

 

Mr Vint's views were echoed by Lavinia Halliday, an organic sheep and

beef farmer from Linkinhorne, South East Cornwall, who said: " This seems

to a progressive step for GM crops coming into this country - it

appears they will be grown here come what may. "

 

Ian Johnson, the National Farmers' Union spokesman for the South West,

played down fears over the trials, saying he recognised the " beneficial

potential " they may bring to crop production.

 

However, Maurice Spurway, Westcountry spokesman for Friends of the

Earth, insisted the trials were " a real cause for concern " .

 

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