U.K. - GMW: Played for fools in this silence over our milk

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GMW: Played for fools in this silence over our milk

" GM WATCH " <info

Sat, 27 Aug 2005 12:14:06 +0100

 

 

 

 

GM WATCH daily

http://www.gmwatch.org

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This article tells it like it is and needs to be read by every

supermarket customer in the UK.

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Played for fools in this silence over our milk

Paul Rowland

Western Mail, Aug 27 2005

http://icwales.icnetwork.co.uk/0100news/0200wales/tm_objectid=15901973 & method=fu\

ll & siteid=50082 & headline=played-for-fools-in-this-silence-over--our--milk--name_\

page.html

 

IS IT too much to ask that the public be given the right to know what

they are putting through the supermarket check-outs and into their

mouths?

 

It was revealed yesterday that the majority of our major supermarkets

sell milk from animals fed on genetically-modified feed, while making no

effort to inform consumers of this fact.

 

Only Marks & Spencer has so far committed itself to source its milk

from cows reared on non-GM feed.

 

This is despite research which proves that 97% of Welsh shoppers object

to buying milk that had been in any way genetically-modified.

 

The storm of publicity dating from 1996 when supermarkets began to

stock GM foods, when most of these products were apparently clearly

identified, seems to have convinced the public that if the words

" genetically-modified " don't appear on the label, the substance within

is GM-free.

 

But it seems we may have been played for fools all these years by

supermarkets which have placed cost-efficiency over honesty and choice by

introducing GM products by stealth.

 

Recent research by the Welsh Consumer Council revealed 40% of the Welsh

public aren't even aware GM foods are for sale in British supermarkets.

 

In years to come, it may be proved that GM food causes none of the

damage to our health or eco-system that many observers currently suspect.

Scientists may consider us backward and conservative for ever doubting

the biological safety of GM food.

 

But the truth is, for now, we can't be sure. For all we know, future

generations could very well be appalled that we gave even a second

thought to the concept of tinkering so dramatically with nature.

 

One day, the very idea of GM food being safe may to us seem as

ridiculous as the thought of smoking once being considered harmless.

 

At the current time, it has proved impossible to say with impunity one

way or the other. So isn't it right that customers are given the

freedom to choose rather than having multi-national companies make their

minds up for them?

 

Whether we eat GM foods is not a matter to be decided in the offices of

Tesco, Sainsbury et al, just as it is not a decision which should be

made in Downing Street or Cardiff Bay.

 

Only when these altered strains have been in our environment for

generations can their overall effect truly be established, and a

definitive

answer on safety be given. Even then, we should be given the opportunity

to make considered individual choices about eating GM food.

 

The strength and durability of the vegetarian movement has ensured that

supermarkets would not dream of using a meat-based substance in a

product without saying so in the ingredients. There is absolutely no

reason

why those who choose not to eat GM food should not be afforded the same

privilege.

 

 

 

 

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