news: How British vegetarians have become unwitting consumers of GM food

[Guest guest]

How British vegetarians have become unwitting consumers of GM food

 

Food safety campaigners concerned by 'hidden' contents of popular soya

products

 

By Severin Carrell and Sheera Frenkel

 

13 July 2003

 

 

 

Vegetarians are unwittingly eating GM-contaminated food, including

certain products which claim they are GM-free. Some of the most popular brands

for

Britain's 2.2 million vegetarians and vegans, food safety authorities have

found, contain GM soya beans and maize - a fact rarely disclosed on the label.

 

 

The popular foods containing traces of GM crops include soya mince and

soya chunks sold by firms such as Holland and Barrett, Protoveg Sosmix and

Burgamix, and Cow & Gate vegetable casserole powder for babies - the last of

these is labelled as being GM-free.

 

 

Many vegetarians will be unaware that 90 per cent of the vegetarian

cheese sold in Britain uses chymosin, an enzyme originally created using GM

techniques. This has replaced the rennet from cow stomachs in cheeses sold by

supermarkets such as Safeway, Asda and Marks & Spencer.

 

 

Other meat-substitute products from the US and Canada also contain GM

soya, which is stated in small print on the label - including Garden Burgers'

vegetable burgers, Schwartz's salad toppings with bacon-flavoured bits and

Bac-Os, bacon-flavoured soya chips made by the food brand Betty Crocker.

 

 

Even well-informed food safety campaigners were taken by surprise by

the discovery that Sosmix - a dehydrated soya-based and pork flavoured powder

widely used by vegetarians has been found to contain up to 0.7 per cent GM soya

by Irish food safety investigators.

 

 

The controversy follows a damaging report by Tony Blair's strategic

policy unit on Friday which warned that although investing in GM crops could

have

long-term economic benefits, there was little benefit or consumer demand for

GMs in Britain.

 

 

An expert scientific review of GM crops is also due out this month, but

Friday's report is a major setback for the Prime Minister, who is a keen

supporter of GM foods.

 

 

It also weakens the case for allowing GM crops to be planted in the UK

after the results of crop trials into GM sugar beet, maize and oil-seed rape

are released this autumn. But environment groups and the Vegetarian Society

said the discovery of routine GM contamination of vegetarian products proved

that

it was extremely difficult to keep GM material out of non-GM foods. They

claimed this raised further doubts over the European Parliament's decision last

month to allow foods to contain up to 0.9 per cent GM ingredients.

 

 

Tina Fox, chief executive of the Vegetarian Society, said: " This is

about having choice. I really object to the idea that these have even a little

GM. "

 

 

Charlie Kronick, a GM campaigner from Greenpeace, added: " We're

supposed to be in control of this technology, and yet it's slipping on to our

shelves. "

 

 

Trading standards officers are now preparing to prosecute two food

companies in England after the Food Standards Agency found they had allegedly

mis-sold products as " non-GM " which actually had detectable levels of GM soya.

 

 

The FSA investigation found that six other British products aimed at

vegetarians contained GMs, including three products sold by Leeds-based Suma

Wholefoods.

 

 

Earlier this year, magistrates fined a Birmingham-based company, East

End Foods, £14,000 including costs for claiming that their soya mince was

GM-free.

 

 

The case - the first brought in Britain for mislabelling a GM product -

came after laboratory analysis revealed the bag actually contained 50 per

cent GM soya.

 

 

Ireland's Food Safety Authority (FSAI) is planning further tests of 11

products sold by food firms that have been found to have traces of GM soya or

maize in products labelled as GM-free.

 

 

The companies whose products were found by the FSAI to contain

Monsanto's GM soya have been given the test results, and all are understood to

have

promised to redouble their efforts to ensure that their GM labelling is

accurate.

 

 

But Dr Pat O'Mahoney, the FSAI's chief biotechnology specialist, said

that in seven cases the label claimed they were GM-free or organic.

 

 

Bac-Os

 

 

What is it? Ingredients list on these bacon-flavoured soya bits states

it is GM

 

 

Protoveg Menu Burgamix

 

 

What is it? A staple of vegetarian larders, this powder contained 0.1

per cent GM soya

 

 

Cow & Gate casserole

 

 

What is it? A dehydrated baby food, found to have 0.1 per cent GM soya

 

 

Schwartz salad topping

 

 

What is it? A seasoning for salads, it uses bacon-flavoured GM soya

chunks

 

 

Holland & Barrett maize

 

 

What is it? Used in various vegetarian recipes; tests found traces of

GM maize

 

 

H & B soya protein mince

 

 

What is it? Used to make vegetarian dishes, it contained traces of GM

soya

 

 

Cheshire cheese

 

 

What is it? This cheese, made for vegetarians, uses a GM-derived enzyme

 

 

H & B soya chunks

 

 

What is it? Used to make a meatless Irish stew, this had small traces

of GMs

 

 

SOURCE:

http://news.independent.co.uk/uk/environment/story.jsp?story=424024

 

14 July 2003 16:21

[Guest guest]

Very interesting! Luckily I don't use any of the products mentioned. It is good it has come to light though, and nice to know that checks are made.

 

Jo

 

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