Americans seem to have pretty fixed views on the issue
of genetically modified foods.
The US administration says GM technology will mean cheaper
and more plentiful food all over the planet, but consumers,
particularly in Europe, are not so sure.
They've suffered a number of disasters in recent years,
when animal foods, cleared by the scientists as safe,
have later been found to be hazardous. Scientists are
not completely trusted any more.
Environmental groups say the risks from GM foods to both
human health and the environment have not been adequately
researched. GM foods are now increasingly being shunned
in Europe. Our reporter Simon Clarke spoke to US under
secretary of state for Commerce David Aaron and asked
him what he wanted Europe's politicians to do in the face
of consumer resistance to GM food?
"I think they need to do two things. Number one,
they need to bring the facts to the public's attention
and unfortunately too few European politicians have been
willing to do that.
The facts are, as the result of any bio-engineering,
there has never been one headache, never been one sneeze,
never been one rash, never been any kind of medical or
health problem in any human being."
Simon Clarke pointed out that they said similar things
about smoking and nuclear weapons for 20 years.
"They also said that in Britain in the 1820s that
if you rode the train and it went more than 20 miles an
hour, your head would explode. I assume you, for example,
have a cellular phone, they say cellular phones cause
brain tumours. The issue here is science. We have had
studies of GM products for more than a decade and there
has not been one single case of any kind of problem. That
counts for something.
I think it just important that our leaders in Europe
draw the public's attention to that basic fact. They can
then decide for themselves whether they would like to
consume these items or not."
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I
find it hard to believe that Europe is going to
create an environment in which biotechnology, which
is going to be as important to the next century
as electricity has been to this century, is prevented
from going ahead. David Aaron |
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Simon Clarke put it to Mr Aaron, that environmental
campaigners and opponents of GM foods alleged that Montsanto's
testing for the UK market of soya beans had involved
ten weeks of feeding it to cattle.
"That's a lot of vicious nonsense. There are
extensive field testing on this issue - the use of these
things is monitored by the Food and Drug Administration."
the fact of the matter is not one case, incident, event
has ever taken place that suggests that there is any
danger or effect on human health."
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The
fact of the matter is, not one case, incident, event
- has ever taken place that suggests that there
is any danger or effect on human health with GM
foods. Jack Stahl |
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