The Hindu Business Line : It's for consumers to decide on GM food: EU

, THE European Union (EU) looks at the consumer as the ultimate authority for acceptance of genetically modified (GM) crops and transgenic food producers should address this issue first, a EU official has said.

"Consumer is the king. The (GM) industry should produce what is beneficial to consumers and not farmers," Mr Canice Nolan, the EU Food Safety Health Representative to the US, said on the sidelines of the 17th convention of the US National Agricultural Biotechnology Council.

"The industry is trying to force unwanted food through the consumers' throats. They have to change their view and try to address their concern," Mr Nolan said.

Dwelling on the EU's tough stance on GM crops, he said the problem should be seen in the light of various food scares in the continent in the 1990s. "There have been a lot of problems with food scare, starting with the mad cow disease. Therefore, food safety is an important issue in the EU," he said.

As part of its reflection of the problems, the EU brought in new rules for GM crops, incorporating issues such as labelling, health and environment safety. "Things have begun moving after the legislation. There is agreement in the EU that the system is good and we should continue with it," he said.

"But everything is not moving as we like. It is due to problems with consumers and not with the regulatory body. Politicians and supermarkets know that consumers do not want GM food and that is the main reason," Mr Nolan said. "Markets will rule the game of food and the industry has to bear this in mind," the EU official said.

In his address, Prof Tom Hoban of North Carolina University, said most consumers in the US had no idea that products on the shelves of supermarkets contained GM products. "Organic food is seen as the standard for safe food. People react with guts, not with minds, on food. And the US has alienated itself from most nations as it has acted with arrogance on the GM food issue," he said.

"The EU, on the other hand, has won the hearts and minds of the people as it is treading with caution on the issue," Prof Hoban said. "GM food is seen as having no benefits to consumers and perceived with risks."

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