http://www.irishtimes.com/newspaper/ireland/2008/0718/1216330999627.html
IT IS inevitable that EU states will accept genetically modified
foods, despite the fact that 70 per cent of people are opposed to
them, the Government's chief scientific adviser has stated. Foods
containing modified ingredients are already on our supermarket
shelves and livestock here is being fed genetically modified feeds.
Prof Patrick Cunningham answered questions about the safety of
genetically modified (GM) foods yesterday while attending the
Oireachtas Committee on Enterprise, Trade and Employment. He also
handled questions on a range of subjects including future energy
supplies, risks posed by overhead power lines and waste incineration
and climate change.
Prof Cunningham issued a formal report to Government on GM foods last
summer. It looked at safety, benefits and risks and, after assessing
a range of studies on the issue, he believed GM was of value to
Ireland. "The answer has to be yes," he told the Committee.
"[ GM] is not going to go away and it is advancing at a hell of a
rate," he said. Countries around the world were growing about 100
million hectares of GM corn, cotton, soyabean and rice.
Genetic modifications impart resistance to herbicides and insect
attack, providing cost and yield improvement for the farmer, he
said. "This has given a tremendous competitive advantage to those
using [ GM]."
We are already consuming foods with GM content, he said. About 60 per
cent of products contain either corn or soya ingredients. "In fact,
GM products are on the supermarket shelves," he said. "We are using
approved GM corn in pig feed in Ireland today."
The safety of these products was a key element of the report, he said.
The results of a survey of the limited literature on the subject
suggested that the consumption of GM foods did not pose a health risk.
© 2008 The Irish Times |
