People in Cambridgeshire are being urged to take part in a "fresh debate" about genetically-modified food, following a report claiming it poses no danger to human health.

The European Commission's scientific advisory board, the Joint Research Centre, was commissioned by MEPs in November 2006 to scrutinise the controversial topic.

It conducted an extensive review of the existing evidence on the short and long-term effects of GM food, which included meeting 22 experts involved in its assessment and evaluation.

The study has now concluded that "no demonstration of any health effects of GM food products submitted to the regulatory process has been reported so far".

Cambridgeshire-based Euro MP Robert Sturdy, who sits on the European Parliament's environmental and agricultural committees, said there should now be a "fresh, informed and more balanced debate" about the GM issue.

He said: "This is now the time to disregard unfounded prejudices and fears and have an open mind. Most of the lobbying is done by those who are anti-GM, but we need to evaluate the evidence on this very emotive subject very carefully."

Cambridgeshire is one of several areas in the UK where trials of GM crops have been held, but last year protesters scaled security fences to get into a field near Girton and ripped up modified potatoes being tested for blight resistance by German company BASF.

© Cambridge News Online 2008