US suppliers claim biotech pollution is inevitable
GMOs present in most exports, say US suppliers

Date Posted: 7/6/2001 Soyatech.com

A leading US food-producing group says a "significant proportion" of
supposedly GM-free imports to the UK could contain genetically altered
crops. Gene Grabowski, the vice president of the Grocery Manufacturers
of America
(GMA) told the world's largest convention of the biotechnology industry,
that GM foods are now so well mingled into the world's exports that
Europe could no longer expect many of the imported foods to be
completely non- GM. "It is impossible for anyone to be sure that any
shipment of crops is completely GM-free," said Mr Grabowski, "Europe has
tried to resist it for some time, but eventually it will have to admit
that GM produce is everywhere."
Europe has historically taken a much harder line on GM foods than the
US, South America and Asia, where the products are seen as the best way
to farm efficiently. But the BSE and foot-and-mouth crises have created
a massive surge in European demand for crop exports from abroad. Since
the beginning of this year, the UK has imposed a ban on feeding meat and
fish-based foods to cattle, swine and chickens, for fear of cross-
infections. The main alternative is soya beans, and the demand for these
has soared. Imports are expected to jump by about 3.5 million tons this
year. But the majority of soya imports come from countries where GM
foods are rife, and the UK Agricultural Trade Supply Association expects
large proportions of the imports to be genetically modified. Because of
the difficulty of accurately testing large volumes of crop imports, the
GMA believes that a lot of GM produce will slip through the net, and has
no doubt that large quantities marked as non-GM will have been modified.
The issue is of critical importance to the large UK supermarket chains,
which have made a point of strictly labelling GM products. Now faced
with the possibility that some of the meats they sell may have been fed
on unlabelled GM meal, the supermarkets are having to find ways to
improve their testing processes. "It is a rising challenge for us to
make sure everything is as it is labelled," said a Sainsbury's
spokesperson. http://www.gm.com -by Leo Lewis