UK shoppers don't want gene altered foods - FOE survey
RTw 20.10.98 12:36
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LONDON, Oct 20 (Reuters) - The majority of consumers want British
supermarkets to stop selling genetically modified foods,
according to a survey carried out for environmentalist group
Friends of the Earth.
"The message is coming accross loud and clear; the public do
not want genetically modified food or crops in this
country," Pete Riley, Friends of the Earth campaigner said
in a statement.
"Supermarkets claim to listen to their customers, well their
customers have now spoken. It is not enough to simply label
products containing GM ingredients."
But a spokeswoman for the British Retail Consortium, the group
which represents retailers including the big food stores, felt
that there was no great wave of consumer concern. "As far as
we are concerned there isn't the concern that Friends of the
Earth are registering," she told Reuters.
Supermarkets monitored their postbag closely and their had been
no increase in customer queries over GM foods. In comparison, the
"mad-cow" disease BSE had produced a massive surge in
letters to supermarkets, she pointed out.
But the supermarkets, along with food processors and caterers
were working on producing more information on genetic
modification for consumers, the BRC spokeswoman said.
Friends of the Earth said their survey showed that 58 percent of
shoppers wanted supermarkets to go GM-free.
British Food Safety Minister Jeff Rooker welcomed the survey, in
a ministry statement. But he felt new EU labelling rules would
give consumers a choice. "If the majority of shoppers feel
that genetically modified foods are not for them, this will be
reflected in sales figures and on the shop shelves," Rooker
said.
"Most foods with GM ingredients are not labelled and won't
be under the new EU rules which are full of holes," a
Friends of the Earth spokesman said. "So regretably the
consumer won't have a choice."
REUTERS