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  • From: "TradingPostPaul" <tradingpost@riseup.net>
  • To: livingontheland@lists.ibiblio.org
  • Subject: [Livingontheland] GM labelling 'may push up organic food prices'
  • Date: Mon, 02 Jul 2007 21:16:14 -0600


GM labelling 'may push up organic food prices'
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/main.jhtml?xml=/news/2007/06/21/ngm121.xml

By Harry Wallop, Consumer Affairs Correspondent
Last Updated: 2:15am BST 21/06/2007

The price of organic food could increase because of new rules about GM
labelling, campaigners warn today.

EU agriculture ministers last week agreed that food accidentally
contaminated with up to 0.9 per cent genetically modified content could be
labelled "GM free".

But the Soil Association and Organic Farmers And Growers, which together
certify more than 90 per cent of Britain's organic food, pledge to keep
their own criteria at 0.1 per cent.
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Maintaining this standard could incur extra costs to farmers and growers
which in turn would push up prices, the Soil Association warned.

The campaigners argue that the EU ruling will lead to far more GM crops
being grown across Europe, potentially contaminating organic crops.

This will make it increasingly difficult for food producers to track down
pure organic supplies, pushing up their costs, which they will be forced to
pass on to consumers.

Alex Smith, who runs Alara Foods, which makes most of the organic muesli
sold in UK supermarkets, said: "If there is more GM corn grown in this
country that could contaminate the supply of maize for my gluten-free
muesli. That will incur substantially higher costs for my business."

Campaigners also said the extra testing required would be a further burden
on manufacturers, which they will pass on to consumers.

Richard Jacobs, the chief executive of Organic Farmers and Growers, one of
the certification bodies, said that if the levels of contamination were
relaxed consumers would be ever more wary of buying organic food. "We will
have to put in place greater degree of testing to reassure them about our
products," he said.

Mr Jacobs, along with executives from the Soil Association and a group of
organic businesses are meeting David Miliband, the Environment Secretary,
to discuss the issue today.

The popularity of organic food has grown enormously over the last couple of
years, but is still very much a niche market. Though sales increased last
year by 30 per cent and are set to reach £2.7 billion a year in 2010,
organic food accounts for just 4 per cent of all produce farmed in Britain.

An expanding body of experts have questioned whether organic food is any
better for health than standard food, and many consumers are wary about
paying a hefty premium for the produce.

A spokesman for the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs
said: "The 0.9 per cent threshold was supported by this Government and was
agreed at EU level.

"The association are quite within their rights to set their own level if
they wish as long as it is under 0.9 per cent. However we think it is
unrealistic to think in terms of a zero (or 0.1 per cent) threshold - it
would not work in practice.

"If producers had to declare any level of GM presence, no matter how small,
they would be forced to label everything as 'may contain GM', which would
not offer an informed choice."






  • [Livingontheland] GM labelling 'may push up organic food prices', TradingPostPaul, 07/02/2007

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