New Zealand's Minister of Health would be doing the right thing for public health and the integrity of the food system by voting for labelling of GM foods, when she attends a trans-Tasman council meeting on Friday.(1)
That's the message from MADGE Australia, to Minister Kate Wilkinson, saying 90% of people want full labelling of GM ingredients. The call comes almost a decade after MadGE in New Zealand, led by Alannah Currie became a culturally-defining movement for a GE-Free New Zealand backed by leading chefs, actors, musicians, celebrities and artists.
The Australian campaign urges State Ministers of Health to support GM labelling to give consumers the right to know if GM-foods like soy oil are being used. The New Zealand Minister Kate Wilkinson sits on the same Council and is copied in on the email message.
"There is wide public support for GM-foods to be labelled. New Zealand should support food standards based on traceability and the right of consumers to avoid GM-ingredients," says Jon Carapiet, spokesman for GE-Free NZ in food and environment.
"The Health Ministers are being asked to support the precautionary approach of tracing, monitoring and labelling foods from GM organisms which is central to the integrity of the food system."
Unfortunately New Zealand Minister Kate Wilkinson has backed the latest approval of 2,4-D-GM maize into the food supply, without testing its potential effects and without requiring all derived ingredients to be labelled.
The benefits of labelling all GM-foods can no longer be ignored as a basic food safety measure that benefits New Zealand exporters and consumers worldwide.
The New Zealand government previously undermined the rights of its own consumers by opting out of Country of Origin Labelling (CoOL) introduced by the Australian States. Labelling of GM foods is the least it could do.
ENDS
Contact - Jon Carapiet 021 0507681
1) http://www.madge.org.au
The Food Regulation Ministerial Council will meet to decide which of the Blewett Report's Food Labelling Rev |
