|
| GE
Free New Zealand in Food & Environment,
05th April 2005
Minister Urged to Intervene on Illegal GE Corn
It is time that the Minister of Health intervened on the Bt 10 issue
and took seriously her responsibilities to protect New Zealand's
food chain from contamination by unapproved un-tested corn. FSANZ
is not moving fast enough on the isssue of illegal GE corn entering
the foodchain as a result of illegal growing in the US American
of Bt10 which has only recently been disclosed by the company:Syngenta.
It is probable the product has come from the US to Australasia and
GE Free NZ in food and environment is calling on the FSANZ to recognise
its legal obligations to act to protect the health and safety of
the New Zealand population.
This Bt 10 corn has never been through an internationally-agreed
Food Safety testing process before entry into the human food chain.
"If FSANZ does not follow through with a recall of the illegal
Syngenta Bt10 corn event it shows that their regulatory approach
and consultation processes are a dangerous sham" said Claire
Bleakley of GE Free NZ in food and environment.
"The FSANZ mission statement says that it is their responsibility
to protect the health and safety of the New Zealand and Australian
public by properly managing dangerous foods in the food chain. It
is imperative that they act to find and remove this GE corn as soon
as possible".
Bt10 corn contains a different cassette make up to its conterpart
Bt11 that it has been compared with. It also contains an ampicillin
resistant gene which is threatening to those who take penicillin
derived antibiotics. The diseases that ampicillin treats like ear
Staploccoccal and salmonella infections are already showing level
of penicillin resistance and Bt10 corn could hasten the problem.
"It is frighteningly irresponsible for an Authority to blatantly
disregard the seriousness of this breach" she says " We
are heading into a winter and if the food we eat makes treatment
of any disease more difficult serious complications could occur."
As this corn has not been approved for consumption it is incumbent
on the Authority to withdraw all products that contain this construct
and warn consumers, especially people like pregnant women, infants,
and those with suppressed immunity identified as more vulnerable
to negative effects. Bt10 has not been approved by any FSA in the
world and there is insufficient information for the local Authority
to make any decision in hindsight to supperficially 'fix' the problem.
This event also indicates that it is imperative to reform the regulatory
system and if GE foods are approved after testing- to fully label
all foods and ingredients containing any GM ingredients regardless
of the levels or quantity in the foods. Labels should contain accurate
source data of how the product was made and grown . It would also
make tracing easier to allow emergency recalls to be effective.
Ends
Claire Bleakley (06) 3089842
References:
Dr Mae Wan Ho and Dr Joe Cummins from ISIS (Institute of Science
in Society) 30/03/05,
http://www.i-sis.org.uk/SGMMS.php
Back
to Press Release Directory
|
|
