No GMO From Feed Found In Meat Or Eggs: EU Agency
BRUSSELS - Animals that have eaten genetically modified (GMO) feed show no residual traces in their eggs or meat, the EU's food safety agency said on Friday.
7 August 2007
2 minute read
"To date, a large number of experimental studies with livestock have shown that recombinant DNA fragments or proteins derived from GM plants have not been detected in tissues, fluids or edible products."
EFSA
In February, the European Commission received a petition from international environment group Greenpeace and signed by one million EU citizens demanding special labels for dairy and other products where the animals had eaten GMO feed.
The Commission, the EU's executive arm, then asked the European Food Safety Authority (EFSA) for its views on the potential for transgenes or their products to be incorporated into animal tissues on food products such as eggs and milk.
"To date, a large number of experimental studies with livestock have shown that recombinant DNA fragments or proteins derived from GM plants have not been detected in tissues, fluids or edible products of farm animals like broilers, cattle, pigs or quails," EFSA said in a report analyzing 19 separate studies.
The European Union has thresholds for how much GMO material may be present in foods and animal feed before being labeled as biotech. But those rules, which came into force in 2004, do not apply to meat and dairy products coming from a GMO-fed animal.
For green groups, opposed to biotechnology and which have long complained about the issue, this exemption is a glaring hole in the EU's labyrinthine laws on GMO foods.
Source: TruthAboutTradeAndTechnology
>>Not so long ago it seemed asthough a genetic utopia was about to blossom across the globe. We were promised cheaper tastier food with replicated quality assured over and over again. The consumer backlash that followed came with collective boycotts previously unseen and forced the movement to a virtual halt, but what was the source of this fear? Get a better scope of the GM debate, by clicking on our previous news items listed below.
