A group of organic food companies and specialised distributors are rallying in a "World" forum to demand more oversight of genetically modified organisms (GMOs) and more openness about what goes into our food supply. This effort was spearheaded by Lucas Lefebvre, co-founder of the organic e-commerce site La Fourche.
In order to welcome genetically modified organisms (GMOs) created by new genomic methods (NTG), the European Commission is getting ready to remove the restrictions and regulations now in place for GMOs.
No longer will foods containing new GMOs be required to undergo risk assessments; moreover, these foods will not be able to be tracked or labelled if this measure is approved. This puts our health and the environment at danger and is an assault on consumer choice.
A whopping 92% of French consumers now want "new GMOs" to be clearly displayed on food packaging. This law would deny people the right to information, even though it is guaranteed under the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union (article 169).
The French people, who have a right to know what's in their food, are the target audience for this quaint endeavour. However, in light of the repeated food scandals, it is necessary to enhance transparency, which is fundamental to the trust relationship between agri-food companies and customers.
But is it sufficient to only warn consumers about NTGs? Little is known about the long-term effects of newly-developed GMOs on human health. If we follow the precautionary principle, risk assessment should not be done away with but rather kept and even improved. French food security is jeopardised in the absence of thorough assessment.
Major environmental concerns are also associated with this health risk. There is a risk of unregulated gene flow when genetically modified (GM) plants hybridise with native plant species. As an example, a herbicide-tolerant GM plant may pass its tolerance on to related wild plants. Some non-target insects are important to our ecosystems, and new genetically modified organisms that produce an insecticidal protein may be damaging to them.
Furthermore, NTG plants that selectively grow for desirable characteristics may act as invading plants, upsetting the delicate ecological balance. Is it really worth it to further degrade our rural areas, put our capacity to provide nutritious food for future generations at risk, when these factors are already wreaking havoc on our ecosystems?
Source: LeMonde