Press releases
News releases and comments from GM Freeze are listed below.
For more information, images and interviews, please contact Liz O’Neill on 07811 211 404 or liz[at]gmfreeze.org
Immediate release (10 Dec 2012)
Defra Secretary of State Owen Paterson’s misguided assumption that GM has “real environmental benefits” is both factually inaccurate and ignores the UK Government’s own data from field trials that showed GM crops harm wildlife. [1] In comments reported today Mr …
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Immediate release (29 Nov 2012)
GM Freeze is warning that governments and scientists should not rely too heavily on wheat genetics to improve food security following the announcement that scientists have taken another step toward sequencing the wheat genome. [1] Huge investments for genetically modifying …
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Immediate release (8 Nov 2012)
The biotech industry may have bitten off more than it can chew by spending big to defeat yesterday’s California vote on mandatory GM labels at a time when initiatives in many other states are gearing up on similar votes in …
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Immediate release (25 Oct 2012)
GeneWatch UK and GM Freeze today released documents obtained as a result of a Freedom of Information request, which reveal that the GM companies Monsanto, Syngenta, Bayer and BASF are setting the agenda for UK agricultural research with a view …
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Immediate release (23 Oct 2012)
The French Agency for Food, Environmental and Occupational Health & Safety (ANSES) is backing calls for more research into the long-term combined effects of GMOs and pesticides in food. [1] ANSES is the first official body to suggest that the …
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Immediate release (16 Oct 2012)
GM nitrogen fixing cereals are a mirage says a new publication from GM Freeze. The complex genetics involved are proving an obstacle to success, and even if it does work the technology is likely to result in lower yields. [1] …
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Immediate release (5 Oct 2012)
The European Network of Scientists for Social and Environmental Responsibility (ENSSER) today responded to the criticism levelled at the recent research paper reporting the results of the long-term feeding of GM maize to rats. [1] The statement points out that …
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Immediate release (3 Oct 2012)
The announcement of the genetic modification and cloning of a dairy cow in New Zealand [1] raises serious doubts about the safety and efficacy of the technology employed for the experiments and ignores key ethical questions about animal welfare and …
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Immediate release (19 Sep 2012)
A new independent lifetime study has found that a diet of Monsanto’s Roundup Ready maize increases the rates of death and tumours in laboratory rats. [1] The CRIIGEN research team [2] used Monsanto’s NK603 Roundup tolerant maize to feed rats …
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Immediate release (12 Sep 2012)
The Government response [1] to the Environmental Audit Committee’s (EAC) Report on Sustainable Food [2] today rejected all of the Committee’s recommendations for tighter regulation and scrutiny of GM food and crops including: “Additional conditionalities applied to GM crops beyond …
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Immediate release (5 Sep 2012)
GM Freeze warned farmers that moves by the EC to approve GM animals for commercial use in food are gathering pace and could spark a major consumer backlash if the Commission does not change direction. GM Freeze today wrote to …
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Immediate release (2 Aug 2012)
Dow Chemical Company, one of the main sponsors of the London 2012 Olympic games, has just been granted approval in South Africa for a new GM 2,4-D tolerant maize. [1] GM Freeze and the Pesticides Action Network (PAN) warn that …
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Immediate release (31 Jul 2012)
Today GM Freeze told the Food Standards Agency it must revise its public information on the presence of GM DNA in animals fed GM feed because it is out of touch with the latest scientific evidence. Feeding studies reported earlier …
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Embargoed (15 Jul 2012)
Today’s announcement that the Gates Foundation has given the John Innes Centre US$10 million to research GM nitrogen fixing cereals, including maize in Sub-Sarahan Africa, [1] was described by GM Freeze as a waste of money that should have been …
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Immediate release (4 Jul 2012)
European Union officials are paving the way to bring genetically modified (GM) animals to the European market. European authorities have developed safety guidelines for the introduction of GM animals [1] – a precursor to approving such products for commercial sale. …
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Immediate release (27 Jun 2012)
Today GM Freeze and Friends of the Earth urged Defra Secretary of State Caroline Spelman to reject proposals from the European Commission to drop the policy of zero tolerance for unapproved and untested GMOs in food. [1] Proposals from Health …
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Immediate release (11 Jun 2012)
Attempts by the Danish Presidency to revive a European Commission proposal to reform legislation on approving GM cultivation applications have failed even to make it onto the agenda for today’s Environment Council meeting. When they took up the Presidency of …
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22 May 2012
The Roundtable on Responsible Soya (RTRS) Annual Conference will be held at the Park Inn Heathrow Hotel on 23 and 24 May 2012. The RTRS has today been described by campaigners in Europe as a certifying smoke screen that should …
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Immediate release (11 May 2012)
Commenting on yesterday’s European Parliament vote calling on the European Patents Office to stop granting patents on conventionally bred plants and animals, [1] GM Freeze Campaign Director Pete Riley said: GM Freeze is delighted that MEPs have so conclusively voted …
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Immediate release (3 May 2012)
Recent research has found that varieties of GM wheat are outcrossing to other plants at a rate six times higher than conventional varieties. [1] These findings, along with other data showing wheat can outcross from commercial fields to crops over …
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