Westminster Bill aims to impose new GMOs on UK citizens GM Freeze comments on the publication of the Government's Genetic Technology Bill

Comment (25 May 2022)

Liz O'Neill, liz[at]gmfreeze.org, 07811 211 404

Commenting on the  the UK Government’s Genetic Technology Bill – and the news that Environment Minister George Eustice does not believe that genetically modified organisms created with newer GM techniques should be declared on food labels, GM Freeze Director Liz O’Neill said:

Gene editing is GM with better PR and this bill aims to impose new GMOs on UK citizens by removing public protections and the labels that allow us to choose what we are buying and eating. All genetic engineering techniques can go wrong and that’s why we need the kind of safety checks that this bill will throw on the scrap heap. George Eustice may be content with allowing GM developers to check their own homework, but consumers are not – as they told him in last year’s public consultation.

People want to know what they are buying and eating. Opinion polls, responses to the Government’s own consultation last year and poor sales of the GMOs that are already on our supermarket shelves all confirm that there is no public demand for GM foods of any kind. Rather, there is overwhelming support for proper public protections, including clear labels on foods made with both old and newer GM techniques. Farmers and food producers also have the right to decide whether or not they are using GMOs and these proposals will make it impossible for them to do that.

GM Freeze is the UK umbrella campaign for a responsible, fair and sustainable food system, focusing on concerns about the use of genetic engineering.