http://www.gmfreeze.org/index.asp
"Bt is a insecticidal toxin and has known deleterious effects on the
blood and organs," said Claire Bleakley of GE Free NZ in food and
environment.
bad news for those organic farmers using Bt.....
Food Watchdog Praised for Withdrawing Contaminated Rice
GE Free New Zealand press release, 30 July 2008.
New Zealander's 'food watchdog' - The NZFSA - deserves praise for
pulling GE-contaminated rice off the shelves. But it needs to do much
more to encourage compliance amongst companies who ignore the
problems of GE-contamination in certian countries when sourcing their
ingredients.
GE Free (NZ) would like to congratulate the NZ Food Safety Authority
for their action to test and subsequently pull from sale rice
contaminated with the unapproved GE rice Bt63.
New Zealand's food watchdog took action after overseas Food Safety
Agencies found a comprehensive range of rice products from whole rice
to rice flour noodles, rice paper, and pasta had been contaminated
with the unapproved strain of GE Bt63 rice coming from China in March
2008.
"Bt is a insecticidal toxin and has known deleterious effects on the
blood and organs," said Claire Bleakley of GE Free NZ in food and
environment.
"This rice has not been approved in the EU, Australasia or even in
China where it came from".
This incident adds to concerns that the integrity and safety of the
whole global food supply is threatened by GE mix-ups in the lab, in
distribution of seeds, through field-contamination of crops, and in
post-harvest production.
Liabity for resulting harm is a major isssue in New Zealand and
overseas as the insurance industry have refused cover leaving the
public and taxpayers exposed to harm and left paying for the clean
up. Innocent farmers and manufacturers are also threatened and are
already suffering.
In 2003 the NZFSA asked the Commerce Commission to investigate a New
Zealand company for labelling a product GE Free when it was then
found to contain trace amounts of GE in its soy ingredients. The
business was nearly bankrupted but at the same time other businesses
that had products containing up to 60% GE and which were not labelled
escaped with a reprimand and 'asked to comply' with the law in
future.
This double-standard reveals a bias in application of the regulations
and the need to genuinely hold to account those responsible,
including companies who claim patent-ownership of the genes that have
illegally contaminated other foods.
"The importer must be held accountable and dealt with by the Commerce
Commission. Identity preservation procedures would have shown that
this rice contained an illegal contaminant. To encourage compliance
it is not enough to just ask them to remove the dangerous product off
the shelves," she said.
"It is very concerning that the NZFSA deals with companies pursuing a
GE-Free policy in the harshest terms, and quite differently to the
light-handed response to companies deliberately using GE ingredients
or which make no effort to ensure their ingredients are not GE-
contaminated. For consistency and accountability all breaches must be
dealt with equal rigour by the Commerce Commission".
"With the advent of the China Free trade deal the NZFSA will have to
be highly vigilant in monitoring imports of foods for unapproved
contaminantsî said Claire Bleakley."But the fear is they will just
turn a blind eye except in the case of major contamintaion identified
by other authorities overseas. This is because they see promotion of
trade as more important, and would prefer not to have to do anything
unless overseas markets demand action."
"The government also needs to take action to support the integrity of
the food system. It must ensure that Country of Origin labelling is
implemented to stop the export and re-packaging of foods in other
countries. But if the regulations are breached they must treat all
businesses with the same stick, not let the poluter off-lightly while
throwing consumer-oriented GE-free producers against the wall."
Contact:
Claire Bleakley (06) 3089842
References:
Unauthorised GM rice found and withdrawn 30 July 2008, Press Release:
New Zealand Food Safety Authority
http://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/PO0807/S00379.htm
Chinese rice products containing an unauthorised rice UKFSA,
Wednesday 16 July 2008
http://www.food.gov.uk/news/newsarchive/2008/jul/bt63update
