02/17/1999 Australia/NZ Food Advisor Gives Okay to Gene Altered Seeds
Melbourne, Feb. 18 (Bloomberg) -- The Australian New Zealand Food Authority, an advisory body, has given the all- clear for the use of cotton seed and soy beans grown from gene- altered seed in food.
ANZFA said it found after extensive testing that Roundup Ready Soybeans and Ingard Cottonseed raise no public health and safety concerns. The products are already used in foods such as vegetable oils in Australia.
''These products were also found to be substantially equivalent to food from their conventional counterparts in respect of .. composition, safety, wholesomeness and end use,'' ANZFA said in a statement.
Ingard Cottonseed, which has a natural resistance to the heliothis moth pest, was the first genetically altered crop in Australia. It was introduced by Monsanto Co., a leading U.S.- based agricultural biotechnology company, in 1996.
Round-up Ready Soybeans, which are resistant to Monsanto's own herbicide Round-up, aren't grown in Australia, though, some has entered the Australian food chain through imports.
ANZFA's decision paves the way for approval in April by the New Zealand and Australian state and territory ministers that make-up the joint Australia New Zealand Food Standards Council.
23:51:49 02/17/1999 |
