Quinn calls for informed debate about GM foods
The Irish Times
Thursday, March 25, 1999
By Kitty Holland
Consumers may be throwing "the baby out with the bathwater"
if they take a position against genetically modified (GM) foods,
Senator Feargal Quinn has said.
Speaking at the Consumer Education Conference in Dublin
yesterday, the chief executive of the Superquinn supermarket
chain said the whole concept of GM foods may get such a bad
name that "we might be passing up some really enormous
advantages".
"These benefits could include cheaper food, safer food and food
that is more adapted to varying tastes and preferences.
"Of course, if GM is dangerous then the risks might well
outweigh the benefits and we wouldn't want to have anything to
do with it," he continued. "But the reality is likely to be more
complicated than that."
He called for more objective information on GM foods and "a
co-operative approach" to their development rather than what he
called the current "adversarial situation" between multinationals
and the "growing ranks of concerned consumers".
The customers, he commented, are judge and jury in matters
that affect them.
"If the debate [on GM foods] goes a certain way . . .[the
customers] will decide on the basis of hasty, inadequate
information."
His calls come a week after seven supermarket chains across
Europe moved to ban GM foods from their shelves. Similar
moves have also been made by the frozen-food chain Iceland
and the fast-food chain McDonalds.
This afternoon, the Dáil is to hear statements from various
parties on the GM foods and biotechnology industry.
The Leinster Green Party MEP, Ms Nuala Ahern, yesterday
warned the government not to "fudge" the issues in this
afternoon's Dáil session.
"The government has a history of passing the buck on this issue,"
she said. Expecting restaurateurs and food outlets to carry the
onus was inadequate, she added. In advance of this afternoon's
session, IBEC's Irish Bioindustry Association (IBIA) yesterday
published its position paper on biotechnology.
Titled The Biotechnology Industry - A Unique Opportunity for
Ireland to be a World Leader, it makes a number of
recommendations to the Government, including the provision of
funding mechanisms to assist the start-up of new biotech
companies; additional funding for basic and applied research in
the biosciences; the marketing of Ireland as a key location for
biotech- related inward investment and more public information
on the benefits and risks associated with biotechnology.
The IBIA director, Mr Matt Moran, said that despite the
controversies surrounding the introduction of the first wave of
GM foods to Europe, "I feel that when consumers realise the
benefits of the second-wave GM foods such as vitamin
A-enhanced oils and folic acid-enhanced wheat the true benefits
of this technology will become obvious for all to see".
He said that if Ireland were to capture a small percentage of the
worldwide industry "it would have a tremendous impact in this
country". The biotech industry is forecast to be worth 250 billion
euros in Europe by 2005 and affect the employment of three
million people, he said.
A recently published report by Forfás, Shaping our Future,
identified the biotech industry as one in which the Government
should invest.
In his speech yesterday Senator Quinn called for Government
funding for food scientists, "in the universities in particular", who
might play a watchdog role in surveying emerging food
technology.
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