Here in Britain, our Food Standards Agency (FSA) is subject to rules from the European Union (EU – this link shows a map) about genetically modified foods. That’s genetically modified as in GM, also called genetically engineered or GE. We’re legally entitled to know whether the foods we buy and eat are from GM crops or livestock, and whether they’ve been made using products from GM.
It can be quite a complicated story. People can be concerned about livestock eating GM feed, about GM in food processing, and other questions.
The FSA tells us about its current policy on GM labelling. You can scroll down for a summary of what is labelled, and what isn’t labelled. But that policy might have to change when the EU and our international trading partners go into negotiations this month.
You’re so far ahead of our country on this. I believe everyone has a right to know whether they are eating GMOs but the lobby here is so heavy that we aren’t making progress.
Oh dear. I’d like to say that you’re being too pessimistic, but only time will tell. The ‘special relationship’ between Britain and the USA feels very one-sided from my view, and there’s an ongoing question about whether we are Europeans at all!
There’s to be a referendum on our EU membership. It’s mostly outside the scope of this blog but I hope to find out which EU rules apply to the non-member states on the European continent – whether those rules cover farming, food and nature. If I find out I’ll blog about it, because it might become very relevant to our land on these wonderful British Isles.
Going back to the GM crops question – I think Monsanto (with US Government in its pocket) wants to make the most of the upcoming trade negotiations http://ec.europa.eu/trade/policy/countries-and-regions/countries/united-states/ If Monsanto’s allowed to do something over there, how can we quaint little Europeans presume to suggest the same can’t happen here?
If we can do that now, we in Britain might lose that power if the referendum takes us out of the EU. A few days ago the US Government warned us that opting out of the EU might mean opting out of the trade agreements http://www.guardian.co.uk/business/2013/may/27/eu-exit-risks-us-trade-deal
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