It's wrong to seek ERMA judgement GE onions safety

Biotech industry wrong to seek ERMA judgement on Safety of GE onions

The Biotech industry are wrong to call for ERMA to adjudicate on the health impacts of GE onions and other GE foods already entering New Zealand.

ERMA are not responsible for testing GE foods or assessing the safety of GE products for human health. The issues raised concerning the soil-bacteria used for transfection of the new genes into the onions, and the impact of increased chemical residues in food have yet to be properly studied.

It is wrong to push for more GE field trials when there are yawning gaps in the basic data required and obtainable from fully-contained lab-experiments.

The investment in a product for which there is no market is also deeply flawed when investment in alternative research for improving organic production of onions has a clear and tangible benefit for New Zealand's exports.

The application for a field trial should be withdrawn until this "missing data" is produced and peer-reviewed. Before a field trial is applied for, Food Safety Authorities and ERMA need to have more information: what is the impact on soil biota from lab-experiments?, what is the impact on human health from the bacteria vector?, what is the impact of up to 200 times more chemical residue in human food, especially on children and the elderly?

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