Scoop has an Ethical Paywall
Government does 'dirty work' for biotech industry
GE Free New Zealand
In Food And Environment
Inc.
http://www.gefree.org.nz
GE Free New Zealand PRESS RELEASE – 29.10.03
Government does "dirty work" for biotech industry in prosecuting GM-free food supplier.
The prosecution of Bean Supreme for a .002% GE content in a product labelled Non-GM is a case of double standards and a contemptable misuse of government power.
The prosecution should not be of the manufacturer but those in the biotech industry like Monsanto and other Life Science Network members who allow GE contamination to spread into the food chain and seek to deny people basic rights to avoid it.
The attack by government agencies on GM-free labelling is a calculated effort to create a "chilling effect" on food manufacturers and is effectively doing the dirty work for biotech industry bullies. It runs completely counter to the Royal Commission proposal for a voluntary labelling regime for GE-free produce to be introduced.
Bean Supreme owner Paul Johnston said soy was only 2 per cent of the material in the sausages, so the GM soy was only 0.002 per cent of the final product.
"Bean Supreme have tried their best to be GE-free and the biotech industry itself should be held responsible for contamination. Monsanto has failed to contain its products, has failed to take action against illegal plantings, and should be held liable, ' says Jon Carapiet from GE Free NZ in food and environment.
But instead of being prosecuted Monsanto - having quit Britain- may now be finding a foothold in New Zealand.
They are understood to be associated with the GE onions trial currently before ERMA though their involvement has been kept secret.
" It seems our Crown Research Institutes are now getting into bed with some of the most disreputable organisations in the world. If this is the Labour government's plan for New Zealand we do not want a bar of it."
The eagerness to prosecute Bean Supreme also smells of hypocrisy and double-standards. When exports were threatened because of hidden GE ingredients in Subway bread in Japan, the government has blamed everyone except their own lack of regulatory standards for the problem. Yet the company involved defended itself by claiming the GE-derived enzyme " was approved by authorities".
One use of GE was intentional but based on misguided trust of Australia/New Zealand Food Authorities, the other was accidental but a result of industry lobbying for contamination thresholds to prevent any GE-free labelling so consumers have no choice.
"It seems that neither Yarrows nor Bean Supreme are really at fault here: rather it is a conspiracy of government and unethical business interests pushing for allowing contamination, and then blaming the victim," says Mr Carapiet.
Ends
Jon Carapiet- 09 815 3370
30.10.2003
By SIMON COLLINS science
reporter
An Auckland tofu maker, who is opposed to
genetic modification, is being
prosecuted for falsely
claiming that his vegetarian sausages were "non-GM".
An
audit by the Food Safety Authority last year found that 0.1
per cent
Of the soy in the meat-, dairy- and gluten-free
sausages made by
Penrose-based Bean Supreme had been
genetically modified to withstand Monsanto's
Roundup
weedkiller.
ENDS
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