30th August 2006 updated 4th September 2006

 
Experimental field trials of GM rice in the United States have been contaminating European food supplies, including baby food, for months. The EU has responded with a ban last week of all rice shipments after the US Government admitted that the banned long-grain rice (developed by Bayer CropScience) was widespread in exports to Europe.

Cllr Philip Booth, a District councillor and spokesperson for the Stroud District Green party said: "The level of irresponsibility of the biotech industry is astonishing. The contamination was discovered in January but Bayer only informed the US Government on July 31, and the Bush administration waited another 18 days before making the information public. It is more than likely that contaminate US rice will have been eaten by consumers in Gloucestershire."

Long-grain rice from the southern Unites States is normally shipped to the EU at a rate of more than 20,000 tonnes a month, but it will now only be allowed back after tests to prove it is GM-free. Scientists are predicting the contamination will show up again in this year's crop.

Philip Booth said: "We should learn from this. We should at the very least be implementing stricter testing on these products before they can enter Europe. Growing genetically modified crops is fraught with problems and dangers, many of which are yet to be properly assessed. Our government is making a mistake in its plans for more GM trials and a loosening of regulations around growing GM."

Bayer decided not to market the rice grain after field tests on US farms between 1998 and 2001. The reasons for the decision are not known. This latest case of GM contamination follows a similar incident in March last year in which the biotech company Syngenta admitted to selling an experimental and illegal GM maize variety to US farmers for four years. This led to maize exports to Europe being contaminated.

Updated 31st August 2006

The GM rice contamination scandal continues. It appears that it is American rice farmers and consumers are the ones who have paid the price while Bayer and its accomplice in the cover-up, the US government, have got off relatively unscathed. This may not continue, however, as three major lawsuits launched by farmers against Bayer are already in motion with more on the way. See more at: www.gmwatch.org

Worse news: FSA propose 2% level: 4th September 2006

A two percentage limit of detection is worthless in the present situation – low level but nevertheless illegal contamination would be missed if this method was adopted. Read here:

http://www.gmfreeze.org/page.asp?id=302&iType=