To think genetically modified food will now be allowed in our supermarkets?

[ReadyPayerTwo]

One of my biggest fears about the Tory victory and the ability to now 'strike a massive trade deal' that Trump tweeted about just after the 10pm exit poll, is that the European ban on GM foods obviously won't apply in the UK anymore.

Friends and relatives of mine who recently returned from living in the US have said that, unless you can afford to shop in Whole Foods (and who can), the quality and nutritional value of what is all GM fruit and vegetables is incredibly poor and that it's contributed massively to the obesity crisis, as people end up having to eat three times as much to make up for what it lacks in taste or nutrition.

Would it be made clear to consumers if supermarkets started selling GM food - would they have to be labelled as such? Or would we just not be told and find out a couple of years down the line that almost everything is now GM and there was nothing we could do about it?

We do already make products with GM foods and sell them in supermarkets, but they have to be labelled as having GM products in them. There are exceptions - cheese is often made with GM rennet and meat can be fed on GM crops and not need to be labelled.

Being GM on crops does not mean they have to be less nutritious. Crops have always been cross-bred to make better crops. Sweet potatoes have been genetically modified to grow better in Africa to ease famine which is a good thing.

I would be more concerned about the poor animal welfare products that we get. Animals in the UK have to be kept to very high welfare standards. Those horrid documentaries are the standard for the bulk animal farming in America. I do not want a chicken washed in chlorine or poorly treated animals. Thankfully, we are hot on country of origin on foods sold in UK supermarkets, so if people stop buying them then even if allowed they will not get very far.

"Then why did you quote me in that reply ? Make your mind up !"

You replied to my initial comment with the daft pig example, why you did that I have no idea as I didnt quote you or refer to any of your posts. I was referring to the OP. Maybe go re-read your own comments 🙄

There is no scientific proof that GM food is dangerous.

You replied to my initial comment with the daft pig example

not sure dismissing an entire religion or two as daft is a great way to go about a trying to have a reasoned debate. But there you go, you have, and that's that.

"hmm not sure dismissing an entire religion or two as daft is a great way to go about a trying to have a reasoned debate. But there you go, you have, and that's that."

I'm of the opinion that a reasoned debate with you in particular is probably highly unlikely given that my comments had zero to do with anything remotely religious and that was entirely brought up by yourself. I was referring to GM crops, you started waffling on about pigs seemingly from no where.

Religion and the nutrition/safety of GM crops as a means to feed the population of a world struggling with its resources are two unrelated matters as far as I'm concerned.

Humans have done selective breeding. GM includes CRISPR gene splicing where you have cross species through cross kingdom DNA insertions happening

I'm a former environmental scientist and have collaborated with scientists working on genetically modified projects so I am aware of how it works, thank you.

Both have the same result of changing the genetic composition of the organism in a way that wouldn't have occurred without human intervention. You'll find that a lot genes/proteins etc are at a molecular level pretty much the same from species to species, and that organisms already exchange huge amounts of genetic information between each other in entirely natural processes.

I absolutely hate opposition to GM. Political hysteria over GM has for example prevented modification of the cassava that could potentially protect millions from starvation when the crops fail. That's just one example.

By making a big deal about people having 'choice' all you really do is convince people there is something to be concerned about, otherwise why else would GM food need a big fat label slapped on it?

Pukka I agree, it's fear mongering and cashing in. I've even seen non-GMO water and salt..
And Catch-22. 'If it's so safe, why won't you label it?'

• sure, fine, let's label,

'Aha! Why do you need a label if it's so safe?!'

This is all quite reassuring stuff actually. Glad I posted!

Sorry Pukka but you’d sound more trustworthy as a bio environmental scientist if you didn’t deliberately minimise the differences between selective breeding and artificial transgenic modifications.

By making a big deal about people having 'choice' all you really do is convince people there is something to be concerned about, otherwise why else would GM food need a big fat label slapped on it?

It’s no different than a lot of labels. Like Kosher, Halal, Vegan, Vegetarian. All these labels are for diets driven by religion or ethics. For me, GM is exactly the same. I refuse to eat GM or any meat fed GM feed because it is playing God and an offence to nature to tinker with the DNA of Gods creations in such a way. You can laugh all you want at my religious beliefs just like people laugh and vegetarians and vegans for worrying about animal rights. But it is my right to practice my religious beliefs and so I have a right to a label telling me if food is natural as God intended it or some frankenfood created by scientists playing God.

Maybe instead we need to start work on developing a UK produce trademark like other countries have to promote UK made/produced foods. Plus make UK imports and locally made food labelling very clear as to where food is made and whether it is made from local or imported products and whether it is GM.

Try the Red Tractor!!

You can laugh all you want at my religious beliefs just like people laugh and vegetarians and vegans for worrying about animal rights.

Apparently, you are (and I quote) "daft" ...

(I wasn't laughing, by the way. Personally I have zero time for any religion, it's all a load of cobblers. BUT your point about choice, and freedom of choice stands and is crucial to the debate. As usual Voltaire triumphs .... ).

flowerycurtain

The red tractor is a good start. A great start. But I had the impression it is only artisan style products who sign up. (And that may be my ignorance). I think ultimately, we need a government led program that also enforces complete clarity on exactly where every food product sold has been made. Including whether the products are made in UK from imported goods etc.

For instance, I cannot find where on the Carr’s crackers packaging where the product is made. Could be made in China for all the packaging tells me. So currently UK packaging is very hit and miss.

Totally agree, Deckthehallswithlotsofcake, so much ignorance of what GM food actually is. Seems the easiest bandwagon to jump on is the negative one.

There are red tractors everywhere not just on artisan products and there are enough egg producers in the uk so we dont have to have the us ones? Surely we just import what we dont produce ourselves

Most of the British meat in Aldi has the red tractor mark so it's definitely not just artisan stuff. So long as food is labelled properly so that I can avoid it if I like I don't really mind if it comes from abroad. I always buy British meat and veg if I can, I think it tends to be ready meals that contain meat that don't state the origin.

Thanks for clearing that up slipperywhensparticus. I have not seen it on anything but sausages to be fair so it certainly has not stood out to me. I obviously have missed any promotion of it in supermarkets and point of sale. I have gone by ‘made in or produce of’ statements if and when I can find them. But I will look for it now.

However, as I have said, packaging in general in the UK is not as consistent as it should be.

I don't really know anything about GM or American food standards, but these may be the least of our worries compared to food shortages or very high prices caused by a falling pound.

@Winesalot it's def not just artisan products!! I produce wheat, oil seed rape and beef that's all sold via weetabix, Tesco and the big supermarkets and it's all red tractored up.

To be honest it's really disappointing that is farmers haven't managed to market it a ton better. To me it's a cracking way of shopping local but without the Waitrose prices.

Re eggs yes we produce enough shell egg to feed ourselves. We probably won't import us egg as they like a white egg and despite farmers trying to convince the UK market that white eggs are fine the uk consumer much prefers a brown. We do however import liquid egg.

flowerycurtain

I hear you. As this is the first I have really heard of it and I would be the perfect target for the product. It does need to be promoted more widely. Maybe in the Brexit future it will fulfill its potential. This is has the potential to be more powerful than it is. Saying that, I will now be looking for it.

Almost every fruit and vegetable and meat product in the supermarkets are GM. They're all high yield, disease resistant breeds.

Unless you go foraging for wild food or go to speciality shops, you'll be eating GM food.

For example, left to their own devices, wild apples wouldn't diversify into the hundreds of types we have now. Braeburns, Granny Smiths, Pink Ladies... all modified through generations of breeding to get a different genetic makeup which gives a larger, tastier, easier to grow, higher yield etc fruit.

You can apply the above to everything which we grow. Fruit, vegetables, grains, nuts, meat, fish.

Just because you can do in a lab in a few weeks what it takes decades to do via breeding doesn't make them any less genetically modified. I can't understand why people are worried about genetic modification when we've been doing it for millennia.

Like suppliers the world over, they should have to meet the requirements of the customer. It is up to the UK to set the standards and their trading partners to meet them.

Shops in the UK can already sell some appropriately-labelled GM products but so few people buy them, it isn’t worth the bother.
Not sure why that would change.

Weight control actually comes down to creating between calories consumed, and calories expended, no matter how much people want to deny it.

Calories in vs calories out is fundamentally flawed and outdated science. It was known to be flawed when pushed as the prevailing wisdom on weight management, let alone now. This article links to many studies on the subject: well.blogs.nytimes.com/2014/05/09/fed-up-asks-are-all-calories-equal/

Almost every fruit and vegetable and meat product in the supermarkets are GM. They're all high yield, disease resistant breeds.

And (if you are including tomatoes) devoid of any flavour. "High yield" is simply a synonym for "lots of water". That's not necessarily a GM thing to be fair. Just an inevitable consequence of trading by weight (more water=more cash per plant) and a national palate that is unacquainted with real flavour. Most peoples taste buds would explode if they had meal with produce grown (usually at home) for taste rather than weight.

yeah...fucking GM...awful the way its solved the food production issues in the world and will continue to do so as the climate changes...

I wonder if the level of scientific ignorance can actually become fatal in a society?

Actually scratch that - it already did in several african countries that decided to promote vitamins as a better solution to the Aids epidemic than antivirals....