Biotechnology industry groups accuse environmentalists like Greenpeace of using unfounded scare tactics based on unproven claims of biogenetic hazards to impede the spread of products that reduce the use of pesticides and raise crop yields dramatically. Forty organisations yesterday called on the Government to freeze commercial development of genetically engineered food and crops for five years. An unprecedented alliance between religious and environmental groups, aid agencies, and a frozen food chain, supported by scientists and MPs, demanded a moratorium to make sure that the genetic engineering was safe. The thing that unites them all is the immediate need to stop and consider the massive social, economic and environmental effects worldwide. An unprecedented coalition of 29 consumer, health, environment and development groups want a freeze on genetically modified foods in the wake of widespread concern over their risk to health and the countryside.
Campaigners claim they are reflecting huge fears among the public.
They also say that people simply do not know enough about the subject to make informed decisions. However, biotech companies say their GM foods and products are perfectly safe. They claim that years of research and field tests mean that their products pose no risk to humans. Stories about fish genes being implanted in tomatoes do nothing but create rumour and obscure the truth, one company said today. There are good scientific answers to the questions that are being asked.