The European food industry has decided voluntarily to label foods containing genetically modified soyabeans or maize, after member states failed to agree common EU labelling rules. The Confederation is worried that continued confusion over labelling could prompt a backlash against modified foods, which have already encountered resistance from environmentalists and consumers. The European Commission has protested at comments by a US official implying EU food safety procedures were arbitrary. Peter Scher, deputy US trade representative for agriculture, was quoted in the Financial Times as saying the common denominator in most US food safety disputes with the EU was food import bans were based on European politics rather than scientific evidence. The EU's regulatory process for biotechnology changed every day, Scher said.
Some commissioner decides to have a new review, so they have a new review.
Nikolaus van der Pas, the European Commission's chief spokesman, took the unusual step of commenting on Scher's remarks at a daily briefing at the EU's executive body. GM Lettuce Turns Herbicide Into Fertilizer One plant's poison may be another plant's fertilizer. University of Florida researchers reached that conclusion about a new lettuce variety that they genetically engineered. A gene that researchers transplanted into the lettuce digests the herbicide glyphosate, releasing the fertilizer phosphorous. The weeds die, but the lettuce thrives.