UK supermarket betrays its consumers
In a move for the worse, UK supermarket Morrisons has followed Asda’s lead and announced that it will now allow genetically modified (GM) feed within its poultry supply chain. As a result, poultry and poultry products bought by UK shoppers at Morrisons will probably have been fed on feed containing genetically modified organisms (GMOs), especially genetically modified maize and soya. It’s all very well for consumers to avoid eating GM foods, but unfortunately the meat they eat doesn’t have that luxury — although Jeffrey Smith says that animals avoid GM given the choice. Do they innately understand the risks that many of us are concerned about?
Does eating products from animals eating GM feed expose you to potential risks?
The research about risks to animals consuming GM crops just keeps expanding. It’s worth remembering that it may not be the transgene – the piece of DNA that has been transferred from the donor to the unrelated host crop plant – itself that is dangerous. While the vast majority of GM crops sold commercially have just one or two traits inserted – namely resistance to the herbicide glyphosate (RoundUp) or inclusion of a toxin from the soil bacterium Bacillus thuringiensis (Bt) that makes the transgenic crop toxic to non-resistant caterpillar pests – the biotech industry is desperately trying to find novel traits to patent. By 2015, we can expect to see far more successful patents, some of which will be beneficial in themselves, such as optimised oil and starch content, improved nutrient profiles or drought tolerance.
However, just because the included traits are themselves beneficial does not rule out the possibility that animals or humans consuming the plant might experience adverse effects. It is the process of inserting foreign genetic material that appears to be responsible for a large part of the reproductive defects, reduced lifespan, immune suppression, abnormal growth, inflammatory conditions and other adverse events that have been associated with consuming GM crops. This finding was, of course, precisely what caused Dr Arpad Pusztai to become such a target of biotech interests.
The outcome for animals is, as Dr Pusztai found, somewhat clearer than for humans, given that animal studies are free of most of the ethical restrictions associated with human research. Then, of course, there’s the biotech industry and government’s long-standing view that rigorous safety studies are not needed, this limiting most of the animal studies to research groups independent of the biotech industry. So, given the available evidence, what about the human consumer who eats or drinks products made from animals fed GM feed? Do the ‘transgenes’ migrate out of the animal’s gut and into the meat, milk and eggs that we then consume?
The research certainly appears to suggest that significant amounts of DNA from the GM crop pass through to the products. One of the major reasons for this is that DNA contained within animal feed is not readily degraded by food processing, and is therefore consumed intact.
This means that, even if a food product isn’t directly made from a GM crop or animal, a health risk could still exist if the food comes from an animal that has been fed GMOs, In our view, the very least we should expect is for food labels to show whether meats, milk, eggs or other animal-derived products have been produced from animals fed GMOs. So far, no country has made this compulsory and only a few, such as Ireland, have indicated that it might be a useful addition to consumer labelling.
It’s worth noting that there is compulsory GMO labelling for animal feeds in the European Union (EU), just as there is for human foods. The trouble is that animals, as far as we’re aware, can’t read human text and don’t get the option of making a choice.
Keeping food cheap for the benefit of consumers?
Morrisons says that it must allow GM-fed poultry into its supply chain because of the rising costs of animal feed and compound feeds. This has forced the company to choose animals fed the cheapest feeds, and these happen to be the ones containing GMOs. We think Morrisons wants us to be thankful, but some will recall that this supermarket chain has had a history of being near the bottom of the UK supermarket leaderboard when it comes to animal welfare. Saying that, Morrisons’ policy on selling own-label eggs solely from uncaged birds, dating from 2010, should be commended. It’s just a pity that these birds might well be fed GM feeds.
Morrisons has expressed concerns about diseases in free-range birds, but its move toward free-range has clearly been the result of public pressure over animal welfare, as well as the EU directive that banned the barren battery cage by 1st January 2012. It’s unfortunate that a significant number of poultry producers appear not to have complied with the ban as yet.
Many question why a patented crop with a supposedly added value, in this case a genetically modified trait, should prove less expensive than its non-modified common and garden relative. In the case of soya and maize, the most important components of animal feeds, and the darlings of the processed food industry, the majority of the world’s crop is now GM. This has all happened in a blink of an eye, since the first commercial GM crop was introduced in 1996. The sheer prevalence of GM soya and maize makes it ever more expensive to guarantee sources that are verifiably GMO-free. The GM contamination issue has now become a central problem – one that threatens any non-GM source, and especially organic foods, which must be guaranteed to only contain GMOs at levels below specific thresholds (typically between 0.5% and 0.9%).
Marry this with the fact that 85% of animal feed within the EU now contains GMOs and, one way or another, our supermarket shelves are destined to become increasingly lined with foods containing GMOs in some form or amount. That’s unless we, the people, make a very big fuss about it – or simply choose not to buy it!
Read the label?
Normally, when an individual wishes to ensure that something is either present or absent from the food they buy, the best advice is ‘read the label’. Unfortunately, this won’t generally help with GMO animal feeds. Although any product in the EU containing more than 0.9% GMO must state the presence of GMOs on the label, the problem remains that products derived from animals fed GMOs don’t have to be declared as such. The US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has, in the past, actively prevented companies from declaring that their products are produced without GM ingredients or hormones. Apparently, it’s confusing for consumers.
The consumer poses the ultimate barrier to GM
Anti-GM campaigning, including the current Californian campaign to push for GM labelling, has long shown that public outcry wields a lot of power. Earlier this year, BASF pulled the plug on its European operations due to lack of market acceptance. Ireland has agreed to voluntary labelling of human foods that have come from animals that have been fed on non-GM food. European citizens’ dislike for GMOs is the central factor keeping some of the biggest food producers in the world from including GM crops in the human food supply chain, given the presence of mandatory labelling within the EU. It’s not hard to understand why the biotech industry is applying huge pressure to push GM into the animal food supply chain in the EU in an attempt to make up this lost ground.
Call to action: choose products that don’t contain GMOs!
- Where and when you are able, buy organically certified meats and animal products, as these must either be free of GMOs or contain less than the acceptable threshold (below 0.9% in the EU)
- As in Ireland, look out for optional labelling schemes where declarations are made about produce from non-GM-fed animals
- Check out supermarket and supplier positions on GMOs via their websites; some take a proactive stance on GMOs, as was the case with Morrisons’ poultry until now
- Buy meat that is labelled as being ‘exclusively grass-fed’
- US citizens should consult Jeffrey Smith’s ‘Non-GMO Shopping Guide’
- Californians must get behind the ballot initiative campaign to help impose mandatory GM labelling of foods
Comments
your voice counts
10 April 2012 at 3:55 pm
Please update your article to display the new Morrisons logo which can be found here:
http://www.ichester.co.uk/deals/wp-content/uploads/2012/02/morrisons.gif
The one you are presently using is 3 years old and makes your article seem like 'old news' rather than dated 5th April 2012 (at the bottom)
That said, I work for the company and I find this DISGUSTING.
27 May 2019 at 3:46 am
I find that any supermarkets not labelling that there meat GMO fed is disgusting, I stopped shopping at supermarket because all meat is fed GMO how disgusting I want ho part in any for of GMO even animal feed.
10 April 2012 at 7:04 pm
Thank you - much appreciated! It's definitely NOT old news.
19 September 2012 at 1:06 pm
this is a brilliant documentary on gm foods
http://geneticroulettemovie.com/
27 April 2014 at 1:59 am
It is a shame that most of the supermarket in the UK have given up non GM FED stance. I am actually shocked abt this.
03 October 2014 at 6:09 pm
WOW, now all big food suppliers have sold us out. Will stop buying any meat fed on this poison.
It IS damaging to biological entities, THAT is why it was developed, to damage insects, bacteria etc. In scientific tests on rats it causes huge tumours on them, probably why the Eugenists want it in OUR Foods, as they are rich enough to be eating foods grown in best ways on THEIR Estates to ensure they won't eat this poison.
Even the House of Commons catering WON'T allow GM Foods/Drinks. Criminals!
16 May 2015 at 12:15 pm
Why does everyone insist on using capitalised words to emphasise your point? I have a habit if stopping reading posts where people think I'm stupid enough not to pick up on what they're saying unless they write it in capital letters.
06 June 2015 at 3:18 pm
Thanks for this. I've only just read it in 2015! Although I only ever use free-range or organic chicken, there's a principle involved here that the supermarkets ignore at their peril. In fact, there's two principles. First, people shouldn't be forced to eat GMO if they don't want to. Then, I refuse to eat anything that has more than trace amounts of soy in it. Here in Australia, even organic bread can use soy flour - simply because it's cheap and gives a more moist loaf with what seems like a longer shelf life. I now don't buy any bread unless the maker will tell me exactly what proportion of soy flour is used. They have been mostly very good about this. Back to GM. I'm a scientist and think that the potential for GM is huge and beneficial. But, and its a very big but, I don't trust supermarkets or the big industrial food compamies. They will say anything for a quiet life and easy profit. I have been toying with returning to the UK, but think I'll stay in Australia now. The people won't stand for being poisoned like they do in the UK and it's much easier to ignore the supermarkets and, since two chains have 80% of the food market, they don't compete so it's cheaper and better going to the little man. Finally, given the weather and low land prices, it's much easier to grow your own!
08 June 2016 at 10:15 pm
I am outraged that such poison is being put in our foods, gmo foods pose a danger to my children's health and well being, also society's future of generations to come. The health risks are terrible, how can this be allowed to happen!!
Research has been done in France on gmo for a 2 year period, they found that the female rats tested produced large tumours, while the male rats had high levels of estrogen. If this is what's happening to rats what on earth will happen to our children in their later life after consuming such poison?!
Huge corporations are controlling our food supply, with no regards to protect life, their only interest is profits. They bully small organic farmers out of business by making them pay if their seed contaminates them-disgusting business!!
Something must be done to protect our futures and futures to come, our environment, plants, soil, meat produce, dairy products and eggs. We must protect life!!!!!
24 July 2016 at 11:43 am
Yeh and don't forget cross contamination
A single corn pollen can travel 500 miles over a 12 hr period
What's going to happen 5 years down the line, have we destroyed the world !
04 August 2016 at 2:48 pm
I have stopped shopping at Morrison's since I found out it sold the British people out, they seem to cater for anyone except the loyal customers who supported them for years, since I stopped shopping at Morison's many of my friends have also stopped buying their products so with luck the more of us who do the same we may put them out of the UK
27 May 2019 at 3:56 am
Just to let everyone know, all supermarkets only sell GMO animal fed meat . So if you want GMO free meat you would be better to buy organic. I only eat organic meat since I found out years ago that eating meat from animals fed on GMO feed also affects our guts. Also have you ever wondered why so many people are now allergic to gluten it’s all about our guts and I would steer well away from any animal fed on GMO feed.
Your voice counts
We welcome your comments and are very interested in your point of view, but we ask that you keep them relevant to the article, that they be civil and without commercial links. All comments are moderated prior to being published. We reserve the right to edit or not publish comments that we consider abusive or offensive.
There is extra content here from a third party provider. You will be unable to see this content unless you agree to allow Content Cookies. Cookie Preferences