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Rooker:Consumers must have real choice
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Calls for clearer food labelling
Food safety minister Geoff Rooker has said all foods that might contain genetically modified ingredients must be clearly labelled so that consumers have a real choice in what they buy.
New EC rules on labelling food that contains genetically modified ingredients do not cover genetically altered soya and maize, because they were approved for use before the new rules came into force. However the commission has recently announced that it proposed to make these two products subject to the same labelling requirements as all other genetically altered foods.
Consumers right to know
Britain will be pressing at European level for all foods to be
labelled if they contain genetically modified material. Mr Rooker welcomed the
Commission's proposal to make genetically modified soya and maize subject to the same labelling requirements as other genetically modified foods, but emphasised the need to do more.
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Ingredients must be clearly labelled
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He said "Consumers have a right to know if the products they buy contain
ingredients which have been genetically modified. If manufacturers
are using these ingredients they should say so. Manufacturers and retailers should ensure that these food are labelled even when the genetically modified ingredients are not fully segregated. The use of genetics to produce better quality food has tremendous advantages but it needs to be regulated and labelled properly. "
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