GM Food

Despite the government's eagerness to push ahead with a programme of development of genetically modified foods, certain politicians have serious reservations, including the former Environment Minister, Michael Meacher, he says proper tests have not been carried out on the effects of GM food on human health.

Mr Meacher claimed tests done so far were in his words "scientifically vacuous".he also claimed that a report warning of possible negative side effects has been "rubbished" in Government circles.

He says the British Medical Association has voiced fears about the effects on long term human health. It has become apparent that some substances produced by GM technology are known to cause allergic reactions.

Mr Meacher also claimed that some GM food crops were so resistant to weed killers and pesticides that consumers who ate products made from them were exposed to highly toxic residues which could cause damage to embryos in the womb.

He feels it is vital that independent tests are carried out before GM crops go on sale.. H also added. " Since science is clouded with such deep uncertainty, that means deferring decisions until the science is clear and reliable - not rushing to desired conclusions which cannot be scientifically supported."

However, pro- GM spokesman, Bob Fidaman, says he feels it is "inaccurate" to suggest all GM technology is harmful.

A spokesman for Friends of the Earth, Pete Riley, says the comments confirm his fears that the GM debate was a PR exercise and that the Government wanted the crops grown in Britain. This is despite a recent MORI poll showing that 56% of the people interviewed were opposed to GM crops.

My own personal view is that the human race has evolved in harmony with nature over millions of years. We have countless thousands of different enzymes in our bodies, each with its own particular function.

These were designed by nature to harmonise with the enzymes in our food to enable us to metabolise our food and gain the maximum amount of nourishment from it. My own worst fear is that new enzymes may be introduced into out diets that nature never intended to be there, and the way we metabolise them may cause hitherto unknown illnesses.

Mother Nature has a way of providing all the vitamins, minerals and live enzymes we need for a healthy immune system as well as complex carbohydrates, proteins, amino acids, essential fatty acids and every other form of nutrient you can imagine. We were doing very nicely thank you - until we hit the 20th century and man decided to "improve" the environment by spraying crops with herbicides, pesticides and artificial fertilisers.

Not content with that, some people, in their arrogance, now want to play God as well. By playing with the very building blocks of life. They would do well to remember that once the Genie is out of the bottle we can never put it back.