- Genetically modified food banned from Houses of Parliament
- Environment Secretary Owen Paterson launched pro-GM campaign
Daily Mail, Sean Poulter, 21 June 2013
GM foods
are banned from restaurants in the Houses of Parliament despite government
claims it is ‘probably safer’ than other meals.
Government
ministers are demanding that ordinary families should abandon their reluctance
to eat genetically modified food, however they are banned from MPs’ plates.
This week
the food and farming secretary, Owen Paterson, launched an extraordinary
propaganda campaign to encourage the nation to accept GM crops and farming.
 |
| Menu: Genetically modified food is banned in the Houses of Parliament, despite ministers insisting it is safe |
He
bolstered his campaign with claims that some seven million children in the Far
East could have been saved from blindness or
death in the last 15 years if only people had opened the door to a new
form of GM ‘Golden Rice’.
However,
his efforts were unravelling today amid evidence that GM food is banned from
the dinner tables of MPs, while his claims for the GM rice proved to be bogus.
The House
of Commons Catering service today confirmed that the ban on GM ingredients
which dates back to 1998 remains in place as a matter of ‘customer choice’.
It said:
‘In line with its procurement policy, the House of Commons Catering Service
avoids, wherever identifiable, the procurement of foods that contain
genetically modified organisms.
 |
| Speech: Environment Secretary Owen Paterson this week urged Brits to eat GM |
‘To this
end, as part of the tendering process, food suppliers are required to work to a
strict GM organisms policy and give assurances that goods supplied be free from
genetically modified materials.’
It added:
‘The decision to avoid GMs is seen as largely a matter of customer choice.’
Mr Paterson
has set himself up as the chief cheerleader for so-called Frankenstein Foods,
however it appears that he has been unable to convince fellow MPs to accept
them in their restaurants.
As a
result, the minister and fellow MPs leave themselves open to accusations of
hypocrisy and complaints that they are telling people to ‘do as I say, not as I
do’.
Speaking
earlier this week, Mr Paterson said: ‘The use of more precise technology and
greater regulatory scrutiny probably makes GM organisms even safer than
conventional plants and food.
‘There is
no substantiated case of any adverse impact on human health…An enormous amount
of material has been eaten, not a single case has been brought to my
attention.’
Mr
Paterson’s most powerful argument for accepting GM was the development of
Golden Rice, which has been genetically modified to boost levels of beta
carotene and Vitamin A, which can protect eyesight.
In an
extraordinary statement, he said: ‘Over the last 15 years, despite offering the
seeds for free to those who would need them, every attempt to deploy this
golden rice has been thwarted.
‘In that
time seven million children have gone blind or died.’
 |
| Restaurant: MPs, staff, officials and journalists can dine in several restaurants including in Portcullis House, across the road from the main Parliament building |
It emerged
today that these seeds have not been offered free to communities in the Far
East who might need them because they have not yet been through a safety
checking and approval system.
Neither
have any tests been carried out to establish whether they contain sufficient
nutrients to make any difference to the eyesight of children, let alone save
millions of lives.
Golden Rice
has not been available to farmers and consumers for the past 15 years and is
only now going through crop growing trials in the Philippines.
If these
prove successful, the rice will be sold for profit just like any other
agricultural commodity and will not be given away free.
The
International Rice Research Institute has issued a statement which makes clear
that Mr Paterson’s claims that Golden Rice could have prevented millions of
youngsters from going blind or dying over the past 15 years are also bogus.
This states
that: ‘It has not yet been determined whether daily consumption of Golden Rice
does improve the vitamin A status of people who are vitamin A deficient and
could therefore reduce related conditions such as night blindness.’
 |
| Al fresco: Food is also served in the pavilion buffet, a tented restaurant for MPs on the terrace at the House of Commons |
It said
tests will be needed to establish whether the rice would be useful, but this
process could take another two years.
The Channel
4 News FactCheck blog concluded: ‘Mr Paterson has been misleading on a number
of counts.
‘There
haven’t been attempts to give golden rice out for free. The leading exponent of
it says it will cost ‘about the same’ as ordinary rice.
‘To then
claim that seven million children have gone blind or died as a result of such
attempts being thwarted doesn’t follow either. The numbers are a large and
inaccurate extrapolation.’
A spokesman
for Mr Paterson’s department, DEFRA, said: ‘We have only just started the
discussion on the potential benefits of using GM products here in the UK.
'Other
governments wouldn’t licence these technologies if they didn’t recognise the
economic, environmental and public benefits.’
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