August 6, 2007

EU agency says transgenic feed does not affect egg, meat

The European Food Safety Agency (EFSA) said on Friday (August 3) that animals consuming genetically modified (GMO) feed show no residual traces in their eggs or meat.

The EFSA has been tasked to issues its views on the effects of GM feeds incorporated into animal tissues on food products such as eggs and milk.

In February, the European Commission received a petition from international environment group Greenpeace and signed by one million EU citizens demanding special labels for dairy and other products where the animals had eaten GMO feed.

"To date, a large number of experimental studies with livestock have shown that recombinant DNA fragments or proteins derived from GM plants have not been detected in tissues, fluids or edible products of farm animals like broilers, cattle, pigs or quails," EFSA said in a report analyzing 19 separate studies.

The European Union has compiled numerous studies on how much GMO material may be present in foods and animal feed before being labelled as biotech. But those rules, which came into force in 2004, do not apply to meat and dairy products coming from a GMO-fed animal.

For green groups, opposed to biotechnology and which have long complained about the issue, this exemption is a glaring hole in the EU's laws on GMO foods. However, biotech and animal feed sectors believe thought otherwise, stating, GM products are no different from conventional foods.

The bulk of EU feed imports, mainly soybeans and corn, comes from countries like the United States where GM crops are common through the crop supply chain. Around 90 percent of the EU's imports of GMO grain and oilseeds are used as animal feed.

EU feed manufacturers say the constant need to import high-protein feed materials makes it impossible to supply non-GMO feed on a large scale.