Martin Ferris
Question:131 Mr. Ferris asked the Minister for Health and Children if he will provide a list of the food products that are currently being tested by the Food Safety Authority of Ireland for GM content. [12813/04]
View answerWednesday, 5 May 2004
Questions (136, 137, 138, 139)
Martin Ferris
Question:133 Mr. Ferris asked the Minister for Health and Children if he will state, in line with the recommendation of the report of the inter-departmental group on biotechnology on the declaration of personal or business interests in GM, if any of the current members of the GMO and novel foods sub-committee have at present, or in the past, been employed by a company with a commercial interest in the development and sale of GM products. [12819/04]
View answerMartin Ferris
Question:134 Mr. Ferris asked the Minister for Health and Children if any product that contains less than 0.9% GM content will then be authorised to label itself as GM free. [12831/04]
View answerMartin Ferris
Question:135 Mr. Ferris asked the Minister for Health and Children the measures that were taken against the producers of food items that were misleadingly labelled as GM free or organic but which were found by the 2002 Food Safety Authority of Ireland food survey to contain a GM presence. [12832/04]
View answerWritten answers
I propose to answer Questions Nos. 131 and 133 to 135, inclusive, together. The Food Safety Authority of Ireland, FSAI, is a science based consumer protection agency independent of sectoral interests and is the competent authority in Ireland for enforcing EU legislation on the genetic modification of foodstuffs. The FSAI checks on compliance with GM legislation and advises my Department on food safety issues relating to GM foods.
The FSAI's scientific committee established a GMO and novel foods sub-committee which advises my Department on these issues and also provides a forum for the exchange of expert scientific opinion and independent advice on this technology and its application to food. In accordance with section 41 of the Food Safety Authority of Ireland Act 1998, declarations of interests are sought and received from members of this sub-committee. No such interests have been declared by any member up to May 2003. Declarations are sought annually and those for 2003 to 2004 will be requested this month. Additionally, at sub-committee meetings, members are routinely asked if they have a conflict of interest on any item which is for discussion and there is no record of any such interests being declared.
The FSAI is currently finalising its surveillance plans for testing GM food in the retail market for 2004. The 2004 survey is likely to focus on soy and maize based food products carrying labels such as GM free which indicate that the food contains no GM material. Previous surveys have examined breakfast cereals, baby foods, snack foods, dried soy products, soy substitutes for dairy products, soya and maize flours and bakery products.
The FSAI's advice regarding products containing GM ingredients which are present at less than 0.9% of that total product is that they cannot be labelled as GM free as they contain a GM ingredient even though the GM ingredient content is below the threshold requiring it to be labelled as containing GM. To label such a product as GM free would tend to mislead the consumer and would be in breach of the general labelling Directive 2000/13/EC.
Where possible, the FSAI has corresponded with operators associated with foods that were found to be inaccurately labelled in the 2002 survey. These operators were notified of the possible breaches of EU legislation identified due to such inaccurate labelling and responses were sought. This notification resulted in one company agreeing to cease placing GM free type labelling on their products. It is worth noting that the products surveyed which contained GM ingredients did not have GM content in excess of the labelling threshold, nor did any product contain non-authorised GM ingredients. The organic unit of the Department of Agriculture and Food, as the competent authority for organic farming, was notified of any organic products found to have levels of GM ingredients.