Vol. 575 No. 4
121 Mr. Durkan asked the Minister for Health and Children the implications for the domestic food chain and the food industry in general in the event of the use or sale of genetically modified foods here; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [28489/03]
The Food Safety Authority of Ireland, FSAI, is the competent authority for the enforcement of European Union legislation regarding genetic modification of foodstuffs. Under EU rules, only authorised GM foods or foods containing ingredients thereof can be imported and placed on the market. At present, products from 16 GMOs can legally be marketed in the EU, including soya, maize, processed foods derived from oilseed rape and maize and oil from cottonseeds. These products are normally used as food ingredients and the following are the food types in which the FSAI has identified GM ingredients: vegetable casserole, gluten-free reduced sugar rusks, soya protein mince, soya protein chunks, soya biscuits and cakes, soya bran, soya flour, infant formula, soya cream, soya yoghurt, soya drink, soya dessert, lecithin granules derived from soya bean and maize meal, tortilla chips, taco shells, breadcrumbs for chicken and burger and corn snacks derived from maize. This list does not mean, however, that there are not other food types on the market with GM maize or soya ingredients.
In addition, trace levels of GM ingredients in food can and do occur in non-GM food due to mixing during cultivation, harvest, transport and processing. This phenomenon is not particular to GM foods. Against this background, the EU objective is to ensure legal certainty and establish certain thresholds above which conventional foods have to be labelled as consisting of, containing or being produced from a GMO.
With regard to future implications for the domestic food chain and the food industry in general, it must be noted that any further authorisations of GM foods will only occur following full independent safety assessment by the European Food Safety Authority and will also be subject to the latest European regulations with regard to traceability and labelling. Currently, apart from products of a GM sugar beet, only similar foods to those already authorised for the EU market are in the authorisation process and consequently any newly approved GMOs should not result in any new GM ingredients. There are, however, other GM crops in use in other parts of the world such as GM potatoes which may require authorisation for the EU market in the future.
