1. CANADA: Big vote for organic food: 75% would pay extra rather than buy GM products
2. PHILIPPINES: Filipinos want labels for gene-altered food
3. THAILAND: Food to be labelled to show it's GM-free
---
1. CANADA: Big vote for organic food: 75% would pay extra rather than buy GM products, survey says
MONIQUE BEAUDIN
Montreal Gazette Monday, April 23, 2001 [shortened]
Big vote for organic food: More than 75 per cent of Quebecers would rather pay extra for organic food than buy genetically-modified products at lower prices, a recent survey found. The poll, which asked several questions about food safety and health, was done for Quebec Science and Protegez-Vous magazines.
The polling company, Leger Marketing, surveyed 1,000 people in February. The survey asked respondents which worried them more: the genetic modification of food, bacterial contamination of meat, the mad-cow crisis in Europe, the use of pesticides and fertilizers in agriculture or the use of growth hormones and antibiotics in meat. A quarter of the respondents said the genetic modification of food - where genes from another organism are inserted into a plant or animal - was worrisome.
---
2. PHILIPPINES: Filipinos want labels for gene-altered food, survey says
All rights reserved. Copyright 2001 . BUSINESSWORLD(PHILIPPINES) April 23, 2001
More than ninety percent (90%) of Filipinos who are aware of the issue of genetically modified organisms (GMOs) in food believe that the Philippines should set up a labeling system to inform consumers about the presence of GMOs in food products, according to the results of a Greenpeace commissioned nationwide survey conducted by Pulse Asia last March. The survey indicated that while only 11% of respondents nationwide were aware of the GMO issue, 94% of this base group of "aware" individuals think it is necessary for food manufacturers and retailers to provide information to the public about the use of genetically engineered ingredients in their products.
"It is obvious from these survey results that Filipinos who are aware of the GMO issue want to exercise their right to choose food products which do not contain genetically engineered ingredients. We must have mandatory labeling for food products containing GMOs to allow consumers to practice their basic rights. The government, the food manufacturers and the retailers should pay serious attention to this unambiguous public sentiment," said Beau Baconguis, Genetic Engineering campaigner for Greenpeace Southeast Asia. When asked if they would eat food containing GMOs, significant 47% of the informed respondents in the survey said they will not eat such food, while 11% did not know. A total of 51% of aware respondents also believed that GMOs are likely to be bad for people.
The specific probe on GMOs is actually part of the latest Ulat ng Bayan national survey which interviewed 1,200 adult respondents nationwide during the period March 8 to 21, 2001. Last month, Greenpeace announced the results of sampling tests on Philippine food products which confirmed the presence of GMOs in eleven everyday food items like hotdogs, soya drinks, corn soup, and even infant formula sold widely in local stores. The environmental group stressed that the initial list of confirmed GMO containing products represent only the tip of the iceberg in terms of all genetically engineered foods and products sold in the country.
Greenpeace challenged the Philippine government to follow the lead of other countries that have taken responsible action to uphold consumers' rights. Recently, the Thai government announced that it will develop a mandatory labeling system for products containing GMOs. This follows an earlier Thai government decision to ban all field trials of genetically modified crops to put more resources in organic agriculture.
"Thailand has taken the first step to protect Asia from the threats of genetic engineering," said ecologist Jiragorn Gajaseni, Executive Director of Greenpeace Southeast Asia. "We call on the Philippines and other countries in Southeast Asia to take prudent action now to resist the biotech juggernaut in order to protect our region's environment and food supply from the potentially far-reaching and irreversible hazards of genetic pollution," the ecologist added. Nicanor Perlas of the Center for Alternative Development Initiatives said, "This will finally put to rest the whole debate of whether to label or not GMOs as this survey results indicate a resounding call for the labeling of GE (genetically engineered) products in the market."
"This neutralizes the superficial regulatory process that has taken place on this issue," he added.
---
3. Food to be labelled to show it's GM-free
BANGKOK POST April 22, 2001
Some GM-free food manufacturers yesterday said they are ready to label their products and the cost of the labelling process would not increase food prices. Somchai Tongjitakasem, plant director of Yan Wal Yun Co, Ltd, said it is only fair consumers know what food contains genetically modified materials.
Yan Wal Yun soya bean paste was among 30 products Greenpeace sent to a Hong Kong laboratory last year to test for the presence of GMOs. Seven products were found to contain GMOs. The GM-free products included Vitamilk, Lactasoy and Yeo soya milk, Mama instant soup, Cornae snack, Malee sweet cream style corn and Dumex baby product milk. Thammasak Jittimaporn, general manager of Green Spot, the producer of Vitamilk UHT soya milk, said: "Vitamilk is GM-free because we use local raw materials and send every unit to the DNA Technology Lab to carry out a test for GMO content."
Chuabhrom Mahabhol, senior vice-president of Malee Samphran Public Limited, said his company did not mind labelling its products "because we are sure that our products are GM-free".