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1.Scientist in GM potato warning
2.Chip makers oppose GM potato trial
3.POTATO CROP TRIAL 'GM BY BACK DOOR'

EXTRACTS: "Sooner or later the same gene will get into our common potato." (item 1)

The Government's decision yesterday to allow trials of a new strain of genetically modified potato has been met with strong opposition by the potato industry and the country's largest maker of chips. (item 2)

"There are already techniques employed by organic farmers and growers to combat blight in potatoes, so you really have to question the motivation behind this decision." (item 3)
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1.Scientist in GM potato warning
Press Association, December 1 2006
http://www.guardian.co.uk/uklatest/story/0,,-6252288,00.html

A scientist whose controversial study first ignited fears over genetically modified food has warned the decision to approve trials of blight-resistant potatoes in the UK meant preventing cross-contamination was "almost impossible".

Dr Arpad Pusztai caused an academic uproar when he claimed in 1998 that rats fed on GM potatoes suffered organ damage.

The Hungarian-born nutritionist said he was opposed to the approved GM trials in Derbyshire and Cambridgeshire, which he described as an "extremely stupid move".

"If these potatoes are going to be grown on a large scale then it is almost impossible to avoid genetic contamination," he said.

"Sooner or later the same gene will get into our common potato. There is no demand for genetic modification in this country and it could be the death nail for the potato because it is not going to be bought by the general public."

He added that he felt the Government had approved the trials in order to change the public's negative attitude about genetic modification. "We are dealing with a very unstable genome which will almost certainly be producing some toxic effects and if they get into our human food chain it will cause a huge calamity," he said.

"I think the general public will have a great deal to say about this and I don't think the local farmers will be overjoyed."

Dr Pusztai, who eats only organic potatoes, said he felt the company planning to grow the potatoes saw Britain as a "soft touch" as the trials would not be allowed in many other EU countries. "If people agree that they don't want this, then it can be stopped," he said. "There are very good natural varieties of potatoes and I think doing this is just playing with fire."

Dr Pusztai said his research found GM food could weaken the immune system of rats, stunt their growth and damage their internal organs.

His study was discredited by the Royal Society and he later retired from his job at Aberdeen's Rowett Institute. [Ed - the retirement was forced and the RS didn't discredit the study - only themselves
http://www.gmwatch.org/profile1.asp?PrId=113 ]

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2.Chip makers oppose GM potato trial
By Charles Clover Environment Editor
The Daily Telegraph, 2 December 2006
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/main.jhtml?xml=/news/2006/12/02/nchips02.xml

[image caption: The British Potato Council says the public must be assured that potatoes and chips are GM free]

The Government's decision yesterday to allow trials of a new strain of genetically modified potato has been met with strong opposition by the potato industry and the country's largest maker of chips.

The British Potato Council said its refusal to endorse trials of a potato modified to be resistant to late blight, which caused the Irish potato famine of the 1840s, was based on consumers' mistrust of GM technology.

The council said it was "paramount" that public concerns over GM trials were addressed and fears about possible cross-contamination were allayed before the trials began.

The Government has given permission for five-acre plots of GM potatoes produced by the company BASF to be grown in Derbyshire and Cambridgeshire next year.

The conditions stipulate that the plots must be left fallow after the five-year trial so that overlooked tubers can be destroyed and that none of the potatoes harvested enters the food chain.

Helen Priestley, the BPC's chief executive, said: "While we welcome steps to further understanding of this technology, the public must be comfortable with whatever steps are taken to introduce it and we didn't feel the time was right.

"However, there are rigorous procedures in place to ensure that commercial crops are not contaminated with GM material and that no GM material enters the human food chain. The public must be left in no doubt that the procedures are effective, that they are maintained and that the trials process is open and transparent.

"It is crucial consumers understand that potatoes on sale through retail or food service outlets will continue to be GM-free."

Bill Bartlett, the corporate affairs director of McCain Foods (GB) which is the largest manufacturer of chips in Britain, said: "McCain Foods is disappointed with this decision at a time when consumer attitudes do not support GM foods."

Lord Melchett, the policy director of the Soil Association, said that the Government is "ignoring what consumers want to eat and their health and safety".

He said: "Even in America, McDonald's, McCain, Pringles and Burger King rejected GM potatoes years ago. The chances of anyone in the UK willingly buying GM potato crisps or chips are zero. This trial is a monumental waste of time and money."

The association claims that GM potatoes are one of the few crops where there is any scientific evidence of potential risks to human health, though the Government-sponsored research which found stomach lesions in rats fed on GM potatoes was widely criticised in the scientific community. Experts say the use of a natural resistance gene, from wild relatives of the potato in Mexico to give a commercial strain resistance to fungal attack represents a new departure for the GM industry.

The first generation of crops submitted for trial in Britain either contained natural pesticides, such as BT toxin, or were herbicide resistant. Representatives of companies such as Monsanto were famously unable to think of any advantage to the public, other than cost savings for farmers, of the first generation of GM crops.

Government field trials in 2003 showed that the herbicide use they encouraged was often worse for wildlife than current practices.

Built-in resistance to disease for one of the world's staple crops, however, is one of the potential benefits of GM technology discussed before the means became widely available.

Chris Leaver, Sibthorpian professor of plant sciences at Oxford University, said the spreading of genes was not a problem because potatoes do not reproduce sexually, but are propagated by using tubers.

Prof Joe Perry, of Rothamsted Research, said: "Under EU law, GM crops can only be banned if scientists can find evidence of harm to human health or the environment. Trials are therefore the only way to gather evidence to demonstrate actual harm."
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3.POTATO CROP TRIAL 'GM BY BACK DOOR'
DUNCAN SANDES
The Western Morning News, 2 December 2006

Campaigners have accused the Government of trying to introduce genetically modified (GM) crops "through the back door" after approving controversial plans for two trial sites in England.

Defra yesterday granted permission for BASF Plant Science to grow GM potatoes at field sites in Cambridgeshire and Derbyshire. The crops, which will be planted next spring, will be modified to include a gene from a wild species of potato in a bid to make them resistant to blight - a disease that costs growers about £70 million a year.

BASF insists the crops will be tested under "carefully-controlled conditions", then destroyed. But Westcountry campaigners fear the tests will herald the widespread introduction of GM crops being grown throughout the country.

Andrew George, Lib-Dem MP for St Ives, said: "I have real concerns that this will be the first in a number of progressive steps by the Government to introduce GM crop growing through the back door.

"It seems the Government is being faced with political pressure to introduce these crops, irrespective of the public's concern over the matter."

The controversial trials will see BASF trying to develop potatoes resistant to phytophthora infestans, a fungal organism that produces blight.

The firm says it has found a trait in a wild potato from a remote valley in the Central American Andes, that causes resistance to the organism.

Chris Wilson, from BASF, yesterday insisted the trials would not see the imminent introduction of GM crops across the UK.

"Nothing from these trials will be eaten. The potatoes grown will be tested under carefully-controlled conditions and then destroyed.

"The possibility of a food crop from it is maybe ten years down the line."

But Robert Vint, a campaigner with Totnes-based Genetic Food Alert UK, labelled the trials "the thin end of the wedge". Mr Vint said: "There is really no reason for these trials, except political pressure placed on the Government to introduce GM crops come what may.

"There are already techniques employed by organic farmers and growers to combat blight in potatoes, so you really have to question the motivation behind this decision."

Mr Vint's views were echoed by Lavinia Halliday, an organic sheep and beef farmer from Linkinhorne, South East Cornwall, who said: "This seems to a progressive step for GM crops coming into this country - it appears they will be grown here come what may."

Ian Johnson, the National Farmers' Union spokesman for the South West, played down fears over the trials, saying he recognised the "beneficial potential" they may bring to crop production.

However, Maurice Spurway, Westcountry spokesman for Friends of the Earth, insisted the trials were "a real cause for concern".