Friends of the Earth (Malta) has welcomed EU member States’ rejection of the latest application to grow GMOs in Europe, as the EU Agriculture Council has failed to approve the commercial growing of a genetically modified potato. There have been no new GMOs grown in the EU for 10 years.

The vote was on an application to grow the genetically modified potato for use in industrial processes like making paper. The producer – German chemicals giant BASF – also applied for approval to use the same potato in food and animal feed and acknowledged that contamination of the food chain is possible.

The European Food Safety Authority (EFSA) gave the GM potato the green light, but has been criticised for overlooking several important health and environmental risks:

1.Antibiotic resistance marker gene: the potato contains a gene, which can be resistant to antibiotics. Under EU law, the end of 2004 should have phased out genes of this kind. EFSA acknowledges that the cultivation of this potato could lead to antibiotic resistance, yet argued that this did not pose a “relevant” risk to human health or to the environment.

2.The risk assessment, required under EU law, fails to fulfil legal requirements. Basic information on the health and environmental safety of the GM potato is missing; in particular there is only an analysis of effects of surrounding wildlife on the potato, rather than the impact of the GM potato on the environment.

3.Effects on health have not been sufficiently investigated. A number of irregularities, including toxicological differences that could have serious implications for food safety, have simply not been probed either by BASF or by EFSA. BASF admits that food contamination is likely: the potato has been genetically modified by chemical giant BASF to increase its amylopectin content, which is used to produce starch. Although it is not intended to enter the food chain, BASF have issued a separate application for use in human food and animal feed, stating that “it cannot be excluded that amylopectin potato, may be used as or may be present in food”.

The risk of contaminating future crops is ignored. As they grow underground, it is virtually impossible to harvest all potatoes from a crop. Potatoes therefore grow back the following years and future crops could be contaminated with the genetically modified variant. The big GMO companies claim that using genetically modified potatoes in industrial processes is an environmentally friendly option, but this is absurd considering the associated health and environmental risks

There is also strong evidence to indicate the danger of GMOs. Many of the studies made so far have pointed out the risks of growing and consuming GMO products. Yet, in most cases, companies would not be liable for any environmental, consumer health or economic damage resulting from GMOs.

FoE (Malta) is grateful to those who put the safety of European citizens and their environment before the financial interests of biotech giants. FoE (Malta) also commends the Maltese government for wisely applying the precautionary principle, and will hopefully continue to do so, especially on such a sensitive issue.