Forget 'frankenfood', GM crops can feed the world, says FDF

EU politicians and consumers cannot continue to dismiss the role of genetically modified (GM) crops in feeding the world's rapidly growing population, Food and Drink Federation (FDF) president Iain Ferguson has warned.

Genetic modification (GM) could increase crop yields by 15-20%, a critical factor in its favour as land became more scarce and the climate changed, said Ferguson, who is also chief executive at Tate & Lyle.

Speaking at the Society of Food Hygiene and Technology's annual lunch, he said: "Most of the world uses GM foods apart from Europe. What's going to happen to the conservative view of GM technology when we increasingly realise it will raise crop yields and reduce costs?"

Producing more crops through GM technology could also help offset land lost to biofuel production, he claimed.

As demand for food and fuel from developing countries such as India and China continued to rise, there would be increasing pressure for the cheap and efficient food production that GM could offer, he said.

"As the level of prosperity and disposable income goes up in these countries, so does the consumption of meat, dairy, and so on. For the next two to three years we're going to see commodity price pressures. Only GM in the US has brought prices back down."

In a recent speech, EU trade commissioner Peter Mandelson said that the inability of European politicians to engage in a rational debate about GM was a source of constant frustration.

They were also creating barriers to trade by banning GM crops that had repeatedly been pronounced safe by the European Food Safety Authority, he said.

While consumers were still wary of GM, new crops with clear nutritional or environmental benefits might persuade them to change their minds, claimed Irish Euro MP Avril Doyle. New developments included drought resistant maize, rapeseed able to produce a more sustainable source of long chain omega-3 fatty acids than fish, and soybeans low in saturated fats.

"The industry ran for cover when the activists got out and sabotaged field trials in Europe, and now we're legislating on the basis of popular perceptions of what the consumer needs and being beaten into line by lobby groups," claimed Doyle.

"Our credibility is on the line because we're not making legislative decisions on the basis of sound science," she said.