Labour to give GM a chance and learn horsemeat lessons
Its 10-page policy review – Feeding the Nation – acknowledged that GM science could play a key role UK food security and environmental protection. But it added that “public views – informed by the science – must also be heard”.
Labour had also adopted a science-led approach to GM and other technologies, it claimed. Policy should be based on the best evidence and engaging with food producers, consumers, farmers and scientists.
“Biotechnology cannot, by itself, increase the UK’s domestic food supply. But it can be one of the tools used to ensure better resilience in the UK food supply chain, and to reduce environmental damage,” according to the policy review document.
But the review added: “Public and political acceptance is vital, as is proof of its benefits to the environment and producers.”
Food strategy
The review highlighted the need for “an ambitious, forward-thinking food strategy to deal with future issues affecting both the UK and global food security”.
A key part of the process would be remedying the weaknesses in the supply chain exposed by the horsemeat crisis.
Horsegate had raised serious questions about the breakdown in the regulatory framework governing food, it claimed. But, so far, no charges have been brought against anyone, despite the massive scale of the fraud committed against retailers and consumers.
Mary Creagh, shadow environment secretary, said: “The horsemeat scandal highlighted the vulnerability of our food chain. We need to improve consumer protection and create a resilient food supply chain that consumers trust. To ensure our future prosperity, we also need to harness the potential of the food industry to create new jobs, invest in skills and drive sustainable growth.
“As part of Labour’s Policy Review we are focusing on how we can protect consumers, generate sustainable growth and create new jobs in and through the food industry.”
The document criticised the changes made to the responsibilities of the Food Standards Agency (FSA) by the coalition government. The FSA had become “a world leader in food regulation” after it was established by the Labour government, following the BSE crisis, it claimed.
‘A fragmented regulator’
But the coalition government’s decision to hive off responsibility for food composition labelling to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs; nutrition labelling to the Department of Health; and food safety labelling to the FSA, had created “a fragmented regulator”, which struggled to deal with “the horsemeat scandal”.
The policy review document also pledged to:
- Develop the food industry to boost food security and exports, while creating new jobs and economic growth. “Labour sees the food industry as a driver of future growth, working with the farming sector and food businesses to create jobs and generate wealth”
- Encourage more efficient food production, through“sustainable intensification”, while protecting the environmentby working with food producers and farmers
- Promote British food through procurement contracts issued by government and government contractors. More British food to be sourced by schools, hospital and local authorities
- Raise the profile of career opportunities in the food industry
- Encourage producers to apply for EU protected food name status to protect their heritage and boost sales.
Read the full policy review document here.
Meanwhile, learning the food safety lessons of the horsemeat crisis will be one of the subjects under discussion at Food Manufacture’s Food Safety Conference, to be staged at the National Motorcycle Museum in Birmingham on Thursday October 17th.
Andrew Rhodes, FSA operations director, Rene Crevel of Unilever and Sue Davies of Which? will join a host of other expert speakers to explain how you can protect your food and drink manufacturing business from a food safety crisis.
More details – including the early bird tickets – are available here.
