Concern at GM crops

The study shows that the strength of feeling against GM food has grown in the past two years, despite the Government giving the go-ahead for the commercial growing of a variety of GM maize earlier this year.

A 2002 study by consumer magazine Which? found that 32 per cent of those asked supported the growing of GM crops in the UK, but results from a Which? study published last week found that support has fallen to just 26 per cent.

Also, 61 per cent said they were concerned about the use of GM in food production - an increase from 56 per cent two years ago. Fifty-eight per cent of people - an increase of 13 per cent - try to avoid GM ingredients altogether.

People are concerned about the implications of growing or consuming GM foods, with 73 per cent saying not enough is known about the long-term health consequences, and 64 per cent saying not enough is known about the environmental impact.

n Alison Hill, of Lower Wick, Worcester, said she was opposed to GM foods.

"My daughter is diabetic and eating the right foods are important to diabetics," said the 34-year-old sales assistant.

"I think scientists have messed around with the food chain enough."

n Housewife Julie Jones, of McIntyre Road, St John's, Worcester, agreed.

She said crops and plants had been growing for thousands of years and did not see why man should interfere with a natural process.

"We should try to keep the food chain as free from that sort of thing as possible," said the 41-year-old. "I do try to buy organic."

n Janet Burkimsher, aged 67, of Perdiswell, Worcester, said she had listened to the arguments for and against GM but was keeping an open mind. However, she would like to see more farm testing.

"I would prefer to know more about the effects of GM. I'm not opposed to GM because there are possible advantages but, at the moment, we don't know enough."

n A spokeswoman for Tesco said its policy on GM was driven by the views of its customers.

"They continue to tell us that they are not yet convinced of the benefits of GM. Tesco does not therefore have any own-label GM foods on its shelves," she said.

"We moved to non-GM feed for our poultry, eggs and fish a number of years ago. It's becoming increasingly difficult to source such feed without causing great expense to producers so we haven't extended this requirement to suppliers in other categories at the moment."

n Earlier this summer, Sainsbury's rejected environmentalist claims that its own-brand milk was from cows fed imported GM animal feed.

"Our milk is sourced from British dairy farms that supply other UK supermarkets," said a spokeswoman.

"Sainsbury's does not use GM ingredients or derivatives of GM ingredients in our own-brand products, including pet food and dietary supplements.

"Sainsbury's was the first supermarket to eliminate GM ingredients from their own-label products. We also offer an extensive choice for customers wishing to avoid meat from animals fed on a diet, which might contain GM crops."

n Michelle Vernon, of the Co-operative Group, said its last customer survey found that 55 per cent were against GM with 38 per cent yet to be convinced of its benefits. And 78 per cent were not convinced that the commercial growing of GM crops should be allowed in the UK.

But she said that the Co-op's position could change if customers wanted GM foods.

"As a consumer-owned business, we consult our customers and members on a wide range of issues and we would review our position on GM if this were the case, alongside scientific evidence available at the time," she said.

"We've adopted the precautionary approach on the strength of current scientific knowledge. Too little is still understood about this technology and how it would impact on our environment in future generations and we believe more research is needed."

Genetically modified food comes from plants that have had their genetic make-up altered by scientists who take a gene from one organism and use it to alter the DNA of another.

This can result in crops growing in hostile environments, such as hot or dry parts of the world, as well as increasing yields.

But opponents argue that the modified crops could contaminate and mix with plants that have grown naturally with unknown consequences.

They also believe that more chemicals are used on GM fields, which could harm wildlife.

However, supporters of GM say there is no evidence that modified crops cause illness in humans and that the regulations that govern GM foods are stricter than for conventional foods.

Supporters also argue that GM crops can mean less use of agro-chemicals such as pesticides.