Lord Haskins, non-executive chairman of Northern Foods and chairman of the UK government’s Better Regulation Task Force, has criticised the organics movement, saying it: “seeks to ban most scientific innovation and appears to have replaced the Church of England as a place where aristocrats take refuge from the real world.”
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According to a report in the Grocer trade publication, Haskins, a known advocate of GM food, said that concern over the BSE crisis, fuelled by often spurious media scare stories, had created a climate “where scientific progress, notably with GM food, is being denied by affluent, educated middle class pressure groups.”
Reiterating one of the key arguments advanced by biotech companies such as Monsanto, Haskins mentioned the potential role of GM food in fighting starvation in developing countries. In a caustic reference to the Prince of Wales, as strong supporter of organic food, Haskins continued: “Let the heir to the throne enjoy his excellent if somewhat risky organic food […] let the poor, starving people of the world have access to safe, affordable food – which GM food will probably offer them.
Unusually, considering he was speaking at a dinner hosted by the Provision Trade Federation, Haskins also spoke out strongly against retailers and manufacturers who “in a knee-jerk response banned the use of GM ingredients in their products.”
This week’s editorial discusses the FDA’s GM labelling policy in the US – to read it click here.
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