Copyright 2000 Newspaper Publishing PLC The Independent (London)
October 19, 2000, Thursday
SECTION: NEWS; Pg. 8
LENGTH: 549 words
HEADLINE: INQUIRY WARNED OVER MILK FROM GM-FED COWS
BYLINE: Charles Arthur Technology Editor
A SCIENTIST giving evidence at a public inquiry into a genetically
modified (GM) maize intended for animals has said he would not drink
the milk of cows fed on it. Professor Bob Orskov, of the independent
International Feed Resource Unit, told a hearing yesterday that "if
the GM maize was approved for commercial growing in the UK, then
people would be justified in turning their back on consuming milk
derived from it". He added: "As a scientist, I wouldn't drink milk
from cows fed GM maize with the present state of knowledge." Another
expert witness, Dr Vyvyan Howard, who is head of the Foetal and
Infant Toxico-Pathology group at the University of Liverpool, told
the hearing: "My interpretation is that this GM maize has not been
tested thoroughly." He said after examining data from the
biotechnology company Aventis, which makes the GM maize, there
appeared to be "statistically significant" differences between the
fat, protein and fibre composition of its "Chardon LL" GM strain and
non-GM varieties.
But Des D'Souza, for Aventis, said last night that "the requirements
for testing are set by the Government, not industry. We have met
those requirements." Chardon LL has also been grown commercially and
fed to animals since 1997 in the US and Canada with no ill effects,
he added. Professor Orskov and Dr Howard were giving evidence at a
public inquiry to examine whether Chardon LL should be added to the
UK's "National Seed Listing". Being included on that list is an
essential step towards the crop being commercially planted, although
Aventis and other biotech companies producing GM crops have said that
they will wait for the outcome of the Government's "farm-scale"
trials of such crops before they consider their wide-scale use. The
trials could take up to three years to produce results.
But if the trials said that GM crops did not harm the environment,
then any GM product already included on the National Seed List could
be planted immediately. The maize in question is genetically
engineered to be resistant to a particular pesticide produced by
Aventis. The crop would only be used as "forage" to feed animals,
principally in winter. But Professor Orskov attacked the lack of
rigour that had gone into its production. "It has only been fed as
grain to chickens, not as a crop to cattle, which have four stomachs
rather than one," he said after the hearing. "We need to carry out
proper long-term tests both on the effect of the maize silage on the
microbes in the stomach of the ruminants which digest the feed, and
on the host animals. This has not been done."
Dr Howard added: "In (Aventis's) testing they have taken a protein
from another plant and fed it to rats. I do not feel that this can be
used as a basis for making judgements about the safety of this GM
maize with respect to cattle." Aventis is refusing to present any
evidence at the hearing, despite being warned by the presiding
barrister that not to do so could endanger its case. The hearings
follow pressure by the green group Friends of The Earth, which used a
little-known aspect of the seed legislation to force a public
hearing. The Government received so many objections that it was
obliged to hold a public inquiry, which has been running since 2
October.
LANGUAGE: ENGLISH
LOAD-DATE: October 19, 2000