Des Moines, Iowa - European consumers will require more information about genetically modified (GMO) crops and foods before they will freely accept the technology, German Agriculture Minister Karl-Heinz Funke said on Friday.
Funke, who was attending a Des Moines symposium on GMO crops, said there was still a great deal of uncertainty about GMO foods in Europe, even though the gene-splicing technology has been used in the United States, Canada, Argentina and other countries for several years.
Speaking through an interpreter, Funke cited a recent public opinion poll which found that just 34 percent of Germans thought genetic engineering was useful in agriculture and the food industry. Another survey found that 54 percent of Europeans said GMO technology was dangerous, he said.
"We must educate the people and we must weigh risks and opportunities and we must show this weighing in a transparent way to the people in Europe," Funke said.
"We must focus on safety concerns, on consumer protection concerns and, at the same time, we must focus on its uses," Funke said of the GMO technology.
GMO crops like corn, soybeans and cotton have had genes inserted to help them fight insects or withstand herbicides. Critics want more research done on the effect of GMO crops on on human health, such as any allergenic impact, as well as on the environment.
Funke said Europeans generally accepted genetic advances in health care, but feared its effects on food.
"It's quite remarkable (that) in ... medical applications people accept the use of this technology, whereas in the food industry or food production the situation is quite different," he said.
"That is to say, we have not yet succeeded in explaining satisfactorily to the population the benefits of the use of biotechnology or the use of genetic engineering to the food industry and food production," Funke said.
He denied that the European Union used fears about GMO crops and foods to erect trade barriers to US products.
"This is not true," he said. "I also take note (that there is an) ongoing discussion in the US (about food) labeling rules on a voluntary basis."
The Food and Drug Administration has been drawing up guidelines for the voluntary labeling of genetically modified foods.
Kraft Foods, the biggest US food manufacturer and a unit of Philip Morris, voluntarily recalled taco shells containing some Starlink corn last month. It was the first time that a US food product containing genetically modified organisms (GMOs) not approved for human consumption had been pulled back.
Funke said food labelling, which would help consumers adjust to the idea of GMO ingredients, would soon be made mandatory in Europe. - Reuters