Posted on 23-8-2002

GE Free Means?

Professor Paula Jameson a leading plant biologist will be visiting Albany
Campus on 4th September to present a talk titled - GE-free what does it
really mean? This talk is aimed at general public, students and staff.

GE is an emotive issue and the terms used in the GE debate seem to mean
different things to different people. Some people want GE-free foods, but
accept medicines such as insulin that come from genetically-engineered
bacteria. Others accept GE in the lab but not in the field. A few others do
not want the technology used at all.

To clarify the terms underlying the debate, Prof Jameson will talk about
the differences between field trials, conditional release and unconditional
release and the roles of ERMA and ANZFA. "Food products derived from GE
crops have probably been on New Zealand shelves since 1996 in the form of
soy oil and processed foods containing soy flour," she said. "Recently,
regulations from the Australia New Zealand Food Authority have come into
effect which insist all GM foods must be labelled. However, if the product
is a highly processed oil or sugar from a genetically modified plant it
doesn't have to be labelled. Fortunately, consumers will still have a
choice if companies decide to utilise a recommendation from the Royal
Commission report that allows companies to indicate if a food doesn't
contain GM ingredients."

Professor Jameson will speak at noon on Wednesday, 4 September, in QB5.

Jo Ramsay (Mrs), Academic Programmes Administrator, College of Sciences at
Albany, Ext 9522