GeneWatch PR: GM Could be Used in up to 90% of Processed Food, Says GeneWatch UK

For Immediate Release – 15th February 1999

Enzymes from genetically modified micro-organisms could be used in processed foods as diverse as fish and meat products, soft drinks, biscuits, cakes and bread, which could add up to 90% of processed foodstuffs on supermarket shelves, GeneWatch said today (Monday 15 February).

In media interviews (1) and MPs’ briefings (2) in the past few days, the Government has stated that there are only four types of GM food sold in the UK – tomato paste, vegetarian cheese, soya and maize. The Government included vegetarian cheese in the list because GM enzymes are used in making it. But thirteen other GM enzymes are also licensed for use across a broad range of processed foods (3, 4), including:

Bread Cakes Biscuits
Fish products Meat products Soft drinks
Egg products Hard cheeses

It is impossible to say exactly how many products have involved the use of enzymes from GM organisms because they are not labelled and recipes are commercially confidential.

"The Government has allowed the GM situation to get out of control." said Dr Sue Mayer, GeneWatch’s Director. "No-one knows the true extent of GM in food, because so little of it is labelled or monitored. It could be used in up to 90% of processed foods in our supermarkets."

"By telling consumers that only four types of food are affected, the Government is misleading shoppers into thinking other forms of food are GM-free. Tony Blair says we must "proceed with very great care and caution and not get the facts mixed up" (5). GeneWatch believes the first step in this must be for the Government to publish the true facts about the full extent of the use of GM in foods" she added.

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Further Information:

Contact GeneWatch on:
Tel: +44 (0)1298 871898
Fax: +44 (0)1298 872531
Email: mail@genewatch.org

Notes to Editors:

  1. For example, the Prime Minister, Tony Blair, interviewed on the World at One on Friday 12th February 1999 and the Food Safety Minister, Jeff Rooker, talking on the Channel Four news on Wednesday 10th February 1999.
  2. MP’s briefing ‘Agriculture Latest’ from Rt Hon Nick Brown MP, MAFF. No 23. 10 February 1999. ‘Safety of GM Foods’. ".. there are four GM products on sale in the UK; tomato paste, vegetarian cheese, soya and maize".
  3. See table below of commercial enzymes from genetically modified microorganisms used in food production. Enzymes are used in food production for a variety of reasons – to condition bread dough and improve crumb structure and colour for example. GM organisms have been altered so they produce a particular enzyme or more of it, using genes from different species of microogranism or, in the case of the chymosin used in cheese making, a gene from a calf stomach.
  4. Tony Blair, quoted in "Blair resists call for ban" p 10, The Times, Saturday February 13th

TABLE OF AVAILABLE ENZYMES MADE BY GENETICALLY MODIFIED MICROORGANISMS FOR USE IN FOOD PROCESSING(source: Association of Manufacturers of Fermentation Enzyme Products)

Key: Bake = Bakery; Bevr = Beverages (soft drinks, beer, wine); Cheese= cheese; Diet = Dietary food; Egg = egg; Fats = fats & oils; Fish = fish; Meat = meat; Sald = salads; Stch = cereal and starch; Sugr = sugar and honey.

ENZYME

HOST ORGANISM

DONOR ORGANISM

MAIN APPLICATIONS

alpha-acetolactate decarboxylase Bacillus amyloliquefaciens or subtilis Bacillus sp Bevr
alpha-amylase Bacillus amyloliquefaciens or subtilis Bacillus sp Stch, Bevrs
Bacillus lichenformis Bacillus sp Stch, Frut, Bevr, Sugr, Bake
Catalase Aspergillus niger Aspergillus sp Milk, Egg
Chymosin Aspergillus niger var. awamori Calf stomach Cheese
Kluyveromyces lactis Calf stomach Cheese
Cyclodextrin-glucosyl transferase Bacillus lichenformis Thermoanbacter sp Stch
Beta-glucanase Bacillus amyloliquefaciens or subtilis Bacillus sp Stch, Bevr
Tricoderma reesei or longibrachiatum Trichoderma sp Stch, Diet
Glucose isomerase Streptomyces lividans Actioplanes sp Stch
Streptomyces rubiginosus Streptomyces sp Stch
Glucose oxidase Aspergillus niger Aspergillus sp Egg, Bevr, Bake, Sald
Hemicellulase Bacillus amyloliquefaciens or subtilis Bacillus sp Bake
Lipase, triacylglycerol Aspergillus niger Candida sp
Rhizomucor sp
Humicola sp
Fats
Fats
Fats, Bake
Maltogenic amylase Bacillus amyloliquefaciens or subtilis Bacillus sp Stch, Bevr, Bake
Protease Aspergillus oryzae Rhizomucor sp Cheese
Bacillus amyloliquefaciens or subtilis Bacillus sp Meat, Fish, Stch, Bevr, Bake
Bacillus lichenformis Bacillus sp Meat, Fish
Pullulanase Bacillus lichenformis Bacillus sp Stch
Klebsiella planticola Klebsiella sp Stch, Bavr, Bake
Xylanase Aspergillus niger var. awamori Aspergillus sp Bake
Aspergillus niger Aspergillus sp Stch, Bevr, Bake
Bacillus amyloliquefaciens or subtilis Bacillus sp Stch, Bevr, Bake
Bacillus lichenformis Bacillus sp Stch
Tricoderma reesei or longibrachiatum Trichoderma sp Stch, Bevr, Bake

These enzymes are used to treat these ingredients for use in a processed food product.

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