-Caveat Lector-
GM food advisers have links to biotech companies
by Paul Nuki Consumer Affairs Editor
MORE than a third of the government-appointed experts on the five key
scientific committees that advise ministers on the safety of genetically
modified (GM) food have links with organisations involved in the new
technology.
On some committees - including the key "novel foods" committee, which
effectively licenses GM crops in Britain - industry domination is almost
complete with more than half the membership linked, either personally or
through their employers, to biotechnology interests.
The industry bias affects even the lay members appointed by government
officials to represent public or consumer interests on its five main
committees.
The only "consumer" representative on the novel foods committee, for
instance, is married to the managing director of Boots the chemist. The
same committee's ethical adviser, although a critic of the system, receives
funding from the Gatsby Foundation, a charity set up by Lord Sainsbury, the
science minister, to fund education and plant science.
Alan Williams, Labour MP for Camarthen East & Dinefwr and a member of the
science and technology select committee, said: "There are some members of
these committees who are paid by industry and much more balance is
required. There is no reason why scientists should be regarded as having a
monopoly on moral or professional integrity."
The Sunday Times examined the past and present commercial interests of the
members of each of the five scientific committees that advise ministers on
food safety. These are: the advisory committee on novel foods and process
(NCNFP); the advisory committee on releases to the environment (Acre); the
committee on medical aspects of food (Coma); the committee on toxicity of
chemicals in food (Cot); and the food advisory committee (Fac). In total,
40% - or 28 of the 70 committee members covered - were found to have links
with the biotechnology business. At least 13 are linked to one of the three
biggest players in the sector - Monsanto, Zeneca and Novartis.
On the two pivotal committees - NCNFP and Acre - more than half the members
have links to the biotechnology sector. They include Dr Philip Dale, who
heads a department at the John Innes Centre researching the genetic
engineering of oilseed rape; Professor T Sanders, a consultant for
Nutrasweet, a subsidiary of Monsanto; and Dr Ian Garner, assistant director
of research at PPL Therapeutics, a biotechnology company owned by the
Roslin Institute, creator of Dolly the cloned sheep.
The food committees, although advisory, play a key part in the regulation
of the food industry in Britain. Their role is to assess the scientific
risks that new technologies pose to consumers and the environment;
ministers cannot license products without their backing.
Critical attention was first focused on the committees' links with industry
when Friends of the Earth revealed that all the 160 applications that Acre
had received to carry out GM crop trials and research had been approved.
The Sunday Times investigation also analysed the backgrounds and interests
of "consumer" representatives on government food committees. Of the 19
individuals covered, not one was employed by the Consumers' Association,
Britain's largest and most respected promoter of consumer rights.
"We are not happy about the whole structure of government food committees
because of their industry bias," said the Consumers' Association.
The Rev Michael Reiss, ethical adviser to ACNFP, said he thought the system
was flawed and "genuinely lay people" should be given seats on advisory
committees. "Also, at some point you need to involve the sceptics on these
committees," he said. "For reasons of fairness, expertise and public
confidence, the whole spectrum of public opinion must be included."
Additional reporting: Mark Stretton, Mark Macaskill
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