Which products are GM free?
New European law requiring food manufacturers to label genetically modified (GM) products comes into force on 18th April.
The rules will help to give consumers and farmers the right to avoid GM products.
Under the rules:
- All foods and ingredients derived from GM products (such as sugar, oil and starch) must be labelled. This could mean any product you buy at the shops, like readymeals, bread, sweets and soft drinks.
- GM animal feed will now be labelled.
- All food containing ingredients which contain more than 0.9% technically unavoidable GM contamination will have to be labelled.
Avoiding the rules:
- All products produced from animals fed on GM animal feed will not have to be labelled. This includes milk, eggs and meat. The only way to ensure your meat and dairy products are free from GM ingredients is to buy organic or check for 'GM free' labels.
- There will be no official 'GM-free' labels, nor for that matter obvious "GM" labels. To know whether or not your food contains GM ingredients you will have to check the packaging for a small statement which is likely to say, "This product contains genetically modified maize/soya." This could be anywhere on the packet but to date has been found in small font near to the ingredients list.
For more information about GM in food please visit our Trolley Watch website.
