Sir, Lord Krebs (“How to get consumers to love GM crops”, Nov 12) complains that European consumers still don’t agree with him about the safety of GM food. Consumers all over the world reject GM. The latest rejection has started in the US. Labelling of milk as GM-hormone-free led to a collapse in sales of milk produced with Monsanto’s GM hormone. Now Barack Obama wants to see all GM food labelled.

People reject GM food because genetic engineering is an inherently uncertain and risky technology. Almost no safety trials have been done because regulators assume that GM food is “substantially equivalent” to non-GM. On the same day that Lord Krebs wrote that there is “no evidence” that GM maize is dangerous, a study funded by the Austrian Government found that GM maize “severely impairs reproduction in mice”, and said that there is an “urgent need for further studies”.

Peter Melchett

Policy Director, Soil Association

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