The Evening Standard

Crop-Wrecking Protesters Won't Stop The GM Trials

The Government said today that genetically modified crop trials will continue, despite the destruction at the weekend of GM oilseed rape.

An Environment Department spokesman said damage was still being assessed following yesterday's "depressing" incident, but in no way would the protest interfere with the Government's determination to see GM trials through to the end.

Six protesters, all men, were arrested after the 25-acre field of rape was torn up and trampled in Watlington, Oxfordshire. They were bailed and charges involving criminal damage are expected in the next few days.

It is expected there will be more arrests after police study film footage of the incident, which began after a peaceful a rally to protest against GM crop production. Around 100 environmentalists in white protective overalls and face masks, marched into the field and started to pull up the crop after a rally which brought hundreds of people to the farm, which is one of six in Britain taking part in major Government-backed trials of GM foods.

Environmentalists want all such trials banned, claiming the new crops could contaminate surrounding fields and plants.

Supermarkets have been competing to remove GM ingredients from their shelves in the face of widespread public concern. Sainsbury's claimed today that it is the first major British supermarket to have eliminated GM ingredients from its own-brand products.

The company has worked with more than 1,000 suppliers to review its products. It had clearly labelled all relevant items from its 12,000-plus range while it worked to find alternative soya sources. Sainsbury's took a lead in the GM issue earlier this year when it established a help-line to inform and gain feedback from its customers. In March it announced it would eliminate GM ingredients from its own-brand products and set up an international consortium of food retailers and industry experts to establish verified sources of non-GM crops and products.

Legislation does not require ingredients such as oil and lecithin to be labelled. Supermarkets may now have to scrutinise the clothing tracks, too. Marks & Spencer is being accused of selling "politically incorrect" underwear because the cotton used in manufacture is genetically modified. America is the world's biggest exporter of cotton, and GM ingredients form almost half this year's crop.

Meanwhile, Friends of the Earth has warned biotech companies that they risk being sued for damages if GM crops harm human health or the environment. FoE has been campaigning for a five-year freeze on the commercial planting of GM crops.

In the US, the American Soybean Association suggested that British shoppers may have to pay more for non-GM products. The association says that the costs for segregating GM from non-GM crops could push up prices to the consumer. Some seven per cent of the $ 13 billion American soya crop comes to the UK, and US farmers said investing in segregation would cost millions of dollars.