Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food

The Advisory Committee On Novel Foods And Processes Reviews Dr Pusztai's Potato Findings

Having carefully examined Dr Pusztai's findings the ACNFP concluded that no meaningful conclusions could be drawn from the data made available to the ACNFP on the effect of feeding rats GM potatoes expressing the snowdrop lectin. This was because of serious doubts about the design of the studies and the nutritional quality of the potato-supplemented diets which had been used.

Commenting on the statement published by the ACNFP today Prof Bainbridge said:

"My committee considered it important to examine Dr Pusztai's findings even though they did not relate to a variety of potato being developed for food use. We have concluded that the results from Dr Pusztai's work have been severely distorted by the recent media campaign in an unwarranted attempt to cast doubt on the safety of GM foods in general."

"The ACNFP is clear that these potatoes would never be approved for food use. Furthermore, if a company submitted data from such poorly designed studies to support an application we would have no hesitation in rejecting it."

"The health implications of GM foods and the procedures for assessing their safety are being reviewed in considerable detail by the Government's Chief Medical Officer and Chief Scientific Adviser. I am confident that they will conclude, as other regulatory authorities around the world have done, that the procedures for assessing the safety of GM foods are robust. The ACNFP has already published a paper setting out the reasons why conventional toxicological studies in animals are often of limited value in assessing the safety of foods. These limitations are clearly illustrated by the difficulty we faced in drawing any meaningful conclusions from Dr Pusztai's work."

The ACNFP has sent a copy of its findings to the Royal Society as a contribution to their review of Dr Pusztai's work.

Notes for Editors

1. The Advisory Committee on Novel Foods and Processes is an independent body of experts whose remit is:

"To advise Health and Agriculture Ministers of Great Britain and the Heads of the Departments of Health and Social Services and Agriculture for Northern Ireland on any matters relating to the irradiation of food or to the manufacture of novel foods or foods produced by novel processes, having regard where appropriate to the views of relevant expert bodies."

2. The committee is a voluntary body comprising a Chairman and Members appointed for their personal expertise and not to represent particular interests. The Committee's main task is to examine food safety aspects of novel foods and foods subjected to novel processes and advise Ministers accordingly.

3. Copies of the ACNFP statement and the statement provided by the Committee on Toxicity are available on the ACNFP website at: http://www.maff.ov.uk/food/novel/aonfp.htm