Fears about GM foods are being unnecessarily increased by the organic farming and organic wholefood lobbies who feel their niche markets may be threatened, the Irish head of Monsanto, Dr Patrick O'Reilly, has said.
Responding to criticism in Ireland recently about GM foods, Dr O'Reilly of Monsanto, a multinational chemical and biotechnology company, said the potential benefits from the GM revolution were "far too great simply to put aside based on fear of the new technologies".
The benefits of GM foods, he said, included foods with additional vitamins and minerals; potatoes which absorbed less fat; soya which produced less cholesterol; fruit and vegetables which lasted longer.
On the environmental side, benefits included a reduction of about 40 per cent in herbicide use - "which has to be good for everybody, farmer and consumer alike". GM crops would replace the need to use many chemicals and facilitate reduced application of others, said the firm's business manager for Ireland.
He added: "While I'm confident of the safety of the technology, strict controls and monitoring must continue to be maintained. If this is done then the development of genetically engineered food will continue to take place with the full confidence of the consumer."
An increase in information and awareness among the public of the facts and benefits which could be derived from GM foods would dispel many consumer concerns.
Monsanto believed genetic engineering could be a major tool to ensure increased food quality and quantity in the 21st century.
"We will see new strains of crops producing higher yields, adaptable to unkind soil conditions, resistant to yet-uncontrolled pests and diseases."
In the meantime, Dr O'Reilly said, there was a need for updated legislation, "whatever adequate labelling the consumer and Oireachtas require" and "more factual programmes and less scare-mongering".
If all this was done, he believed the understandable fears that people have would be assuaged and "the GM revolution can become one of the most significant and beneficial in the history of mankind".
