§ Mr. RedmondTo ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food if he will introduce legislation to ensure that all food which contains items that have been genetically engineered are so labelled; and if he will make a statement.
§ Mr. SoamesNot at present. The Food Advisory Committee—FAC—which is one of the Government's committees of independent advisers, considers the need for special labelling of foods produced using genetic modification on a case-by-case basis taking account of advice from the advisory committee on novel foods and processes and the committee on toxicity of chemicals in food, consumer products and the environment.
The FAC committee has developed a set of guidelines for the labelling of food produced using genetic modification that are used to assist it in deciding whether special labelling is required. These guidelines are currently being reviewed by the committee and the results of this review will be made public.