QUESTION FOR EUROPEAN GETBIGGERS......

[CT_Muscle]

Do your foods have labels informing you if they contain GMO's???

[Papper]

I don't think all gmo need labeling.

I read that only two types are allowed in europe.

But imported food needs labeling if it contains a substantial percentage of gmos.

Europe are harder on gmos than other nations

[BigRo]

what two types are allowed in Europe?

I hope Europe remains very hard on them.

[bradistani]

Do your foods have labels informing you if they contain GMO's???

You are in GM Crops and Food → GM crops: current situation → GM crops and foods in Britain and Europe
GM crops and foods in Britain and Europe

GM crops enter Britain mainly as animal feed. There is no commercial growing, but there have been experimental trials of GM potatoes and wheat in recent years. In 2014, a trial of GM Camila sativa ("false flax") is planned, which has a genetically altered oil content (high in omega-3).

GM crops and food can enter Europe as food, animal feed, or biofuels. GM food and feed must be approved by EU regulators and must be labelled, but meat and dairy products produced from animals fed on GM feed are not required to be labelled. In 2011, the EU decided to allow low levels of unapproved GM crops in animal feed. GM crops can be grown experimentally with approval from national regulators, or commercially if approved by the EU.

The current situation is summarised below.

For more about how GM crops and foods are regulated see the GM crops:Regulation section.
GM foods and feed

Large quantities of GM soya and maize are imported into Europe, including Britain, as animal feed. Meat and dairy products fed on GM animal feed are not labelled as GM-fed in British supermarkets. The EU has also decided to allow GM feed to include trace levels of crops which have no safety approval in Europe (i.e. are unauthorised GM crops). Campaign group GM Freeze has published a list of where to buy non-GM-fed meat, milk and eggs. Food and Water Watch Europe has also published campaign information.

Waitrose continues to require non-GM feed for poultry, eggs and lamb. In April 2013, Tesco, the Co-Op and Marks and Spencer announced they will no longer require poultry to be fed on GM-free feed, following similar decisions by Morrisons (March 2012) and Asda (September 2010). Sainsbury is keeping some product lines fed on non-GM soya, but is dropping others. There is a danger that suppliers will no longer segregate GM and non-GM soya in shipments to Britain if the major retailers do not demand it and easily available sources of non-GM meat and dairy products will be lost. However, organic and pasture-fed meat and dairy products will remain GM-free fed.

Some other countries in Europe (Germany, France, Luxembourg, Austria) have Government-sponsored voluntary labelling schemes for non-GM-fed meat, milk and eggs so that consumers can choose to buy non-GM-fed products. Organic standards also require non-GM feed. In Sweden, GM feed is no longer used at all, due to consumer pressure. In 2012, Turkey announced that GM-fed meat, milk and dairy products would be labelled.

Most British retailers do not sell other GM foods and if they stock them they must be labelled (this is also the case elsewhere in Europe). GM Freeze has produced a list of products it has found here. This includes GM cooking oil which is used in some chip shops and takeaways.

A large percentage of GM maize grown in the US is now used in industrial-scale biofuels (agrofuels) subsidised by the US Government. Biofuels do not have to be labelled as containing GM crops and it is possible that some GM biofuels are entering the EU, including Britain.
Commercial growing

Only two GM crops have been approved for commercial growing in the EU. One is a variety of pest-resistant maize (Bt maize) produced by Monsanto (known as MON810). This is grown mainly in Spain (and in smaller quantities in some other countries) for use in animal feed. Cultivation of MON810 is banned in France, Germany, Greece, Austria, Luxemburg and Hungary.

Another GM crop was approved for cultivation in the EU in 2010: a potato known as the Amflora potato, which has been genetically modified by BASF to produce starch for use in paper-making. It was grown in small quantities in Germany and Sweden in 2011. BASF then withdrew from planting GM crops in Europe in January 2012 and in late 2013 the European Court annulled the authorisation, arguing it had not been granted lawfully.

In 2014, following another court case, the EU considered approving the commercial cultivation of another insect-resistant maize (Bt maize 1507) produced by DuPont.

No GM crops are currently grown commercially in Britain. The Bt maize that is grown in Spain is not suitable for growing here and the pests it is resistant to do not occur in Britain. Attempts to introduce herbicide-tolerant GM crops into Britain have been very controversial, because of the expected harmful effects on wildlife and the likely emergence of superweeds. None of these crops are currently approved for commercial growing.
Field trials

Many experimental field trials of GM crops are conducted in Europe. In Britain, there have been field trials of GM potatoes (one in Norfolk and one near Leeds) and GM wheat (at the Rothamsted research centre in Hertfordshire). In 2014, a trial of GM Camila sativa ("false flax") is planned at Rothamsted. This crop has a genetically altered oil content (high in omega-3). Defra lists applications and consents for field trials. There is a public consultation period and the Advisory Committee on Releases to the Environment (ACRE) provides advice to Government.
Government policy

Scotland has a GM-free policy, as does Wales.

In June 2011, the UK Coalition Government outlined its policy on GM crops in its response to the Science and Technology Committee's report on bioengineering. A summary of the policy has been added to the DEFRA website (under the heading Government policy).

In 2012, the GM industry met with ministers to promote the return of GM crops to Britain. In late 2012, Environment Secretary Owen Paterson and Prime Minister David Cameron began to make public statements in support of GM crops.
http://www.genewatch.org/sub-568547

[BigRo]

so unless your meat and dairy is organic you could be eating GMOS indirectly. You meaning us here.

[Lustral]

so unless your meat and dairy is organic you could be eating GMOS indirectly. You meaning us here.

I can see the cows my butcher uses if I take a 2 minute walk from my house, Ireland is pretty OK for food if you buy from local butchers/grocers. No horse burgers there...

[da_vinci]

I don't care... Not a big difference of eating an apple from a tree that is a product of a selection that took 10 years and an apple that's the same just the process was faster (due to technology).

[The Abdominal Snoman]

[Novena]

Genetically Modified Products have been lab tested and shown to be safe.  So are the newest generation of nuclear power stations and WiFi hot spots.

[Chadwick The Beta]

if only the euro's were as militant against towel headed invaders, their continent wouldn't be such a mess

[Novena]

Oh...did you know that South American drug growers now have GMO products? Glyphosate  resistant plants? Coca and cannabis.

[Bertha Butt]

I can see the cows my butcher uses if I take a 2 minute walk from my house, Ireland is pretty OK for food if you buy from local butchers/grocers. No horse burgers there...

Nothing wrong with horse meat! We buy ours from a nature reserve. Their horses and cows roam freely and reproduce more quickly than they can buy new land to expand their reserve. Surplus animals are placed elsewhere if there is room for them. If not, they are butchered and the profit of this meat is used to buy more land.

[phreak]

I don't care... Not a big difference of eating an apple from a tree that is a product of a selection that took 10 years and an apple that's the same just the process was faster (due to technology).

Partly disagree with this. If the modification is splicing two varieties of apples, or perhaps apples and pears, then okay. That can happen in nature as well. Splicing fish genes with potato genes is a bit more iffy in my opinion. Man in general has a tendency to forget about unintended consequences, which is what I feel makes this risky. Plenty of examples of inventions/actions that seemed beneficial at the time, but came back to haunt us. Introductions of foreign species, DDT, thalidomide, neonicotinoids, etc.

[_bruce_]

Indirectly you're probably consuming it already. Folks are sneaky bastards and a few crops can contaminate all others.

[Lustral]

Nothing wrong with horse meat! We buy ours from a nature reserve. Their horses and cows roam freely and reproduce more quickly than they can buy new land to expand their reserve. Surplus animals are placed elsewhere if there is room for them. If not, they are butchered and the profit of this meat is used to buy more land.

I'd eat horse if you could get it here, the problem was the horse was in "beef" burgers and processed meals in supermarkets like frozen lasagna.

People went particularly apeshit as many Irish people have an unhealthy love of horses. I suppose it is a massive industry here and something we are a world leader in.

[Irongrip400]

I'd eat horse if you could get it here, the problem was the horse was in "beef" burgers and processed meals in supermarkets like frozen lasagna.

People went particularly apeshit as many Irish people have an unhealthy love of horses. I suppose it is a massive industry here and something we are a world leader in.

I ate horse while in Italy.  It wasn't bad at all.  As far as GMO foods, I don't have a problem with them.  IT is just a way of speeding up natural selection.  How is making something more drought tolerant a bad thing?

[TEH boob]

Oh...did you know that South American drug growers now have GMO products? Glyphosate  resistant plants? Coca and cannabis.

UGH. gonna have to go to whole foods for my drugs now 

[CT_Muscle]

I don't care... Not a big difference of eating an apple from a tree that is a product of a selection that took 10 years and an apple that's the same just the process was faster (due to technology).

Not a big difference? You shouldn't be commenting AT ALL than you clearly have your head up your ass......Just the way the agricultural biotechnology corporations want it or maybe it's just darwinism

I ate horse while in Italy.  It wasn't bad at all.  As far as GMO foods, I don't have a problem with them.  IT is just a way of speeding up natural selection.  How is making something more drought tolerant a bad thing?

Is that what you believe is going on? They are saving the world? haha

[Bertha Butt]

I'd eat horse if you could get it here, the problem was the horse was in "beef" burgers and processed meals in supermarkets like frozen lasagna.

People went particularly apeshit as many Irish people have an unhealthy love of horses. I suppose it is a massive industry here and something we are a world leader in.

Like the meat balls from Ikea... Even Dutch people went crazy about the horse content, as if it was something inedible. In the '50's and '60's it was poor people's beef here.
I agree, the ingredient lists should be true: I want to know what I eat, especially with a food allergy.

[falco]

Do your foods have labels informing you if they contain GMO's???

I am pretty sure they are phorbiden over here.
I am not sure if McDonald's, Burgerking and the such can use them on their shitty burgers overhere.

[CT_Muscle]

I am pretty sure they are phorbiden over here.
I am not sure if McDonald's, Burgerking and the such can use them on their shitty burgers overhere.

I could only dream of the day they would be forbidden over here but $$$ is king especially to the elected politcians......and then you have certain uneducated people who don't mind eating them 

[falco]

I have seen recently a documentary called "Seeds of death" and it was pretty scary. Specially the part where our genetic profile changes due to nutrition and is passed to our sons.

[Man of Steel]

europe 

[_bruce_]

I go by Gironda's "if it's man made don't eat it". Problem is the mass of stupid pigs keen on stuffing anything down their throat that's cheap. GMO crops can withstand higher pesticide use - guess who will be at the receiving end of the dandy cocktail...

[CT_Muscle]

Even obama at one time thought it was important......then he became president