29/July/20

 

In its last meeting before the summer recess, the House of Lords finally debated Amendment 275 of the Agriculture Bill, which proposed to deregulate products of gene editing in UK agriculture. The debate, which lasted nearly two hours, saw Lords raising numerous issues, though only a few stepped off the well-trodden path of the decades-long, adversarial debate about genetic engineering in food and farming. In the end, the amendment was withdrawn but only after the government renewed and re-emphasised its commitment to push, promote and facilitate the wide use of genome editing in the future of UK farming and food. Beyond GM

 

 

A decade-long programme of traditional plant breeding – not GM – has produced a nutritionally superior barley variety called BARLEYmax. It contains twice the amount of dietary fibres than normal barley. Studies, including human trials, showed that foods produced with BARLEYmax as the key ingredient had a low glycaemic index and produced positive changes in biomarkers of bowel health. Food Navigator

 

 

The National Bioengineered Food Disclosure Standard – which requires firms to label "bioengineered" foods and beverages - is unlawful and should be nullified and then revised, according to a lawsuit filed by a coalition of retailers and nonprofits who want stricter GMO labelling laws. Food Navigator