EU Health Commissioner defends GMOs, warns against ‘regulation by public opinion’

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Credit: Friends of the Earth Europe

Outgoing EU Health and Food Safety Commissioner Vytenis Andriukaitis has hit out at regulation by public opinion rather than science-based policy and defended genetically modified organisms as safe based on assessments not just from the European Food Safety Authority (EFSA), but also internationally.

eurokomisaras vytenis andriukaitis
Vytenis Andriukaitis. Image: AFP/Scanpix)

“Some people don’t accept science as a reality. Then you can see different consequences …. [A] science-based approach is the only one which can help us fundamentally to have a food safety system …. [A]re you ready to accept that our food safety should be based on public opinion or our food safety system should be based on evidence?”

For Andriukaitis, “my answer is the same, nutrient profiles should be based on science. Risk factor analysis should be based on science. Food safety assessment should be based on science and only.”

Nevertheless, he acknowledged that “another problem now is trust in science, that is a problem, and some are playing games with this trust in science because now science is more and more specialized …. And if people that don’t understand it, do not see direct link between, they do not trust science, especially those that say that science is in the hands of industry ….

Read full, original article: Andriukaitis warns regulation by public opinion could harm EU food safety

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