28/09/05 PETALING JAYA, (Bernama) -- The agriculture industry should takeadvantage of the present situation concerning consumer unease overgenetically modified (GM) food production, especially in West Asia andNorth Africa.

A survey undertaken during 2003 and 2004 showed that the public in the tworegions were strongly opposed to GM food.

The survey was carried out in Egypt and the United Arab Emirates (UAE) on1,000 participants, representing the North African and West Asian regions.

The survey questionnaire involved questions on awareness and knowledge ofGM food, willingness to consume and willingness to pay to avoid GM food.

Palm oil is GM-free, but most of other oil crops such as soy bean, cornand cotton are GM edible oils.

The survey results were compiled in the proceedings at the InternationalPalm Oil Congress 2005 for agriculture, biotechnology and sustainability,which was one of the five sub-conferences being held here today.

The survey methods, conclusions and recommendations were submitted by tworesearchers from the Faculty of Agriculture, Cairo University, Giza,Egypt. They were Ahmed A. Eiobeidy from the Department of FruitHorticulture and Sherein A. Abou Dawood from the Department of DairyScience and Technology.

According to the survey, most of the consumers believed that they wereconsuming GM food.

It said that since most countries in the Middle East and North Africadepend largely on imported foods, it is difficult to avoid importing GMfood products.

"Hence, establishing regulations for GM food could ease food scares in thearea," the survey said in its recommendations.

"Furthermore, the role food inspector agencies should be improved. Inaddition, verifiable information on GM food should be disseminated inordered to mitigate impact of unduly negative anti-biotech informationbeing distributed by consumer and other non-governmental organisations inEurope," it said.

The survey also said that transparent communication by policy-makers andother stakeholders was essential to address consumers' concerns over GMfood safety.

"Mandatory labelling system should be taken into considerations. Labelsshould depend on the certainty of the ingredient identity. The actualability of the supply chain to provide high levels of integrity in thesegregation process will increase the trust in labelling system," itadded.

-- BERNAMA