Keeping GMO out of organics
By Canadian Packaging staff
Food Safety General Greenpeace IFOAM-EU NATRUE Organic Consumers Association Union of Concerned ScientistsEurope's IFOAM-EU supported by NATRUE in battle to keep GMO out of organic cosmetics.
Recently NATRUE—a Brussels-based international non-profit association committed to promoting and protecting natural and organic cosmetics worldwide—joined a vital initiative lead by IFOAM-EU—the European umbrella organization for organic food and farming—called the 2014-17 Roundtable “Keeping GMOs out of Organics”.
GMO’s are genetically modified organisms, and involve a laboratory process of taking genes from one species and using them to modify another species to create desired traits – it is gene splicing, and while used extensively in biological and medical research, the same process is now being used in food products and and human goods.
Controversy surrounding GMO foods comes from the fact that some—Organic Consumers Association, the Union of Concerned Scientists and Greenpeace—question whether enough research has been performed to identify potential long-term risks to human health.
Concerns are:
- should GMO products be labeled;
- the role of government regulators;
- effect of GMO crops on health and the environment;
- effects of pesticide resistance;
- impact of GMO crops on farmers;
- the role GMO crops in feeding the world population.
Solutions bandied about include mandatory labeling or outright banning of GMO products.
NATRUE says it is committed to ensuring the availability of premium natural and organic ingredients and to establish a level regulatory playing field for the international natural and organic cosmetic sector to the benefit of consumers worldwide. The “Keeping GMOs out of Organics” Roundtable gathers stakeholders, scientists, NGO representatives and EU regions working on GMO-free food production and trade, and on the prevention of GMO contamination.
Further information on the Keeping GMOs out of Organics initiative can be found HERE.
“Raw materials from agriculture are the basis for many NATRUE compliant ingredient, and GMOs are prohibited under the NATRUE criteria. Therefore, NATRUE’s participation in this IFOAM initiative is essential to help secure the quality of our ingredients,” states NATRUE regulatory and scientific manager Dr. Smith.
GMOs are a key concern of natural and organic cosmetic consumers. Nine out of 10 women interviewed stated that natural and organic cosmetics should not contain GMOs. This is one of the results of the NATRUE commissioned research study ‘Exploring the Territory of Natural & Organic Cosmetics’ carried out by GfK to discover more about consumer expectations. The summary of the survey is publicly available HERE.
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