• Dr Pusztai vindicated
  A group of 20 international scientists vindicate the research carried out on GM potatoes by Arpad Pusztai; a scientist at the Rowett Institute. Dr Pusztai's research indicated that GM potatoes fed to rats damaged theior internal organs.
• Government in a spin
  The government - in a spin to support GE food - make elementary mistakes. Jeff Rooker believed that the area under GE trial cultivation is equivalent to 2 football pitches - it is in fact 350. And Jack Cunningham thought that English Nature were against a GE moratorium - English Nature reiterate that they want to see a 3 year moratorium.
• Monsanto's ads criticised
  The Advertising Standards Authority criticised Monsanto's £1 million advertisment campaign as "wrong, unproven, misleading and confusing".
• Superstores go GE Free
  Marks and Spencer, Asda, Sainsburys and, later, Tesco announced that they were removing GE ingredients from their own labelled food.
• Companies go GE Free
  Unilever, Nestle, Cadbury, Northern Foods and Rank Hovis McDougall announce that they are to go GE Free.
• New Research on GE Pollution
  Research by the National Pollen Research Unit indicated that the risk of cross-pollination at a distance of 200 metres is 1 in 93 (Not 1 in 40,000 as previously assumed).
• MPs sue Government
  3 MPs (Norman Baker, John Randall and Alan Simpson) have sued the Government over the illegal move to speed up the GM seed trials by two years without parliamentary scrutiny.
• Devon County Council bans GE Food
  Devon County Council have banned labelled GE ingredients from School Meals and Meals on Wheels.
• Totnes Two released
  The case against the Totnes Two who were arrested for their part in the removal of the test maize crop near Totnes was dropped. The prosecution believed that they might have lost the case due to the defence action being "in the public interest".
• Pollen travels up to 4km
  Research by the Scottish Crop Research Institute shows that pollen from GM Oilseed Rape has been found 4 km away, typically carried by bees.
• BMA warn against GM food
  The British Medical Association throws doubt on the safety of GM food and calls for a moratorium on commercial planting.
• Butterflys killed by GM maize
  Scientists at Cornell University, New York, show that GM maize engineered with the Bt toxin, can kill Monarch butterflys.

2.. Always look out for GE Free Food.
Buy Organic produce with Soil Association logo.

3.. Join Exeter Friends of the Earth
- or eXeter genetiX group
see meeting dates below...

Latest Update:
August 1999

Web page updated by Maurice Spurway - Exeter Friends of the Earth
email: with any comments

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Disclaimer: Nothing on these pages should be construed as an incitement to break the law.