GUELPH, Ontario - September 27, 1999. Today's call by activist groups for the removal of genetically enhanced foods from supermarket shelves is a misguided attempt to limit consumer choice and to deny the substantial benefits that agricultural biotechnology offers to producers, consumers, and the environment.

"Canadian consumers have a right to choose the foods they desire based on the criteria they set," said Jim Fischer, chair of AGCare, an Ontario-based coalition of farm groups. "We are committed to working with grocers to help provide more information regarding new crop technologies in response to customer concerns." Taste, nutritional value, price, convenience and production method are among the many factors that may influence consumer choice.

All new genetically enhanced foods undergo several years of rigorous testing to ensure their safety for human and animal health and for the environment. Only after such testing is completed are they approved by the Canadian Food Inspection Agency and Health Canada for use or sale in Canada. Farmers are choosing to grow genetically enhanced crops in increasing numbers because of the benefits they offer. These benefits include reduced pesticide use, improved crop quality and food safety, enhanced production efficiencies and lowered crop input costs. "Years of research and testing have shown these products to be safe," said Fischer, "and the benefits they offer help provide nutritious, high-quality, affordable food for Canadian consumers."

Approximately 35 per cent of Ontario corn grown in 1999 contains products of agricultural biotechnology, mostly in the form of genes derived from Bacillus thuringiensis, a common soil bacterium which has been used as an organic pesticide for decades. Bt-corn, as the new product is called, is safe for human and animal consumption, but produces a protein that is toxic to the European corn borer, a destructive pest that has plagued North American corn crops since the 1910s.

Other genetically modified crops grown in Ontario include soybeans that are herbicide resistant (approximately 20 percent of the 1999 crop) as well as herbicide resistant canola (60 per cent of the crop this season). By choosing these new varieties, farmers can control weed pests effectively through the use of a broad spectrum, low-toxicity herbicide that breaks down within hours in the soil and is safe enough to be sold for domestic use at hardware stores and garden centres.

AGCare is a coalition of 16 farm groups representing Ontario's 45,000 field and horticultural crop growers on crop biotechnology, crop protection and related environmental issues.

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