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US food industry speaks with forked tongue on GMOs
Britons to comment on GMOs
S&N offers E429m for rest of Portuguese brewer
Google hackers speed up rankings
People
New tests could save 200,000 rabbits
EU launches ecosystems info service
GM
US food
industry speaks with forked tongue on GMOs
US food industry representatives
appear to be taking contrary positions regarding genetically modified
organisms.
On one hand, the National Food
Processors Association (NFPA) has welcomed its government’s
decision to file a case with the World Trade Organisation (WTO) to end
the European Union's moratorium on the approval of agricultural
biotechnology products.
On the other, the Grocery
Manufacturers Association has called for tougher measures to prevent GMOs
from contaminating the US food supply.
The NFPA claims to be “the voice
of the $500 billion food processing industry on scientific and public
policy issues involving food safety, food security, nutrition, technical
and regulatory matters and consumer affairs”.
The GMA claims to be “the world's
largest association of food, beverage and consumer product companies. With
US sales of more than $500 billion, GMA members employ more than 2.5
million workers in all 50 states. The organisation applies legal,
scientific and political expertise from its member companies to vital
food, nutrition and public policy issues affecting the industry”.
"There is no scientific
justification for the EU's current moratorium," said NFPA's chief
science officer Dr Rhona Applebaum. Too bad that European consumers
don’t trust statements like that, and want products with more than 0.9
percent GM material to be labelled explicitly .
Meanwhile, this week the GMA called
for the US government to “implement a stringent and comprehensive
regulatory system” to control planting of GM crops to make
pharmaceuticals. GMA director of environment and new technologies Karil
Kochenderfer said "Without a comprehensive system in place, we are
jeopardising the safety and integrity of the US food supply."
This comes just as the US
government is shelling out half a billion dollars to improve the national
food supply chain’s defences against bioterrorism.
But there’s more. "(The EU
moratorium) creates an unnecessary barrier to international trade in foods
and food products," according Applebaum. "Ending (it) will help
US agricultural producers obtain simultaneous approvals for new
biotechnology products in both the US and Europe. This has been one of the
biggest issues for US growers and food companies who are engaged in
international food trade."
But this ignores the effect on
non-US farmers of the scores of billions of dollars in government
subsidies that US farmers receive. Often this means they cannot compete
against the subsidised prices at which US farmers can afford to sell. And
it ignores new red tape to control
bioterror attacks on the food supply chain that will govern US food
imports. These impose traceability rules that make European labelling
requirements look extremely modest.
Britons to comment
on GMOs
The British government has set up a
nationwide series of conferences aimed at getting the public to comment on
genetically modified crops. The GM Nation? conferences run in
Birmingham, Swansea, Taunton, Belfast, Glasgow and Harrogate between 3 and
13 June.
The government is also making
available toolkits for anyone wanting to set up their own related event.
For details call T +44 (0)207 261 8616.
An independent steering board will
collect the results from all these discussions to produce a report for the
government by the end of September. The government has promised to reply
to the report and to take account of expressed public feelings when making
policy decisions on GM issues.
M&A
S&N
offers E429m for rest of Portuguese brewer
UK brewer Scottish & Newcastle
is to pay 429 million euros ($496 million) in cash and debt for the
remaining 51 percent of Portugal’s Sociedade Central de Cervejas and
Sociedade da Agua de Luso, an affiliated mineral and spring water
business. The deal means S&N is buying out its joint venture partner,
a group of unnamed investors and companies that includes Portugal's Banco
Espirito Santo and industrial group Parfil.
S&N bought its 49 percent stake
in Central de Cervejas in December 2000 for 149 million euros, and is
expected to use some of the money it will get from the sale of its pubs to
finance the buyout.
Last year Central earned 37 million
euros operating profit on sales of 249 million euros. S&N is taking
over assets worth 234 million euros for 342 million in cash and some 157
million in debt.
Research
Google
hackers speed up rankings
Computer science researchers at
Stanford University have developed ways to calculate Web page rankings as
used in the Google search engine up to five times faster. This may make it
realistic to calculate page rankings personalised for an individual's
interests or customised to a particular topic.
The researchers will present their
work at a World Wide Web Conference (WWW2003) in Budapest, Hungary, from
20-24 May.
For those who want more there is a
wonderful book called Google Hacks, by Tara Calishan and Rael
Dornfest published by O’Reilly. Google Hacks offers the serious
searcher many swords to hack through Google’s Gordian knots.
The authors take the Google
Application Programming Interface (API - the bit you may use to program
Google after signing up as a developer) and provide 100
“industrial-strength tips and tools” to make searching Google easier
and more effective.
As Google has now indexed around
3.1 billion web pages, a search can easily generate a ridiculous amount of
data that may or may not be relevant. Best of all, it helps to reduce your
dependence on Google’s page ranking mechanism, bringing relevant result
to light more quickly.
Although Google mavens with
programming experience are likely to get most out of it, Google Hacks
gives a deep insight into how the Web’s most popular search engine
works. This is likely to help non-programmers structure their queries
better. Moreover, signing up for access to the API lets you use third
party programs. This means you avoid having to write your own code or copy
the hacks in the book.
People
 Cadbury Schweppes chairman John
Sunderland was elected deputy president of the Confederation of British
Industry (CBI) at its AGM yesterday.
He will begin a two-year term as president in May 2004.
Research
New tests
could save 200,000 rabbits
A new set of tests that uses human
blood cells to detect fever-causing agents (pyrogens) in drugs could save
the lives of 200,000 rabbits every year. The tests were unveiled in
Brussels this week.
Although the European Parliament
has banned animal testing of cosmetics, new tough regulations on other
chemicals may increase the need for animal tests.
 EU research commissioner Philippe
Busquin outlined the Commission's desire to avoid animal suffering and
waste of life, but at the same time to ensure human safety. The Commission
has thus far invested around 65 million euro into researching non-animal
tests.
The new methods announced this week
monitor the response of human leukocytes, which release inflammatory
mediators in response to pyrogenic contamination. Such tests are needed
for all drugs that are injected, and tests are not performed only once,
but for every batch of the drug in question.
“In comparison with animal tests,
these are less expensive and they offer quantifiable and more efficient
results,” said Busquin. The tests are being validated by the
Commission's European centre for the validation of alternative methods (ECVAM),
located at the Joint Research Centre (JRC) in Ispra, Italy. After approval
by member states' regulators on a case by case basis, they are expected to
replace the rabbit test. The tests are already being used in over 200
laboratories across the world.
The new methods have other
potential applications, including tests of baby food, cellular therapies,
medical devices and pollution control in the workplace.
Sustainability
EU launches
ecosystems info service
Cordis, the European Commission's
research and development information service, has set up a dedicated
service on research, policy-oriented activities and specific support
actions on environmental issues.
Users have fast access to news and
events, review documentation on open and forthcoming calls, identify
support and consult publications and useful links. It also has details of
over 1,000 organisations willing to participate in environmental research.
It also offers links to more than 1,600 previous projects in the fields of
water quality, earth observation and cultural heritage.
The Web site is http://www.cordis.lu/sustdev/environment/home.html |
