Food Agency Accused of Publishing Propaganda
Government Promotes Genetically-Modified Food
CBC - The National
April 7, 2000
ALISON SMITH: A government agency is reaching out to Canadians with information on a highly-sensitive issue: the safety of genetically-modified food. As Kelly Crowe reports, the message is in the mail.
KELLY CROWE: It's on its way to every household in Canada - - a booklet called "Food Safety And You," paid for by the Canadian Food Inspection Agency. It assures Canadians that what they're eating is safe - including new foods from biotechnology. And this summer, Canadians will hear again from the agency. This time, in the pages of "Canadian Living" magazine in a $150,000 supplement devoted entirely to genetically modified food.
CROWE: When we asked the Canadian Food Inspection Agency why it has launched this public relations campaign, our interview request was at first approved and then suddenly, without explanation, denied. So it was left to the minister of agriculture to explain why the department that inspects food is now in the publishing business.
LYLE VANCLIEF / MINISTER OF AGRICULTURE: The brochure is straight facts. It isn't promoting anything other than explaining how the food safety system works in Canada.
BREWSTER KNEEN / WRITER, CRITIC OF BIOTECHNOLOGY INDUSTRY: A really pernicious piece of propaganda.
CROWE: Brewster Kneen is a writer and critic of the biotechnology industry. He's launched a critique of the pamphlet on the Internet, pointing out that the Food Inspection Agency doesn't conduct its own tests, but relies on information provided by the industry.
BREWSTER KNEEN: They don't say anything about testing because they don't do any.
CROWE: And because there have been no long-term health studies on genetically modified foods, the Canadian Health Coalition says the government can't make the claims it's making.
MICHAEL McBAIN / CANADIAN HEALTH COALITION: There's no chronic health testing on humans for any of these products, so basically nobody knows if they're safe.
CROWE: It's a concern shared by former Liberal agriculture minister Eugene Whelan.
EUGENE WHALEN / FORMER LIBERAL AGRICULTURE MINISTER: Not enough testing, not enough science, not enough independent research being done on that.
CROWE: The decision to publish the brochure was challenged this week in the House of Commons.
JUDY WASYLYCIA-LEIS / NDP MP: Now we learn this government is spending hundreds of thousands of dollars to send to every household in Canada a 24-page full colour leaflet asserting the safety of genetically engineered foods.
ALLAN ROCK / HEALTH MINISTER: This government is very proud of the quality and safety of Canadian food.
CROWE: Those representing the biotechnology industry support the publication, saying Canadians want to know more.
LAURIE CURRY / FOOD MANUFACTURERS OF CANADA: They want more information, quite frankly, about these new foods they're hearing about and foods from biotechnology. This helps to put that into context.
CROWE: Canadians will get a chance to decide for themselves as the little book makes its way across the country. Kelly Crowe, CBC News, Toronto.