Parliament denies Canadians mandatory labelling of GE foods | Greenpeace Canada

Parliament denies Canadians mandatory labelling of GE foods Greenpeace Canada:

"Ottawa, Canada — A private member’s bill giving consumers the right to know if the food sold in Canada contains genetically engineered (GE) ingredients was defeated in the House of Commons today by a vote of 101 to 156. The defeat of Bill C-517 effectively protects the economic interests of GE companies like Monsanto over the rights of Canadians to know what they eat.

'It's deplorable that a majority of MPs are in favour of spoon-feeding Canadians GE foods against their will,'; said Josh Brandon, Agriculture Campaigner with Greenpeace. 'This vote ignores public opinion polls which have consistently shown between 80 and 95 per cent of Canadians want mandatory labelling of GE foods.';

Canadians have a reason to be cautious: GE foods have never been proven to be safe to either human health or the environment, and little independent research has studied the long-term effects of GE foods. The lack of independent research has been criticized by the Royal Society of Canada, whose 2001 expert panel report on biotechnology continues to be ignored by the federal government."