The GM Debate

The GM food debate provokes strong reactions on all sides of the argument

In a Hardtalk debate about Genetically Modified food on 5 August, Tim Sebastian speaks to Paul Rylott, who chairs the Agricultural Biotechnology Council in favour of GM foods, and Doug Parr, Chief Scientist at Greenpeace UK, who opposes them.

Click here to watch the full interview

A long-awaited scientific report on the safety of GM foods commissioned by the British government was published on 21 July. It concluded that the risk to human health from current GM foods is very low.

But the report also raised doubts over the future direction of GM science and demanded that new crops be approved on a case by case basis.

Doug Parr argued that the report confirmed many of Greenpeace's long-standing fears, since it acknowledged the real scientific uncertainties surrounding GM crops.

Greenpeace, he said, had been arguing for a long time for a ban on GM foods. He compared the GM industry to the tobacco industry and added that the impact on British wildlife and allergic reactions in humans also needed to be taken into account.

However, Paul Rylott said he believed that consumers and farmers were being deprived of the right to choose GM products. He said he wanted to see the five year moratorium on GM foods in Britain and the EU to come to an end. This he believed would allow large corporations to market the new generation of GM products to farmers.

But Doug Parr said there was no real advantage in GM crops. He added that were was an abundance of food in the world but just not in the right places.

HARDtalk can be seen on BBC World at 03:30 GMT, 08:30 GMT, 11:30 GMT, 15:30 GMT, 18:30 GMT and 23:30 GMT.

It can also be seen on BBC News 24 at 03:30 GMT and 22:30 GMT