Genetically modified feed to be introduced to Finnish pig farms
Farmers' union leader says he would not use GM feed on his farm
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Consumers in Finland will be introduced to pork grown with feed containing genetically modified soybeans. Shoppers will not necessarily notice any difference, because the packaging will not include any mention of what the animal ate.
LSO Foods, which supplies meat to the meat wholesalers HK Ruokatalo and Järvi Suomen Portti, announced in July that it will start delivering imported GM soybean feed to its pork farmers later in the year.
Another company planning to introduce genetically modified feed is HK's competitor Atria; CEO Matti Tikkakoski says that financial pressures are forcing it to make the move.
With the largest meat producers switching over to GM feeds, smaller companies feel that they have no choice but to follow suit. Gradually almost all of the pork grown in Finland is expected to come from pigs raised on genetically modified feeds.
Although Atria's contract farmers are still using traditional feeds, Tikkakoski says that the company will soon begin importing the genetically modified product.
He says that non-modified feed will soon be both prohibitively expensive, and difficult to get.
Tikkakoski does not believe that it will be possible to deliver separate kinds of pork products to food stores - those raised on GM soybeans, and those from pigs that were fed unaltered types. He says that when they are imported from around the world, the different types of beans are bound to get mixed up at some point.
Tikkakoski says that nine out of ten pig farmers under contract for Atria welcome the arrival of the new feed.
LSO Foods CEO Tero Hemmilä points out that 15 per cent of meat consumed in Finland comes from abroad. "It is most likely that the animal that the product is produced from, has eaten genetically modified feed. This means that GM food already exists on consumers' tables."
He predicts that domestic pork raised on genetically modified soybeans will begin arriving in Finnish stores in the autumn. LSO products will not contain any mention of the modification.
"EU legislation is straightforward. The genetic modifications in a plant are not passed on to an animal's tissue through the digestion, or from there into meat or milk. Consequently there is no need to mark it down", Hemmilä says.
Environmental organisations have criticised the use of genetically modified material in animal feed. The Finnish League for Nature Protection is calling for mandatory labelling on packaging to reveal whether or not GM feed was used in the production of meat.
The issue also poses a dilemma for the Finnish Union of Agricultural Producers and Forest Owners (MTK). On the one hand, the organisation is keen to promote Finnish food as pure and unadulterated, but on the other hand, it needs to advance the economic interests of Finnish farmers.
MTK chairman Michael Hornborg says that there is a diversity of opinion within his organisation on the GM issue, with dairy farmers generally shunning modified feed, while pig farmers are more willing to accept it.
"I would not use GM feed on my farm, because its long-term effects have not been sufficiently studied. I don't want our members to be blamed if something unfortunate happens. Let's let the big countries do it first. We'll have time to follow later."
Hornborg also feels that consumers have the right to know what their food contains. "If a gene label is required on Finnish meat, it should be included on foreign products as well."
Helsingin Sanomat
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| 8.8.2007 - TODAY |
 Genetically modified feed to be introduced to Finnish pig farms |
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