Honey and GMOs

The European Parliament's environment committee today voted on a proposal to revise EU rules on honey. A majority of MEPs voted to reject the proposal to change EU legislation so that the presence of GM pollen in honey would not need to be indicated on the label. The Greens welcomed the vote, with Green food and environment spokesperson Bart Staes stating:

"MEPs have today voted to put the interests of European beekeepers, bees and consumers first by rejecting the Commission proposal. The European Court of Justice ruled in 2011 that honey contaminated with genetically modified pollen would have to be labelled as such under EU legislation. In response, the Commission presented a revision of EU legislation, proposing that the presence of GM pollen in honey would not need to be indicated on the label. The Greens had called on MEPs to reject this hypocritical proposal, which would have turned the ruling on its head, and welcome the support of committee to back this approach. We hope this will now be confirmed by the European Parliament as a whole.

"With EU countries importing honey from GM producing countries, honey contaminated with GM pollen may increasingly be available on our shop shelves and consumers must be informed. Honey containing GM pollen should be labelled as such, both to provide certainty for consumers and to support European beekeepers that care about quality and want to keep their honey free from GMO contamination."