ZAGREB, March 2 (Hina) - An examination at two authorised EU laboratories of 14 food products suspected of containing excessive amounts of genetically modified organisms (GMOs) revealed that only one product contained more than one
per cent of GMOs, Croatian Health Minister said at a press conference on Tuesday.
ZAGREB, March 2 (Hina) - An examination at two authorised EU
laboratories of 14 food products suspected of containing excessive
amounts of genetically modified organisms (GMOs) revealed that only
one product contained more than one per cent of GMOs, Croatian Health
Minister said at a press conference on Tuesday.#L#
The product in question is the "Mini Poli" sausage, which was
withdrawn from the market on Monday. It was found that the producer,
Pipo d.o.o. from Cakovec, had imported the ingredients with a
declaration saying that the product contained less than one per cent
of GMOs.
Following controversial tests by the local Public Health Institute in
Osijek, all 14 products underwent additional tests at the central
laboratory of the Croatian Public Health Institute and two foreign
laboratories.
"The position of the government is that Croatia must be a GMO-free
country and that such products will not be produced in Croatia. Those
imported from abroad must be subject to stringent checks," Hebrang
said.
"Croatia has adopted the conclusions of the EU, and procedure is under
way to adopt the necessary legislation to regulate this matter," he
added.
The health minister reiterated that the Osijek Institute was not
authorised to carry out this kind of tests because of "a sensitive
methodology" being used. Its results had to be checked at the central
laboratory as the only institution authorised to check the results of
other laboratories in the country.
(Hina) vm sb