By Harry Wallop
The price of organic food could increase because of new rules about GM
labelling, campaigners warn today.
EU agriculture ministers last week agreed that food accidentally
contaminated with up to 0.9 per cent genetically modified content could be
labelled "GM free".

But the Soil Association and Organic Farmers And Growers, which
together certify more than 90 per cent of Britain's organic food, pledge to
keep their own criteria at 0.1 per cent.

Maintaining this standard could incur extra costs to farmers and
growers which in turn would push up prices, the Soil Association warned.

The campaigners argue that the EU ruling will lead to far more GM
crops being grown across Europe, potentially contaminating organic crops.

This will make it increasingly difficult for food producers to track
down pure organic supplies, pushing up their costs, which they will be
forced to pass on to consumers.

Alex Smith, who runs Alara Foods, which makes most of the organic
muesli sold in UK supermarkets, said: "If there is more GM corn grown in
this country that could contaminate the supply of maize for my gluten-free
muesli. That will incur substantially higher costs for my business."

Campaigners also said the extra testing required would be a further
burden on manufacturers, which they will pass on to consumers.

Richard Jacobs, the chief executive of Organic Farmers and Growers,
one of the certification bodies, said that if the levels of contamination
were relaxed consumers would be ever more wary of buying organic food. "We
will have to put in place greater degree of testing to reassure them about
our products," he said.

Mr Jacobs, along with executives from the Soil Association and a group
of organic businesses are meeting David Miliband, the Environment Secretary,
to discuss the issue today.

The popularity of organic food has grown enormously over the last
couple of years, but is still very much a niche market. Though sales
increased last year by 30 per cent and are set to reach ?2.7 billion a year
in 2010, organic food accounts for just 4 per cent of all produce farmed in
Britain.

An expanding body of experts have questioned whether organic food is
any better for health than standard food, and many consumers are wary about
paying a hefty premium for the produce.

A spokesman for the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs
said: "The 0.9 per cent threshold was supported by this Government and was
agreed at EU level.

"The association are quite within their rights to set their own level
if they wish as long as it is under 0.9 per cent. However we think it is
unrealistic to think in terms of a zero (or 0.1 per cent) threshold - it
would not work in practice.

"If producers had to declare any level of GM presence, no matter how
small, they would be forced to label everything as 'may contain GM', which
would not offer an informed choice."


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