It is 'unrealistic' to label every single type of food that has been produced with the help of genetic engineering, says the British government's Food Advisory Committee. However, the FAC recommends certain types of labelling to warn people with strong ethical or religious objections to eating particular types of foods.
The committee advocates labels on foods containing copies of human genes. Warnings should also appear on foods containing genes copied from animals considered sacred in some religions.
Consumers should also be warned, says the FAC, when plants or microbial food products contain copies of genes from animals. But none of these rules should apply if the inserted genes are destroyed during processing.
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