Shoppers will decide on GM: industry

Consumer perception of genetic modification (GM) has a big impact on research and the products produced by the agricultural biotechnology industry, delegates at a BioMelbourne BioBreakfast have heard.

"Some areas have been prejudged by the consumer," said Paul MacLeman, COO for Imugene (ASX:IMU), a company that develops and produces biological products for animal health.

For that reason, consumers need to have a better understanding of the technology and companies need to hold discussions with consumers to find out what they want, he said.

He also said that while a ban on GM research probably enables industry to promote a clean and green image, industry is ultimately driven by efficiency and a self-imposed restriction on GM research will not be sustainable in the long term.

Peter Hobman, general manager of Murray Goulburn Nutritionals, a wholly-owned subsidiary of Murray Goulburn -- the largest processor of milk in Australia -- said that while he can see the benefit in GM feed it has been made very clear by the businesses customers in countries, such as the US and Japan, that GM feed is not acceptable.

"We can only move as fast as our consumer countries move," said Hobman.

While Murray Goulburn can not give a 100 per cent guarantee that its cows have not been fed genetically modified organisms, he said that the company gives an undertaking to its consumers that a certain percentage of the feed is non GM.

Grant Rawlin, R&D director for Melbourne-based biotech Anadis, said that trading partners are saying that they do not want genetically modified organisms. "As a biotech you have to adapt your environment to accommodate the trading partners you are dealing with," he said.

Another limiting factor in providing for unmet needs in the agricultural industry, such as functional foods through gene therapy, is the so-called "Sainsbury's effect", said Imugene's MacLeman.

"Ultimate gatekeeping in food is done by the supermarkets," he said, referring to the situation in the UK where the Sainsbury's supermarket chain banned all GM food, a decision which was then followed by the other supermarkets in the UK.