The European Parliament today adopted a report on euphemistically-named 'novel foods', relating to, inter alia, nanotechnology, genetically-modified products and meat from cloned animals. The vote decided in favour of strict safety testing to authorise nanotech food and compulsory labelling for both nanotech food and that originating from GM-fed animals.

Commenting on the approved 'Novel Food' Regulation, Green MEP Hiltrud Breyer said:

"Consumers must not be guinea pigs for new forms of food. We therefore welcome the European Parliament's vote for strict safety standards for nanomaterials. Today, foods containing nanomaterials have already been allowed onto the EU market without any controls or safeguards, even though the potential risks are yet to be adequately assessed.

Today Parliament backed our call to withhold authorisation for foods produced with the aid of nanotechnologies until adequate test methods are available. This means a moratorium on nano-foods and we call on the food industry to take existing affected products off the market until their safety is assured.

Our demand for mandatory labelling of nanomaterial ingredients has been supported by Parliament. We are also very happy that our proposal to finally close the GMO-labelling gap with regard to animal products has passed. Food from animals fed with GMOs - whether, meat, milk or eggs - must now be labelled as such. This is a victory for consumer rights and choice.

Parliament agreed on a prohibition of meat from cloned animals and declared that testing on vertebrate animals should only be undertaken as a last resort. However, on the initiative of the conservatives, the prohibition of 'duplicate' vertebrate animal testing was withdrawn from the original report."