Canadian Alliance agriculture critic Howard Hilstrom says he intends to ask a similar question of every witness appearing at Parliament Hill hearings on whether to label food containing genetically altered material.
Do they believe GMO foods are safe and have they ever heard of anyone getting sick or dying from eating GMO foods?
Hilstrom regularly accuses GMO skeptics of being fear mongers and raising health concerns which do not exist.
So far, all witnesses have said they think GMO foods approved by the regulatory system are safe and they have never heard of illness or death caused by GMO food consumption.
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But last week, witnesses also suggested that the question is too narrow to satisfy or to answer consumer concerns.
“Just saying the products are safe is not a sufficient answer,” Susanne Hendricks, a member of the government-appointed Canadian Biotechnology Advisory Committee, told MPs.
Consumer reactions to what they see as scientific tampering with natural food processes also is a matter of trust and the values which societies hold.
“I think it is important that consumers know that (the product is safe) but that is not enough,” she said.
AndrŽ Gravel, executive vice-president of the Canadian Food Inspection Agency, said it also is not clear how much consumers understand about assurances of safety and test results when they are printed on labels.
“The science literacy of the average consumer is not very good,” he told the House of Commons agriculture committee.
New Democrat Dick Proctor raised the issue of whether the CFIA has credibility with consumers when it proclaims on the safety of food. He said critics believe the agency has a conflict of interest in both regulating food product safety and promoting food sales.
Gravel rejected the charge.
He said the CFIA is “a regulator, not a promoter” and sufficient checks and balances exist in a system in which Health Canada sets safety standards and the agency enforces them.
“I think the issue of conflict of interest is a non-issue, a red herring,” he said.
