The Government says there is no link between a proposal for a hundredfold increase in the allowable residue of the potentially carcinogenic herbicide glyphosate in some food products and the GMO bill making its way through parliament.

Consultation on the proposal is being advanced at the same time as the Gene Technology Bill, which would legalise the use of genetically modified crops in New Zealand.

While it’s a dramatic lift in the maximum allowable level of residue, Canterbury University toxicology professor Ian Shaw told Newsroom it wasn’t a risk and wouldn’t take the average person near the World Health Organization’s maximum daily limit.

While he takes issue with some of the Government’s approach to glyphosate, Shaw said residue limits were set on trading grounds, not health grounds. “I haven’t yet come across a residue limit that isn’t toxicologically okay.”

…

Greenpeace campaigner Genevieve Toop said it was “unbelievable” that the authority hadn’t done a full risk assessment “and now they’re trying to increase how much we can eat by a hundredfold.”

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