I refer to your report headlined, 'GM giants fighting back' (South China Morning Post, December 6).
With typical corporate double-speak, Anthony Tan, managing director of Du Pont China, deliberately obfuscated the issue with his contradictory remarks. On the one hand, he stated 'it was Du Pont's principle to inform consumers so they could make an informed choice'. On the other hand, he said he had reservations about enforced labelling of genetically modified food products, saying no one would want to read pages of information.
The fact is the consumer is not asking for reams of information, but simply asking for products to be labelled so we know whether the product on offer is genetically modified or contains any genetically modified substances. If so, and the consumer is concerned about the health implications, he has the choice not to buy it. This choice is not available to the consumer if the products are not labelled.
If companies such as Du Pont are so confident that genetically modified foods are such a wonderful thing, why aren't they proudly proclaiming that fact with labelling them as such, instead of being so seemingly afraid of labelling? T. T. MOK Happy Valley
