Sir; Your response to Patrick Holden's letter (February 16) was far too kind. His spin-doctored portrayal of the Royal Society's recent report, like that in Zac Goldsmith's letters to the national press, was far from "responsible". It is best characterised by the President of the Royal Society Lord May's authoritative response in the Sunday Times (February 17), in which he says: "There is no sound reason to believe that genetic modification makes food inherently unsafe. However, as the RS has consistently pointed out, any novel foodstuffs, regardless of whether they contain GM ingredients, need to be tested rigorously before they reach the consumer." Lord May suggests the anti-GM lobby's "claims that the use of genetic modification makes food hazardous to human health are beginning to look as if they are driven by dogmatic ideology rather than science." (See also p14) I am quite comfortable with organic food production, provided that the same food safety and HACCP measures are adopted as are required in food production generally, just as I (and the food science community generally) are comfortable with the responsible application of GM provided that issues of product safety, environmental concerns, information and ethics are satisfactorily addressed. However, the organic food industry (of which the Soil Association is the principal UK certifying body, and now seeks a UK monopoly position) is big business and therefore may be perceived as a vested interest, of which GM food would be a major competitor. So in the case of the Soil Association, your readers might discern an additional driving force beyond plain dogma. Patrick Holden also imputes a biased motive to you, Sir, by referring to "your trip to Monsanto's HQ in 2000". I admire your self-restraint in not responding in kind by pointing out that activist anti-GM propaganda on the Soil Association's part could well be seen as a manifestation of the age-old practice, with which your readers will be familiar, of a supplier "knocking" a competitor's product. Prof J Ralph Blanchfield MBE {{LETTERS }}