Deirdre Hutton, chair, National Consumer Council GM has yet to prove itself. The first products did not deliver benefits to consumers in return for the risks they felt they might be running. And while the so-called "second generation" of GM crops holds out the promise of benefits in the form of healthier and longer lasting foods, these are a long way from market and will require much more research and safety testing before they are publicly available. The biotech industry is putting its faith in the second generation of GM crops to restore consumer confidence in GM foods. But if the GM industry is to prosper, the concerns of consumers must be addressed. One of the thorny issues at the moment is contamination of crops by GM varieties. Currently, there is a zero tolerance approach to accidental contamination by GM varieties which, although unapproved in the EU, are permitted in other parts of the world (mainly the US). The US agribusiness says zero-tolerance is unworkable and there are moves in the EU ­ under pressure from the US ­ to permit a certain level of contamination from unapproved GM crops. This proposal, if it sees the light of day, makes a mockery of the whole safety testing and approval process. Why bother to have an approval process if we are going to permit foods to be contaminated with GM crops that have not been subject to the same testing procedures? It is this type of fudged approval process that undermines the confidence of consumers. Before any compromise on the approval process is conceded, consumers will expect a fuller investigation which includes their concerns. Despite what is often said, consumers do not expect absolute, 100% safety. But unless they are convinced of the genuine benefits of biotechnology, they will find no good reason to bear the perceived risks ­ however small these may be. {{NEWS }}