Genetically modified foods are not allowed to be sold in Finland, but it remains difficult for the critical consumer to completely avoid groceries that utilise GM technology in some shape or form. “Genetically modified vegetables are used to produce medicines, and these medicines may also be used in organic production,” says Markku Keinänen, a researcher at the University of Eastern Finland and a member of the Advisory Board on Biotechnology.

The Central Union of Agricultural Producers and Forest Owners (MTK) said on Tuesday that wants voluntary labelling of food products to indicate any phases of the production chain in which genetically modified products have been used. The MTK has been pushed to make a statement on the use of GM animal feed ever since food producers LSO Foods and Lounais-farmi said earlier in the summer that they would start to import GM soybeans for use in pig feed.

Minister of Agriculture Sirkka-Liisa Antilla hopes meat manufacturers and processors using genetically modified feed would voluntarily indicate this on their products. She said the preservation of consumer confidence in Finnish foodstuffs was essential. The Minister added consumers had the right to know what they purchased and put into their food.