How could fish end up in my potatoes you might ask? The answer lies in genetic engineering. All over the world there is a war going on over genetically engineered or GE foods, with many European countries risking a trade ware with the United States by refusing to accept genetically altered crops. Due to public outcry, many UK supermarkets pulled GE products off the self and are labelling those remaining. In the US and Canada, GE Foods are widely available with no labelling required.

Genetic Engineering, also known as genetic modification (GM), transfers genes from one species to another -- in ways that could never happen in nature.

Scientists have already transferred genes from bacteria, viruses, insects, animals and even humans into plants and animals. It differs from traditional agriculture methods such as cross pollination or selective breeding that are based on natural reproductive mechanisms in the same species.

Using the traditional methods, one would never mate a potato and a fish or a canola plant with a human, yet genetic engineers have done this. Biotech giants like Monsanto based in St. Louis claim GE plants are a scientific miracle. Opponents, including local sports therapist Dick Johnson and chiropractor Dr. Donald Ray, believe as do many others tat claims purporting GE foods to be environmentally friendly, safe and a solution for world hunger are false.

Mr. Johnson, who has been researching GE Foods for years, says that GE Foods put the money and power in the hands of GE corporations like Monsanto who have developed the Terminator -- a complex of genes which can be spliced into any crop plants where it will cause every seed produced by the plant to be sterile. Companies sell these seeds to the farmers in Africa and Asia, making them sign contracts. As a result, the farmers will have to buy more seeds for the next sewing instead of saving seeds from one harvest to the next as would have been traditionally done. Moreover, by changing a plant's genes, the biotech companies can claim they `own' these plants and are the only ones who can profit from them. Basmati rice has been grown in South Asia for generations, and farmers have always assumed that they own the crops they grow and harvest. now a US company has patented a type of rice which they've called Basmati -- so farmers might not be able to use this name when they sell their rice abroad, unless they pay the company a fee.

Mr. Johnson also pointed out that claims that GE Foods require less pesticide, therefore are better for the environment, are not true. Crops on the market such as corn, soybeans and canola oil are genetically engineered to be resistant to herbicides, allowing more herbicide use. Studies show that these herbicides are more acutely toxic to humans. Also herbicide-resistant crops can cross pollinate with wild species producing herbicide resistant super weeds that can create ecological havoc.

GE insect resistant crops create different environmental problems. These plants contain their own pesticide. Environmentalists fear that even if a few insects survive they can breed with each other and produce strains of super bugs resistant to pesticides. These super bugs would destroy crops and also interfere with organic production. For the purpose of US Federal regulations, GE crops such as potatoes which have had bacterial toxin added as a pesticide are not considered a food but a pesticide. The potatoes therefore fall under the jurisdiction of the Environmental Protection Agency not the Food and Drug administration. In the case of GE crops over which the FDA does have jurisdiction, biotech companies are allowed to decide for themselves whether they need to consult the FDA. This means you can pick up a bag of GE chips in the supermarket and the label will tell you all about the nutrients they contain but not abut the fact that they contain Bacterial toxin.

Health concerns centre around the unpredictability of this new technology that can give rise to new allergies and toxins. The biotech company Pioneer Hi-Bred, transferred a brazil nut gene into soya to enrich its nutritional value. When tested on the skin and blood of people with nut allergies, it turned out that these people were now highly allergic to the new genetically engineered soybean. Despite the known allergenicity the same brazil nut protein has recently been engineered into potatoes, tobacco, broad beans and peas. Further health concerns are long term effects, impact on the human immune systems, antibiotic resistance and the emergence of new diseases tat can spread across species barrier like mad cow disease.

Unlike chemical or nuclear contaminants gene pollution can not be cleaned up.

The effect of genetic mistakes will be passed on to all future generations.

If you have been reading this article, you are probably wondering how you can avoid GE food as they are not labelled. The surest way to avoid GE foods is to buy organic foods. Buy organic and or local produce. Many English brands including Tescoss, ASDA, Sainsburys, Waitrose and Marks and Spencers have adopted non-GM policies or are labelling GM foods. Also buy English meat instead of US and avoid US dairy products. Cut down on processed foods. Tell your supermarket you want non-GE foods and raise the issue in your school, church and club. Contact your MP and let them know how you feel about GE foods.

You can also visit the web at www.truefood.org or contact Richard Johnson at the Sports Clinic - Tel. 2925025.