Backlash on GM foods

The public has hardened its stance against genetically modified foods, according to a survey published today.

More than six out of 10 people polled on behalf of the consumer magazine Which? said they were concerned about the use of GM material in food production - up from 56 per cent in 2002.

The survey of almost 1,000 people also recorded a fall in the percentage who backed the widespread growth of GM crops in the UK.

Malcolm Coles, editor of Which?, said: "Consumers clearly don't want GM food and are hardening their stance against it."

The Government approved the commercial growing of one variety of genetically modified maize earlier this year.