George Paterson

Dr George Paterson is Director of the Scottish arm of the Food Standards Agency. At the first meeting of the FSA's board in Scotland, the topic of GM dominated the agenda. Dr Paterson was reported as saying, 'Openness, accessibility and transparency are our watchwords at FSA Scotland. They are vital if we are to rebuild public confidence in food safety' ^[1]

From 1996-2000 Paterson was director general of the food directorate within Health Canada, the government's health department. He has been linked to major food safety scandals in Canada in that period, which have led to accusations that he is in favour of genetically modified food and 'a friend of big business' ^[2]. These accusations are based, in particular, on an unpublished 35-page expert report written by John Verrall, a UK-based pharmaceutical chemist and researcher with the Food Ethics Council, an independent organisation which works to improve ethical standards in food and agriculture ^[3].

The report details Paterson's role within Health Canada and alleges he was involved in fast tracking approval of GM foods for Monsanto. An article published in 1999 in the Ottawa Citizen identified Paterson as the author of a leaked memo describing a private deal which resulted in rapid approval for two new kinds of GM potatoes made by Monsanto. Until the deal was negotiated, the potatoes had been held up in the regulatory system because Monsanto refused to provide key scientific information to regulators assessing the products' health and environmental effects, the memo shows. In the article, Michele Brill-Edwards - a former Health Canada drug regulator - says of the Paterson memo:

What you're seeing is a high-level example of a very dirty game that practically nobody knows about. These kinds of meetings go on all the time and it's almost never captured because people are careful not to let this kind of thing be known.

Verrall alleged that Paterson's directorate was involved in the overriding of Canadian government scientists' health warnings on Monsanto's GM Bovine Growth Hormone (rBGH or rBST), which is banned in Europe. Verrall, in his report, also alleged that Paterson rejected expert advice from his own scientists questioning the safety of the two hormone promoters, Revalor-H and Bovine Somatotropin (BST). Some of the scientists later filed a formal complaint alleging that they had been "pressured to pass drugs of questionable safety" ^[4].

Verrall argues in his report that it is wrong to appoint Paterson as the director of the FSA in Scotland. 'There must surely be questions regarding the suitability, acceptability and timeliness of this appointment. It does nothing for the credibility of an organisation, one of whose prime functions was said to be the restoration of public confidence.' ^[5]

References

1. ^ FSA Launch newsletter 'Feed us your views on food safety',, 22 June 2000.
2. ^ Rob Edwards, 'Report claims Scotland's food safety director is 'pro-GM', Sunday Herald, 9 March 2003.
3. ^ Food Ethics Council
4. ^ Pauline Tam, "Government fast-tracked Monsanto's GM potatoes", Ottawa Citizen, 30 November 1999, accessed March 25 2009
5. ^ Pauline Tam, "Government fast-tracked Monsanto's GM potatoes", Ottawa Citizen, 30 November 1999, accessed March 25 2009
6. ^ Food Ethics Council news 'Minority report on hormone food risks', 3 July 2006.
7. ^ Rob Edwards, 'Report claims Scotland's food safety director is 'pro-GM', Sunday Herald, 9 March 2003.
8. ^ Rob Edwards, 'Report claims Scotland's food safety director is 'pro-GM', Sunday Herald, 9 March 2003.