Amflora potatoes, developed by German chemical giant BASF is likely to become the first genetically modified crop in the last decade to be approved for growth in Europe, have become the unlikely focus of the an angry debate over such products on the continent.

The European Commission (EC) now says it will approve the potato “probably this fall,” even though European ministers have twice been deadlocked on approval over the last eight months. But European environmental groups are critical of Amflora potatoes, saying they could release dangerous genes into the environment. Still, perhaps the biggest hurdle for Amflora is the visceral popular reaction against genetically modified crops on a continent whose food culture is ancient and treasured.

In one sense, the irony is that Amflora is not a food at all. Although it looks, feels and smells like any other potato, each one is actually a genetically engineered factory for amylopectin, a starch used to make glossy paper coatings, clothing finishes and adhesive cement. Normal potatoes combine amylopectin and amylose; the gene for amylose is turned off in Amflora potatoes, which taste terrible, and will never be turned into French fries or a potato salad.

Genetically modified

Only one per cent of the world’s genetically modified food is grown in Europe. In contrast, 55 per cent of the world’s genetically modified crops is grown in the United States. The European Commission has been under enormous pressure to open its doors to crops like this since a WTO decision in 2006 that made banning genetically modified crops tantamount to an illegal trade barrier. Close to 70 per cent of Germans do not want genetically modified organisms (GMO), in their food.

In February 2006, a scientific review by the European Food Safety Agency concluded that planting Amflora to make starch posed no more risk than planting an ordinary potato. Based on that opinion, Europe’s administrative governing body, the European Commission, recommended approval and passed the application to the Council of Ministers, where it has been voted on twice, first by a council of experts from member states in December and again by European agriculture ministers. Approval requires a 74 per cent majority.

But the two votes were inconclusive, with a huge number of countries abstaining on a decision that is a political minefield. Many experts and even some of Europe’s environment ministers continue to dispute the European food agency’s scientific opinion that Amflora is safe for cultivation. One concern is that it contains a gene for antibiotic resistance that could get out of the potato and into the environment, making bacteria that infect man and beast more difficult to treat.

The European Food Safety Agency concluded that this was unlikely given the closed system in which potato-based starch is produced. But a second dossier from BASF — one that received a positive review from the food safety agency, but has not yet come to a ministers’ vote — involves using leftover Amflora pulp from starch production for animal feed.

“It is a fact that there will be contamination, given the volume of the industry,” said Contiero of Greenpeace. “And if animals are eating pulp it certainly will end up in the food chain.”