Opinions

Gordon Ramsay, head chef at Gordon Ramsay:

"Getting some DNA and transporting it into the innards of a tomato is not the direction I want us to go."

Nico Ladenis, chef-proprietor of Chez Nico:

"I like tomatoes which rot - I'm suspicious when they take a long time to go off. This is messing around with nature and evolution and the whole life-cycle."

Antonio Carluccio, food writer and broadcaster:

"I am completely against the modification of genes of animals and vegetables. The human body shouldn't be a dustbin just to help profits and business."

Antony Worrall Thompson, celebrity chef and owner of the Woz and Wiz restaurants:

"Labelling would certainly help give the customer the choice. We need a period of testing: people say these foods are dead safe, tested for years and years, but how do we know?

Dr David Barling, senior lecturer at the Centre for Food Policy, Thames Valley University:

"I'm not against technology itself, but we do need a more considered use of technology. And ... consumers aren't offered a transparent choice between different types of food.

Andrew Simms, campaigns communications, Christian Aid:

"Companies like Monsanto are trying to soften up the European public, and ... the industry knows it cannot win on the health front. So, it is selling GM food on the basis that it will help cure world hunger. That argument is utterly disingenuous, and shows the company is prepared to use any tactic to make money."

Sean Hill, head chef at The Merchant House:

"I'm not a Luddite, just cautious. In Britain, we've got a bad track record of scares on the quality of food, and vested interests always assure you there's nothing to worry about. Then, a few years later, the man from the ministry tells us to eat the food in our cupboards a little quicker, cook everything a little longer."

Caroline Conran, cookery writer and author of The Conran Cookbook:

"The important campaign is for a five-year freeze. We're saying look into the implications before you flood the Third World with it. It's the environmental impact which is important."