CHORLEY Borough Council are being lobbied over their use of genetically modified food in school meals.

Media and Campaigns Coordinator for the Leigh Green Party, Chris Maile, wrote to both Chorley Borough Council and Lancashire County Council urging them to adopt their motion and ban GM foods from school menus.

This campaign follows a similar one last year by the Green Party who wrote to Wigan MBC without reply.

Now they are determined that the issue be debated both at Council chamber and national level.

Mr Maile said: "We simply do not know enough about genetically modified foods to allow our children to eat them.

"After all our MP's refuse to have them on the menu in Parliament's restaurants, therefore what's good for the gander is good enough for our children.

"Of course can not be 100 per cent sure as to whether GM foods are on Chorley school menus. But whilst the council has not issued a statement assuring us otherwise we can only assume that they are."

Both Kent County Council and the London Borough of Lambeth have scrapped GM foods from schools and the organisation is hoping that Chorley will soon follow suit.

In their letter to the council The Green Party have expressed fears over the safety of feeding children GM foods as their safety can not be guaranteed.

However, a spokesman for Lancashire County Council said: "We do make every effort to ensure that food on school menus is both safe and nutritious."

But Mr Maile remains sceptical: "I have never seen GM foods labelled in a cafe and I doubt they do the same in schools.

"Scientists are still checking out the safety of these products and while there is any uncertainty I would urge Chorley's council to put pressure on Lancashire County Council to ban them, at least until we are sure."

Converted for the new archive on 14 July 2000. Some images and formatting may have been lost in the conversion.