Assess scientifically instead of banning indiscriminately
The debate surrounding PFAS is gaining momentum in Switzerland. At its core are questions about potential risks to human health and the environment, as well as future regulatory approaches. A differentiated, science-based approach is essential – as emphasised by scienceindustries in a short interview with Dominique Werner, Head of Chemicals Regulation.
What’s Really in Your Shopping Basket
Genetic engineering in our shopping basket? Yes – and much more often than we think. Whether it’s pasta, bread or vegetables: many of the everyday products we consume come from mutation breeding, which involves altering the genome and is considered safe. It’s high time to debunk the common myths.
How German Experts View New Breeding Techniques
In hardly any other country is the idyllic image of organic farming cultivated in the public sphere as carefully as in Germany. Naturalness and rural authenticity are powerful mental refuges for many Germans. Against this backdrop, it is hardly surprising that resistance to new breeding techniques is strong – and that ignorance about the realities of organic farming sometimes appears almost deliberate.
Myths & Facts
swiss-food stands for fact-based information. Important facts are explained here in an understandable way.
To the myths and factsFrom the media
Sales bans due to PFAS: Should we be worried?
After spectacular sales bans on fish and meat due to PFAS contamination, consumers are asking themselves: How dangerous are these substances really – and what can still be placed in the shopping basket without concern?
How German Experts View New Breeding Techniques
In hardly any other country is the idyllic image of organic farming cultivated in the public sphere as carefully as in Germany. Naturalness and rural authenticity are powerful mental refuges for many Germans. Against this backdrop, it is hardly surprising that resistance to new breeding techniques is strong – and that ignorance about the realities of organic farming sometimes appears almost deliberate.
Why consumers accept gene-edited foods on their plates
Acceptance of gene-edited foods increases when the tangible benefits for consumers are easy to understand. A recent study by the Center for Food Integrity (CFI), conducted in collaboration with FMI – The Food Industry Association, shows that consumers evaluate technologies such as genome editing positively when they recognize clear advantages for health, the environment, or food security.
Beautiful and delicious mutants on your plate: The misunderstood world of crop improvement
When most of us hear the word mutation, the images that come to mind are not positive. We think of radioactive monsters, comic book villains, or genetic diseases like sickle-cell anemia. In popular culture, “mutants” are often synonymous with danger. Possibly the most famous are Marvel’s X-Men, who have enjoyed four big-screen incarnations and an enduring place among sci-fi movie aficionados.
Knowledge
Residues, thresholds, trust – looking calmly behind the headlines
In this conversation with toxicologist Lothar Aicher, the discussion focuses on how residues enter the body, how their potential harm is assessed, and what role modern analytical methods play.
Hazard is not the same as risk: how we understand – and should understand – threshold values
In this episode of the podcast, risk researcher Angela Bearth discusses residues and threshold values in food – a topic often debated emotionally. In public discussions, threshold values tend to dominate, while the complex challenges of agriculture are rarely considered. Studies show, however, that once these relationships are explained and solutions are addressed, people respond in a more differentiated way.
PFAS, trade-offs and responsibility – how politics and agriculture find solutions
In this episode of the joint series by Agrarpolitik – der Podcast and swiss-food.ch, National Councillor Christine Badertscher discusses how residues and threshold values are debated in Parliament.
Thresholds, approvals, responsibility – how plant protection products are really assessed
Threshold values are often at the centre of public debate – yet in reality they are only a small part of a much broader risk assessment system. Dr Michael Beer, Head of the Food and Nutrition Division at the Federal Food Safety Office, provides clarity.
Green biotech: safety concerns no longer hold water
At the end of October, swiss-food.ch hosted a film screening and panel discussion in Zurich on the subject of genome editing entitled “Between Protest and Potential”. The well-attended event dealt with the emotional debates in recent decades surrounding genetic engineering. The event showed that the situation has changed fundamentally.
Audio & Video
swiss-food has a large selection of exciting videos and podcasts on the topics of food, agriculture and research.
To the podcasts and videosPolitics
Assess scientifically instead of banning indiscriminately
The debate surrounding PFAS is gaining momentum in Switzerland. At its core are questions about potential risks to human health and the environment, as well as future regulatory approaches. A differentiated, science-based approach is essential – as emphasised by scienceindustries in a short interview with Dominique Werner, Head of Chemicals Regulation.
Faster Approval of Crop Protection Products Long Overdue
Switzerland diligently bans active substances that have also been withdrawn from the market in the EU. Conversely, it is dragging its feet: modern products that are approved in neighboring countries remain blocked. With the adoption of the amendment to the Agriculture Act, the National Council has now taken an important step toward faster approval of plant protection products.
Differing perceptions
While the increasing administrative burden is perceived as the main concern in the economy, parts of the population see it differently. Meanwhile, regulations are repeatedly misused as a means of exerting power in the competitive struggle – to the detriment of SMEs.
Domestic production as a blind spot
Switzerland's food security is increasingly under pressure: last year's disastrous wheat and potato harvests have led to an increasing dependence on imports. However, the report by the Federal Office for National Economic Supply (FONES) is largely silent on the precarious state of the domestic agricultural sector. The IG BauernUnternehmen (Farmers' Company) has therefore sharply criticised the federal government.
Blindspot
Blindspot articles are marked with a small spotlight and illuminate the «blind spots» in the agricultural policy debate.
To the Blindspot articlesResearch
Lack of diversity becomes an existential problem
The dwindling genetic diversity in fields is becoming an increasing problem. Unfortunately, this problem is growing steadily, partly because politicians in Switzerland and the EU are viewing the issue through ideological lenses instead of listening to science.
Research into fungal diseases in Lyon
Fungal diseases are one of the greatest threats to global food production. They endanger crops, cause billions in damage every year and have always put farmers under pressure. A detailed report by RTS provides insights into Bayer's global research and development centre in Lyon, where new, environmentally compatible fungicides are being researched.
Science sounds the alarm: Federal Council draft slows down innovation
The new genomic breeding methods are regarded worldwide as a source of hope for climate-resilient agriculture – precise, efficient, and safe. While countries such as the US, Japan, and soon the EU are pushing for deregulation, the Federal Council's regulatory proposal remains tentative. Now researchers and industry are sounding the alarm: the proposed rules are so strict that they would effectively block innovation and application.
Approvals are becoming a brake on innovation worldwide – and agriculture is being left behind
New findings from the United States highlight what has long been a reality in Europe and Switzerland as well: the development and approval of new crop protection products has become such a complex, lengthy, and costly process that even innovative, sustainable solutions can hardly reach the market anymore.
Reason Over Ideology: The International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) Rejects a Blanket Ban on Genetically Modified Organisms – A Victory for Science
Stephanie Lahrtz
Science Editor, NZZ
'Pure hubris'
Patrick Dümmler
Head of Sustainability and Economic Policy at the Swiss Trade Association
We are bringing up the rear in Europe when it comes to plant protection
David Brugger
Head of Plant Production, Swiss Farmers’ Union
Carte Blanche: Excessive Anti-Alcohol Strategy
Philipp Schwander
Master of Wine, wine expert and entrepreneur
«Plant breeding calls for liberal rules»
Jürg Niklaus
Jürg Niklaus has a doctorate in law and is an advocate of plant breeding.
More pesticides, more genetic engineering: How we are overcoming hunger.
Markus Somm
Journalist, publicist, publisher and historian
«What plant breeding brings us»
Achim Walter
Professor of Crop Science, ETH Zurich
Content in German
«The fear of genetically modified plants is unwarranted»
Anke Fossgreen
Head of Knowledge Team Tamedia
Reason Over Ideology: The International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) Rejects a Blanket Ban on Genetically Modified Organisms – A Victory for Science
Stephanie Lahrtz
Science Editor, NZZ
'Pure hubris'
Patrick Dümmler
Head of Sustainability and Economic Policy at the Swiss Trade Association
We are bringing up the rear in Europe when it comes to plant protection
David Brugger
Head of Plant Production, Swiss Farmers’ Union
Carte Blanche: Excessive Anti-Alcohol Strategy
Philipp Schwander
Master of Wine, wine expert and entrepreneur
«Plant breeding calls for liberal rules»
Jürg Niklaus
Jürg Niklaus has a doctorate in law and is an advocate of plant breeding.
More pesticides, more genetic engineering: How we are overcoming hunger.
Markus Somm
Journalist, publicist, publisher and historian
«What plant breeding brings us»
Achim Walter
Professor of Crop Science, ETH Zurich
Content in German
«The fear of genetically modified plants is unwarranted»
Anke Fossgreen
Head of Knowledge Team Tamedia