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Citizens' jury details announced

Friday 14 February 2003

A citizens' jury will consider the question 'Should GM food be available to buy in the UK?' to inform the Food Standard Agency's GM food debate.

The FSA has commissioned Opinion Leader Research (OLR) to run a citizens' jury to test public opinion about GM food, exploring public concerns and testing their validity, and informing the Agency's thinking about the issue.

Professor Kathy Sykes, the new Bristol University Collier Professor in the Public Engagement of Science and Engineering, which seeks to communicate scientific and technological research in a user-friendly way to the public, will introduce the three-day event in Slough. She is also one of five presenters of BBC 2's Rough Science programme.

The 12-16 jury members will be recruited by OLR using well-established methods and will reflect the local population. They will hear evidence from a wide cross-section of experts in the field, and will be able to question the experts and ask for additional evidence, before formulating a response. The jury will also be asked to explain the reasoning behind their decision, including any conditions or recommendations.

To ensure transparency, the citizens' jury proceedings will be broadcast on the internet and all evidence presented to the jury will be published on the FSA's website.

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