BRUSSELS, Belgium - The European Commission has proposed further changes to European Union rules in a bid to clarify the confusion that currently reigns in Europe on genetically modified foods. But the measure likely will not be enough to appease the consumer and environmental lobbies ranged against GM foods or accidental GMO presence in foods.

The changes, if adopted by the 15 EU member state governments in the Council of Ministers, would introduce a minimum threshold for the presence of genetically modified organisms in food. They would also tighten up the labeling rules for foods containing flavorings and additives derived from genetically modified organisms (GMOs).

The labeling threshold the commission is proposing is that for each ingredient, up to 1 percent of it may consist of genetically modified material. For example, in the case of a processed product containing maize starch, the percentage of allowed genetically modified material is not 1 percent of the product, but only 1 percent of the starch. Since starch usually represents only a fraction of the processed product, the percentage of genetically modified material in the processed product would be much lower than 1 percent.

The threshold aims at solving the problem faced by food producers that have tried to avoid GMOs but who still find themselves with a low percentage of GMO material in their products, due to accidental contamination.

The contamination arises when wind or birds carry seeds from fields of genetically modified soya or maize into fields of non-GMO crops.

But the threshold applies only to material that already has been authorized for human consumption in the EU, and producers will have to provide evidence they have avoided the use of GMOs as a source, and that the presence of GMOs is accidental.

The other change is that foods containing additives and flavorings produced from genetically modified organisms would be made subject to tougher labeling rules, in line with the recent EU regulation on novel foods.

Until now, additives and flavorings have been excluded. Now they will have to carry special label information when the additives or flavorings are, contain or consist of GMOs, when they raise a particular safety (such as for allergies) or ethical concern, or when they are not equivalent to their conventionally produced counterparts, because they contain protein or DNA resulting from genetic modification.

The commission made its proposal last week after winning the support of one of its key advisory bodies, the Standing Committee for Foods. It agreed to a threshold of 1 percent content of genetically modified organisms in food products, above which there would be a mandatory requirement to mention the GMO content on the label.

The commission said its proposed measures would enhance legal certainty for operators and consumers. Foods and food ingredients produced from GMOs already are covered by two EU regulations, one on novel foods and the other on labeling of genetically modified soya and maize products. These rules mean that they have to be labeled when they contain protein or DNA resulting from genetic modification.

But following consumer concerns about loopholes in the legislation, supermarkets across Europe have been clearing their shelves of suspect goods.

These proposals are not intended to lay down rules for labeling for foods that claim to be "GMO-free." This will be dealt with by subsequent rule changes, which could be proposed as early as next month, the commission said.

Anticipating the outcome of the Standing committee on Foods meeting, the Green group in the European Parliament challenged the European Commission thinking on the 1 percent GMO contamination threshold, and said the GM food labeling threshold is still too high. The Greens are asking European Industry Commissioner Erkki Liikanen to think again on the proposal.

But the Greens have welcomed the commission's moves to bring genetically modified additives and flavorings into the GMO labeling scheme. Specifically, they maintain that "although the food manufacturers will claim that 1 percent is too low, the big supermarket chains are already using a 0.1 percent benchmark for accidental contamination and some are actually aiming for zero tolerance," said Green European Parliament member Hiltrud Breyer. "Why then does the commission propose a completely arbitrary level often many times higher at 1 percent?"

"There is another major defect in this draft text," said Green President Paul Lannoye, a Belgian member of the European Parliament. "It only applies to the Monsanto soya and to the Novartis maize already approved in the EU. It does not integrate the same provisions in other legislation dealing with GMOs or novel food, so that GM tomato paste, for example, which was recently given a favorable opinion by the Scientific Committee on Plants, will not legally need to be tested for modified DNA or protein, nor will there be a statutory labeling threshold. This is clumsy and incoherent legislation."