The Amflora potato has been engineered to carry a gene that produces and enzyme making it resistant to several antibiotics, including kanamycin, neomycin, butirosin, and gentamicin. At a time when multi-drug resistant tuberculosis has resulted in resurgence of the disease, approval of a crop that's engineered for it seems foolhardy. The European Medicines Agency (EMA) has expressed concern, saying that some of these antibiotics may be critical in addressing the TB resurgence.

Amflora is intended for use in industry. It produces a starch that can be used in paper, concrete, and glue production. The European Commission approved its growth in the belief that it can save water, energy, and chemicals. Perhaps it will, but what will its costs be in human lives?

The European Food and Safety Authority (EFSA) said there was no good reason to withhold approval. However, EU Health and Consumer Policy Commissioner John Dalli stated:

It is going to be a controlled environment in which it will be grown.

If it's so safe, why does it need to be grown in a controlled environment? Indeed, what are the chances that it won't crossbreed with other plants? The history of GM plants has demonstrated that it's a common occurrence. Worse, it seems to be of little concern to the manufacturer, other than as a means of coercing payment from farmers whose crops have been polluted by GM crossbreeding.

Greenpeace stated:

This genetically modified crop poses an unacceptable risk to human and animal health, as well as to the environment. Dalli has agreed to this cold-blooded approval that flies in the face of science, public opinion and EU law.

Antibiotic resistance is already a major problem in cattle. Agribusiness's massive use of antibiotics is blamed for a large portion of drug-resistant disease in humans. Yet, BASF's product will be fed to cattle, which can only worsen an already dangerous situation. Heike Moldenhauer of Friends of the Earth stated:

The commissioner whose job is to protect consumers has, in one of his first decisions, ignored public opinion and safety concerns to please the world's biggest chemical company.

Several countries are lining up to grow Amflora, including Sweden, German, The Netherlands, and the Czech Republic. However, not all European countries agree with the EU's decision. Italy says that it will not allow Amflora to be grown there, and France has spoken out strongly against it. A junior minister in the French government, Chantal Jouanno, said that the EFSA had ignored the environmental risks of GM organisms. She said:

We do not recognize their expertise because we consider that their opinions are incomplete.

They are only interested in the sanitary consequences of GMOs, without taking into account their long-term environmental impact.

One thing is clear in the genetically modified organisms debate: Agribusiness and corporate profits trump everything else, including the health of people and the earth.