The Joint Research Centre, the European Union’s scientific and technical research laboratory, released a study on the health impact of GM foods on Thursday. While admitting that ”little is known about the potential long term health effects” of GM foods, it said foods put forward for regulatory approval to date had not had harmful effects. It also said GM crops approved in the EU were not found to have caused allergies such as skin reactions. Robert Sturdy, a member of the European parliament who sits on the environmental and agricultural committees, said the report showed Europe needed to ”move forward” on the GM debate.