Britain's Largest Food Co., Unilever, Bans GE Foods
Date: Wed, Apr 28, 1999, 8:48 AM
Times of London (UK)

Public Safety Concerns Have Added to the Pressure on Manufacturers to
Change Tack, writes Nick Nuttall


Cap'n Birdseye Puts Freeze on GM Foods


BRITAIN'S biggest food manufacturer announced yesterday that it would
remove genetically modified ingredients from its products in response to
consumer concern.


In a move which will create alarm throughout the biotechnology industry
Unilever, which owns the Birds Eye-Walls and Van den Bergh companies,
said that it could not ignore the sea-change in public opinion over the
past three months. Among the firm's 25 products that contain GM soya are
Beanfeast, the biggest-selling branded meat substitute, Birds Eye
beefburgers and Vesta curries.


Tesco, Britain's largest food retailer, also announced yesterday that it
was clearing GM ingredients from own-brand pro-ducts. A spokesman said:
"We think we should be largely GM-free by the end of the year in terms
of the 200 products that are own-label."


Iceland, Asda, Sainsbury and Waitrose had already decided to drop GM
products. Safeway and Somerfield are the last big chains to hold out
against the campaign by environmental and consumer groups, chefs and
restaurateurs against GM soya, maize and other crops.


Unilever's decision delighted environmental groups. The company said
Beanfeast, which it has been labelling as containing genetically
modified soya, would be GM-free in two months. Other products would
switch to non-GM soya or be reformulated over the coming months.


Duncan Bogie, a spokesman for Van den Bergh, said that during the
campaign against gene-altered foods, sales had held up well. "But since
the beginning of the year we have seen a significant shift in consumer
perception after an unprecedented media campaign."


He said there had been a drop in sales and a sharp rise in calls to
consumer helplines, which he described as a "sensitive barometer".
Labelling of GM foods had heightened consumer awareness, he added.


Lord Melchett, a director of Greenpeace, said: "Unilever is the largest
food manufacturer in the world. This sends a clear message to Tony Blair
that he should listen to the power of consumers and ban GM crops."


Greenpeace met the heads of Unilever UK on Monday and has had talks with
Tesco. The pressure group said it hoped that Unilever's overseas
operations would follow suit.


The Unilever GM soya products include Birds Eye Chicksticks; Chicken
Quarterpounders; Southern Fried Chicken Nuggets; Original Beefburgers
and Texas Griddlers; Crispy Batter Fillet Fish Fingers; Roast Pork
Platter; Chilli Con Carne, Crunchy Jacks; and Roast Lamb Platter.


The Van den Bergh foods include Beanfeast's Savoury Mince; Vegetable
Curry and Mexican Chilli and Vesta Beef Curry; Vegetable Curry with
Rice; Chicken Tika and Chow Mein.


The news will come as a further blow to the Government's push to
persuade consumers that genetically modifed crops and foods are
acceptable. Jack Cunningham, the Cabinet Office Minister, yesterday
mounted a strong economic defence of the GM industry.


He told MPs that the market for biotechnology, including crops, foods
and drugs, would be worth L70 billion worldwide next year.


Dr Cunningham mounted a stern defence on economic grounds for being
behind the technology and blamed media scare stories for undermining
public confidence in the technology and government regulation.


He told the Environmental Audit Select Committee that biotechnology
could be worth "up to L10 billion" to Britain next year. "There are
formidable interests here for us," he said.


Dr Cunningham, who chairs the powerful Cabinet committee into
biotechnology, said there were 250 small to medium-sized companies
employing 14,000 people directly involved in the new science.


Indirectly, a quarter of Britain's industry, from pharmaceuticals to
food, employing 1.7 million people, had a stake in biotechnology's
future, he said.


But his evidence was dismissed by Pete Riley, of Friends of the Earth,
who said the lion's share of the biotechnology industry was mainly
medically related, which environmental groups did not oppose.


Mr Riley said the pressure group's campaign was against GM crops and
foods which represented only a small proportion of the business of
British biotechnology firms.