Canada:
Consumers say no to Genetically Engineered food

Greenpeace and the Council of Canadians joined forces last 
month to protest the refusal by international food companies to 
give Canadians the same environmental and health protection that 
Europeans receive.

At a news conference in front of a popular Toronto supermarket, 
the two organisations released documents from international food 
companies, including Nestlé, Kellogg's, Mars, Heinz, Cadbury, 
Kraft, Unilever, General Mills, Campbells, and Frito-Lay, who 
have taken genetically engineered ingredients out of their 
products in Europe, but refuse to do so in Canada.

The groups called on the three major Canadian food chains 
(Loblaws, Sobeys and Safeway) to take genetically engineered (GE) 
foods off retail shelves.

A Greenpeace spokesperson said: "Food producers and retailers 
cannot justify this double standard. If genetically engineered 
food is not fit for Europeans, it is not fit for Canadians 
either."

The three chains have refused to provide consumers with GE-free 
choices in contrast to Britain's top supermarket chains, Mark's & 
Spencer, Sainsbury's, Safeways', and Tesco, which pride 
themselves on providing customers with GE-free food.

Marks & Spencer, one of Britain's largest food chains, became the 
first major British retailer to go completely genetically-
engineered food free on July 1. From that date, all M&S foods 
have been produced without GE ingredients or derivatives.

More than 5,000 ingredients made from soy and corn were checked 
and changes were made to 1,800 recipes to strip all M&S products 
of GE ingredients or derivatives.

The two Canadian groups called on Canadian consumers to pressure 
local grocery chains to remove GE ingredients from all house 
brand products, phase out GE from all other products in the 
store, ensure that all fresh produce remains GE-free and, in the 
meantime, label all GE products on the shelves.

"Genetically engineered foods have not been proven safe for human 
health and the environment", said Jennifer Story, health 
protection campaigner for the Council of Canadians.

According to the Canadian Food Inspection Agency, approximately 
60-75 percent of all Canadian processed food contains GE 
ingredients.

Both groups noted scientific concerns that the planting and 
consumption of genetically engineered foods has gone ahead with 
no long-term government testing for heath or environmental 
impacts.

Elizabeth Abergel, a molecular biologist working on food 
regulatory issues at York University, said, "The timelines 
necessary for proper assessment of environmental and human health 
risks are being compromised by a commercial desire to rush this 
to market. If a threat develops, we won't know until it's too 
late.

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