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Mothers for Natural LawInternational News on Genetic Engineering in AgricultureBiweekly News 99/09/03Thanks to Dennis Dey, Richard Wolfson, and NLP Wessex for these items.
Articles have been aggressively shortened. ------------------ Daily Mail via NewsEdge Corporation
GM Industry Faces Collapse, Says Bank THE City has turned against 'Frankenstein Foods' with a warning from a leading investment bank that genetically modified crops have no future. Deutsche Bank has produced a report for investors advising them to steer clear of companies associated with GM crops. The influential report is a major blow to an enormously powerful industry which has previously tried to bully governments and consumers into accepting the tainted technology. The bank's report concludes simply that 'GM organisms are dead' because consumers are suspicious about their impact on human health and the environment. It warns that farmers who plant GM crops could lose money, that the stock market value of GM companies could collapse and that food companies will not risk using such ingredients. The report admits that GM-free crops are already being sold at a higher price than their GM equivalent, which will encourage farmers to steer clear of the technology. ... The report points out the saying they can be found in everything from soft drinks - with GM corn syrup used in some products - through to salads, with GM soya oil in the dressing. But the report warns this could be about to change: 'Perhaps we don't yet fully realise it, but genetically modified organisms have just crossed the line. Today the term GM has become a liability. 'We predict that GM, once perceived as the driver of the bull case for this sector, will now be perceived as a pariah.' It adds: 'The message is a scary one - increasingly, GM organisms are, in our opinion, becoming a liability to farmers.' Biotech companies and farmers who plant GM crops could be faced with expensive long-running court cases and 'a legal mess' if their pollen pollutes neighbouring fields, says the report. ------------------ GUARDIAN (London)
Ministers shelve GM crop testing for judicial review The government has suspended large scale planting of genetically modified oilseed rape due to start today because it fears the High Court may order them dug up again. The decision was made by the treasury solicitor yesterday after studying papers which claim that civil servants used administrative short cuts to rush through licences for large new releases of oilseed rape. ------------------ Copyright 1999 The Financial Times Limited
Retail group to ban ingredients One of Germany's leading retail associations yesterday became the latest European group to promise not to sell products containing genetically modified ingredients. "We take the consumer seriously and support his desire for comprehensive information on the subject of genetic technology," the Hamburg-based Edeka group said. It said its policy applied to its own brands of product and those provided to its stores by outside suppliers. Edeka is a voluntary association of 6,500 independent retailers operating about 9,000 outlets ranging from supermarkets and drugstores to bakeries. Most of its stores are in Germany, where it has a 23.8 per cent share of the grocery market, but it also has 340 outlets in Denmark and a handful each in the Czech Republic, France and Poland. Tony Barber, Frankfurt ------------------ SAO PAULO (Reuters)
Brazil Court Rejects Monsanto Appeal on GM Soybeans A Brazilian judge said Monday he upheld a ruling against Monsanto Co that could shelve plans to launch sales of genetically modified (GM) soybeans this year. Federal judge Antonio Souza Prudente said the U.S. biotechnology giant's local unit must perform a one-year environmental impact study before selling its transgenic crop in Brazil. Copyright 1999 Reuters Limited. ------------------ TOKYO, Sept 1 (Reuters)
Japan Food Maker to Drop Gene-Altered Soybeans Japan's largest maker of soybean protein food products, Fuji Oil Co Ltd, said on Wednesday the group will stop using genetically modified (GM) soybeans by next April due to consumer concern over the safety of bioengineered crops. Fuji Oil will start switching to non-GM soybeans in the October-March period, a company spokesman said. Until now Fuji Oil has not distinguished between GM and non-GM soybeans when placing orders. The Fuji Oil group uses 80,000-100,000 tonnes of soybeans annually, most of which is imported from the United States. ------------------ TOKYO, Reuters [WN] via NewsEdge Corporation
Sapporo to Shun GM Corn, Others May Follow Suit Japan's third-largest beer maker Sapporo Breweries Ltd said on Wednesday it will stop using genetically modified (GM) corn to make beer, after industry leader Kirin Brewery Co took the same action the previous day. ------------------ TOKYO, Reuters [WN] via NewsEdge Corporation
Honda Unit to Build U.S. Plant for Non-GM Soybeans Honda Trading Corp, a wholly owned unit of Japanese automaker Honda Motor Co Ltd <7267.T>, said on Wednesday it will build a plant in the U.S. state of Ohio for sorting and bagging soybeans free of genetically modified organisms. The company plans to spend 600 million yen for a plant that will start operation around October with an annual handling capacity of 20,000 tonnes of soybeans, a spokesman said. Soybeans to be sorted and bagged at the plant will come from U.S. farmers with contracts with Honda Trading for production of non-GM soybeans. for sale to makers of "tofu" soybean curd. This year, Honda Trading has contracts with 118 U.S. farmers, who are expected to supply 15,000 tonnes of non-GM soybeans to the company, the spokesman said. ------------------ WASHINGTON, August 25 /PRNewswire/ Corn Growers Call on Farmers to Consider Alternatives to GMO's To ease the dilemma over the uncertainly caused by genetically modified organisms (GMO), the American Corn Growers Association (ACGA) is proposing that farmers should look at the option of planting non-GMO crops if certain questions are not answered. This is not an issue over the health or scientific effects of GMOs. It's an issue over production agriculture's inability to answer the many questions that surround this controversial issue. "GMOs have become the albatross around the neck of farmers on issues of trade, labeling, testing, certification, segregation, market availability and agribusiness concentration. Until all these issues are answered, it is best for production agriculture to examine alternatives to planting GMOs," said Gary Goldberg, Chief Executive Officer of the ACGA. SOURCE American Corn Growers Association ------------------ CGB will be contracting 'non GMO' beans and corn this coming crop year. We are currently finalizing our premium schedule and delivery periods. Segregating 'non GMO' grains on farm will pay dividends this coming year. Please make sure when switching from GMO varieties to 'non GMO' varieties that you clean, combines, trucks and wagons, conveying equipment, and especially bins. The testing standards and tolerance levels will be very tight and any contamination, no matter how trivial it may seem, will lead to positive test and will be rejected for 'non GMO' premiums... As suppliers we have to be responsible in meeting the needs of our customers. For more information contact: Charlie Laird
------------------ BERKELEY, Calif. (AP)
Berkeley Cafeterias Going Organic Forget about mystery meat. Berkeley's school cafeterias are going organic. The city's school board is expected to approve a plan today that would give students the option of munching on pesticide-free baby carrots and sandwiches made with organic bread. The food would be grown in school gardens and purchased from local organic farmers. Milk would be certified clean of bovine growth hormones. ``That's pretty rare -- and pretty expensive -- but Berkeley is an unusual place,'' said Rick DeBurgh, who added that he has never heard of schools serving organic cafeteria fare in his 22 years with the California School Food Services Association. Santa Monica has experimented with a farmer's market salad bar, but Berkeley wants to serve organic foods in the main dishes and after-school snacks. The plan also calls for removing irradiated and genetically altered foods. ------------------ WASHINGTON (Dow Jones)
US Consumers Union Calls for Labeling Gene-Altered Foods The Consumers Union has joined the growing chorus of consumer and environmental groups calling for the labeling of genetically modified foods. Such labeling already has been proposed in the European Union, a major importer of U.S. agricultural products, and in Australia, New Zealand and Japan. The Consumers Union called for the labeling after its Consumer Reports magazine this week published a list of food items from powdered infant formula to tortilla chips that contain gene-altered ingredients... Rep. Dennis Kucinich, D-Ohio, is working on a bill that would allow labels on packaging that would indicate whether food is free of genetically modified ingredients. That form of labeling is currently restricted. ------------------ YONKERS, N.Y. (BUSINESS WIRE)
Consumer Reports: Genetically Engineered Foods in Your Shopping Cart Tests Show Some Infant Formula, Snack Chips and Other Common Foods Are Genetically Engineered, But Not Labeled as Such Consumer Reports' tests of everyday groceries show that genetically engineered foods are already on the shelves of American supermarkets in products ranging from baby formulas and tortilla chips to drink mixes, taco shells, veggie burgers and muffin mix. The findings, reported in the September issue, indicate that American consumers are eating genetically engineered food without knowing it, because unlike Europe, the U.S. does not require labeling. There is no evidence that genetically engineered foods on the market are not safe to eat. However, U.S. Agriculture Secretary Glickman has told Consumer Reports, "Frankly, if the consumers demand labeling--even if we think it doesn't convey a lot of good stuff--we're probably going to end up with a labeling scheme." ...Information and articles from Consumer Reports can be accessed online at www.ConsumerReports.org. Copyright 1999, Business Wire ------------------ U.S. Newswire August 27, 1999 12:38 Eastern Time
NFPA Tells Members to Ignore Consumer Group Concerns over Genetically Engineered Foods Food and Drug Administration (FDA) Week reported today that the National Food Processors Association (NFPA) is "advising its members to ignore the efforts of advocate groups seeking to pinpoint and reduce the use of genetically engineered (GE) ingredients." This announcement comes in the wake of a Friends of the Earth (FoE) letter-writing campaign directed at the CEOs of 83 prominent food companies -- among them PepsiCo., Nabisco, Nestle, General Mills and Kellogg -- inquiring whether or not any use potentially harmful genetically modified Bt corn in of their products. Copyright 1999 U.S. Newswire, Inc. ------------------ The Boston Globe
Some Aren't Hooked on Superfish 'Revolution' By Scott Allen, Globe Staff FORTUNE, Prince Edward Island - The big trout in the green tank are voracious eaters, their pink mouths wide open with anticipation as they swarm beneath their automatic feeding tray. Every time the tray drops new food pellets, the water becomes a mad splash of writhing fish. Who can blame them for being hungry? They are growing boys and girls, genetically programmed to grow about eight times faster than normal during the first year of their lives... Already, the Massachusetts-based company that owns this hatchery, A/F Protein, is gearing up for large-scale production of fast-growing trout and Atlantic salmon. Copyright 1999 Globe Newspaper Company ------------------ In accordance with Title 17 U.S.C. Section 107, this material is compiled for educational use only. |
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