Tide swings to GM-free food

By Yoke Har Lee

Food manufacturers are reluctant to start labelling food as free of genetically modified products until they are sure all ingredients comply.

But some are preparing to follow the lead of British manufacturers who have bowed to consumer pressure and released products guaranteed free of genetically modified (GMO) ingredients

Any genetically modified ingredients used in products made in New Zealand must now be approved by the Government. But products already with GMO ingredients, when the rules changed earlier this year, can stay on sale until safety assessments are completed.

Proposals put forward by the Australia New Zealand Food Authority recommend that products be labelled where the GMO ingredient is substantially similar to the one it replaces.

The ministerial council overseeing the authority meets on August 3 to decide what action both governments should take.

According to the Labour Party's Epsom candidate, David Jacobs, who has just completed a survey on where New Zealand food manufacturers stand: "We are moving in the same direction [as UK companies]." His survey covers 13 companies operating here.

Tip Top Ice Cream, Tip Top Bread, Hubbard Foods and Sanitarium Health Food are among those committed to providing GMO-free products.

Others such as Goodman Fielder, Cadbury Schweppes and Kellogg's told Mr Jacobs that they have certain ingredients which are GMO-free.

There are also those who say they provide some products free from GMO - such as Nestle for its Tux petfood and Nescafe products.

In the UK, companies which have publicly stated their intention to be GMO-free include Tate & Lyle, Sainsbury, Cadbury's and Nestle.

Founder of Hubbard Foods, Dick Hubbard said: "We believe to the best of our knowledge that we are GMO-free but it is impossible to give an absolute guarantee." Hubbard Foods has switched to canola oil from soybean oil, which may have been produced from genetically engineered soybeans, because of customer feedback.

Mr Hubbard said however the company was hesitant to label its products GMO-free.

"This may give the impression that our product labelled GMO-free is better than those which do not have the label. We don't want to confuse the issue by labelling. Now the debate isn't clear - some GMO concerns are about safety, some are environment, some ethical. If there is going to be any labelling, I am going to have to know what the labelling issue is about."

The Australia NZ Food Authority permits companies to promote their products by stating they are GMO-free, said its spokesperson Lydia Buchtmann, adding some Australian companies already do that.

Companies like Heinz Wattie's and Sanitarium Health Food, for instance, have, or are putting in place, systems to track their supplier sources.

In response to Mr Jacobs' survey, a Heinz Wattie company official said that the company intends to be GMO-free and was auditing its suppliers with ingredient changes to be made where necessary.

Sanitarium has introduced a process called Identity Preserved - this will ensure all the soy ingredients used are of known origin from seed stage to manufacturing stage, the company said in response to Mr Jacob's survey.

"We are also taking steps to ensure all Sanitarium products are free from genetically modified material," its New Zealand regional manager Jim Richards was quoted as saying in the survey. Sue Kedgeley, a spokesperson for the Safe Food Campaign said legislation should be focused on getting manufacturers to label any food or additives which had been produced from gene technology.

"What's being proposed is a watered down system of labelling with lots of exemptions," she said. "Having exemptions means we are not going to be much better off than we are now."