-Caveat Lector- ----- Original Message ----- From: BELGRAVE <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> To: <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> Sent: Sunday, May 02, 1999 1:50 AM Subject: [ma] GIANT COMPANIES TO PHASE OUT BIOTECH FOODS : -=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=- /\/\eta-axio/\/\ Mailing List -=-=-=- : Source: Environment News Service (ENS) : Sender: Nine : -=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=- : : GIANT COMPANIES TO PHASE OUT BIOTECH FOODS : : LONDON, UK, April 28, 1999 - The world's two largest food production : companies are withdrawing their acceptance of genetically modified : foodstuffs. Foods giant Unilever UK said Tuesday it would phase out : genetically engineered foods, a move that was closely followed by a similar : announcement by Nestle UK tonight. : : Unilever, an Anglo-Dutch firm, sells over 1,000 brands of foods through 300 : subsidiary companies in 88 countries world-wide with products on sale in a : further 70 countries. Nestle, headquartered in Switzerland, is the world's : largest food production company with 495 factories around the world. : : The announcement by Nestle UK has major implications for the company's : international production system, as most of its centralised production : facilities produce for the entire European market and not for the UK alone. : : The announcements are in response to continued demonstrations by European : consumers of a strong resistance to foods containing genetically modified : crops. In February, an unprecedented wave of debate on genetic technologies : in agriculture swept the country, putting the government and biotechnology : firms firmly on the defensive. Fears were founded on research that showed : experimental rats had been harmed by eating modified potatoes. : : Greenpeace spokesperson Benedikt Haerlin said the Nestle and Unilever : announcements represent a major victory for European citizens. "When : Monsanto's first GE (genetically engineered) soya beans were shipped to : Europe Nestle, Unilever and Monsanto told us there was no way to stop : having GE ingredients in our food. Three years later they have learned that : there is no way to ignore the concerns and demands of the majority of : consumers," said Haerlin. : : "With Nestle and Unilever, the two biggest food producers in the world, : have now broken ranks with international agro-chemical companies like by : Monsanto, Du Pont/Pioneer, Novartis and AgrEvo and started a stampede out : of GE food," said Haerlin. : : The UK's Iceland Stores is opposed to the introduction of genetically : modified (GM) foods and has banned all GM ingredients from their own-brand : products. Other supermarkets have followed Iceland's lead. Marks and : Spencer's own-brand products will be GM free by the end of June 1999. : : Charles, the Prince of Wales, has come out against genetically engineered : crops, saying, "I am not convinced we know enough about the long-term : consequences for human health and the environment of releasing plants (or, : heaven forbid, animals) bred in this way." : : "I suspect that planting herbicide resistant crops will lead to more : chemicals being used on our fields, not fewer. But this isn't the whole : story," the Prince said. "Such sterile fields will offer little or no food : or shelter to wildlife, and there is already evidence that the genes for : herbicide resistance can spread to wild relatives of crop plants, leaving : us with weeds resistant to weedkiller." : : Meanwhile, Friends of the Earth UK has criticized U.S. biotech giant : Monsanto for trying to use the law to deter public debate and protest over : genetically modified food. : : Monsanto has obtained an injunction against six named defendants. The : company asked the High Court April 19 to order the defendants to hand over : a mailing list of recipients of a "Handbook For Action." The Handbook, : which outlines ways of protesting against genetically engineered foods, is : believed to have been sent to public figures including Prime Minister Tony : Blair, Prince Charles and the Pope. Monsanto's intention may be to target : any individual or organisation who might be held to have "encouraged" : direct action against genetically modified (GM) crops, by for example, : publishing details of trial sites, Friends of the Earth believes. : : In the United States such legal action is known as a SLAPP (Strategic : Action Against Public Participation) lawsuit, a tactic sometimes used by : large companies facing environmental protests. : : Friends of the Earth would consider such an order a gross intrusion of : civil liberties and "one which would bring our system of justice into : disrepute," the group said in a statement. : : Tony Juniper, policy and campaigns director of Friends of the Earth, said, : "Monsanto have lost the public arguments over GM crops, and are now : resorting to legal strong-arm tactics in response. I'm not the least bit : surprised, given Monsanto's track record. They would be better advised to : accept the failure of their marketing strategy and to accept the opinion of : the British public who do not want GM food foisted upon them." : : The first farm to take part in the UK government's farm scale trials of GM : crops may be forced to plough up seed that it planted over the Easter : weekend. Friends of the Earth is calling on the government to suspend farm : scale trials of genetically modified crops at Lushill Farm, in Hannington, : near Swindon, Wiltshire following revelations that AgrEvo, the company : undertaking the trials, appears to have broken the law by not informing : local people of its plans. AgrEvo, now plans to notify the local public. : But it has already planted GM seed on the farm and that the law requires GM : seed firms to notify the public prior to planting. : : Copyright Environment News Service (ENS) 1999 : : For full text and graphics visit: : http://ens.lycos.com/ens/apr99/1999L-04-28-03.html : : : -=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-= -=- : /\/\eta-axio/\/\ Mailing List ~~ PROFIT COPYRIGHT ~~ a [S]F[M]H[P] Project : http://sfmhp.pasdex.com.au/meta-axiom : -=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-= -=- ~~~~~~~~~~~~ A<>E<>R The only real voyage of discovery consists not in seeking new landscapes but in having new eyes. -Marcel Proust + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + A merely fallen enemy may rise again, but the reconciled one is truly vanquished. -Johann Christoph Schiller, German Writer (1759-1805) + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + Forwarded as information only; no endorsement to be presumed + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + In accordance with Title 17 U.S.C. section 107, this material is distributed without charge or profit to those who have expressed a prior interest in receiving this type of information for non-profit research and educational purposes only. 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