Food chain bans genetic food

THE FROZEN food chain Iceland is expected to announce this week that its 770 stores will reject food which may have been made with genetically modified soya from the United States, writes Charles Arthur.

In a move which aims to break the indifference among British retailers to the steamroller effect of American agribusiness interests, the company will rely on food made using the dwindling US sources of the non-modified crop.

Business opposition to the inclusion of genetically-modified soya in food has wilted in the past few months, despite widespread evidence that consumers are against it. In January, the British Retail Consortium, representing 90 per cent of retailers, said it would no longer request US soya producers to separate the genetically-modified crop from the non-modified varieties.

EU scientists say the use of modified soya does not carry a risk but Dr Michael Antoniou, a lecturer in molecular biology at a London hospital, commented: "Unlike a BSE epidemic or chemical spill, once released into the environment genetic mistakes cannot be contained, recalled or cleaned up, but will be passed on to all future generations indefinitely."