List of GM-Free Foods Issued - Toronto

Grocers renew their ban on GM-free labels

Stuart Laidlaw Activists and grocers continue to move in opposite directions on
genetically modified foods with the release yesterday by
Greenpeace of a list of foods containing such ingredients.


The grocers, meanwhile, have renewed an earlier decision to not allow any food to be labelled free of genetically modified, or GM, ingredients.

Some stores have been placing stickers over such labels since last spring, and will now require that food not be labelled GM-free at all if suppliers want to get it on grocers' shelves.

Jeanne Cruickshank, a spokesperson for the Canadian Council of Grocery Distributors, said the stickers were a temporary measure while suppliers changed their packaging to meet the grocers' demands, which were reconfirmed at a recent meeting of the organization.

She said grocers want a federal standards board to decide on the proper wording for such labels and to define what is meant by claims to be GM-free before allowing any food on shelves to be labelled as such.

"We can't be sure of the accuracy of that statement," she said, adding that labels are often covered with stickers when labelling standards are in question or are in a period of transition.

"It's not that unusual," said Cruickshank, a member of the standards board committee looking into GM labelling.

Still, not all grocers went along with the decision to cover up the labels, and have continued to stock food labelled as GM-free.

Greenpeace spokesperson Cim Nunn said consumers should be allowed to know what food is GM-free, and what is not, so they can avoid buying food with GM ingredients if they wish to do so.

That's why the group released a list of 1,000 food products yesterday, spelling out which ones are GM-free, which are not and which are made by companies trying to find non-GM ingredients.

"There have been literally thousands of requests from consumers for this information," said Nunn, whose environmental group has been the most vocal on the issue.

Greenpeace has put out similar lists in the United States and Britain. Nunn said the list helped build pressure on companies to remove GM food from their products.

The Canadian list is available at www.greenpeacecanada.org on the Internet.

GRAPHIC: PETER POWER/TORONTO STAR GREENPEACE GUIDE:
A Greenpeace activist dressed as Santa Claus hauls a sack of guides to foods that are free of genetically modified ingredients. The guide was unveiled yesterday at a Loblaws store.