The staff cafeteria at biotech-crop Monsanto’s UK headquarters reportedly banned GM foods from the menu back in 1999.
The private catering company running the canteen, Sutcliffe Catering, owned by Granada Food Services, told its clients, including Monsanto, that it would no longer use foods containing GM soya or maize because of “customer concerns” about the technology.
“We have taken the steps to ensure that you, the customer, can feel confident in the food we serve,” Granada told its customers.
Tony Combes, Monsanto‘s director of corporate affairs, said the caterer’s decision was no reflection on Monsanto, but was rather a “blanket ban” covering all of its customers. He maintained that Monsanto staff members happily ate GM foods.
"We believe in choice. At our Cambridge restaurant there is a notice which says that some products may contain GM ingredients, because our staff are happy to eat products sprayed with fewer chemicals," Combes said in 1999.
Reports of these 1999 events have recently resurfaced in the media. In response, Monsanto’s head of external affairs at the UK headquarters said that the information is untrue.
“[The] Monsanto UK office does not even have a catering service. Our former staff restaurant was closed in 2003 when we sold our wheat breeding business, but even prior to that we displayed a sign that the policy was NOT to exclude food from GM sources,” he said.
Free Market News Network August 8, 2007
Green Fertility August 2, 2007
Mindfully.org December 1999
BBC News December 22, 1999
Keep Fighting for Labeling of Genetically Engineered Foods
While California Prop. 37 failed to pass last November, by a very narrow margin, the fight for GMO labeling is far from over. The field-of-play has now moved to the state of Washington, where the people's initiative 522, "The People's Right to Know Genetically Engineered Food Act," will require food sold in retail outlets to be labeled if it contains genetically engineered ingredients. As stated on LabelitWA.org:
"Calorie and nutritional information were not always required on food labels. But since 1990 it has been required and most consumers use this information every day. Country-of-origin labeling wasn't required until 2002. The trans fat content of foods didn't have to be labeled until 2006. Now, all of these labeling requirements are accepted as important for consumers. The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) also says we must know with labeling if our orange juice is from fresh oranges or frozen concentrate.
Doesn't it make sense that genetically engineered foods containing experimental viral, bacterial, insect, plant or animal genes should be labeled, too? Genetically engineered foods do not have to be tested for safety before entering the market. No long-term human feeding studies have been done. The research we have is raising serious questions about the impact to human health and the environment.
I-522 provides the transparency people deserve. I-522 will not raise costs to consumers or food producers. It simply would add more information to food labels, which manufacturers change routinely anyway, all the time. I-522 does not impose any significant cost on our state. It does not require the state to conduct label surveillance, or to initiate or pursue enforcement. The state may choose to do so, as a policy choice, but I-522 was written to avoid raising costs to the state or consumers."
Remember, as with CA Prop. 37, they need support of people like YOU to succeed. Prop. 37 failed with a very narrow margin simply because we didn't have the funds to counter the massive ad campaigns created by the No on 37 camp, led by Monsanto and other major food companies. Let's not allow Monsanto and its allies to confuse and mislead the people of Washington and Vermont as they did in California. So please, I urge you to get involved and help in any way you can, regardless of what state you live in.
- No matter where you live in the United States, please donate money to these labeling efforts through the Organic Consumers Fund.
- If you live in Washington State, please sign the I-522 petition. You can also volunteer to help gather signatures across the state.
- For timely updates on issues relating to these and other labeling initiatives, please join the Organic Consumers Association on Facebook, or follow them on Twitter.
- Talk to organic producers and stores and ask them to actively support the Washington initiative.
