Australia: Four major food brands will avoid GMOs

The 2010 Truefood Guide released by Greenpeace recently, which rates over one thousand of Australia’s top food and beverage brands for the presence of GE ingredients, reveals the welcome news that four leading food brands are turning their back on GE ingredients for the Australian market. Nestlé, Foster’s, Schweppes and Lindt have undertaken to keep their Australian brands free from GE ingredients, joining other prominent Australian brands that include Milo, Uncle Toby’s cereal, VB and Peters Ice Cream. Despite this, GMOs are increasingly finding their way into many common foods. Equally disturbing is the fact that due to loose labelling laws in Australia most foods aren’t required to declare that ingredients are GM on labelling, and consumers end up unwittingly consuming GMOs. (Picture: Melbourne, Australia)
 

This year’s commercial crops of canola from NSW and Victoria will find their way into pasta sauces, breads, cakes, baby food, oils and margarines, BFA reports. Conversely, the Irish government, in banning the cultivation of all GM crops, has joined Germany, Romania, Italy, Poland, France, Greece, Austria and Hungary as the ninth country to take a decision against the commercial planting of all, or a specific GM crop. Australians who want to avoid GM food for health, environmental or ethical reasons have little option but to follow guides such as the True Food Guide or look for certified organic alternatives. Biological Farmers of Australia is Australia’s largest representative group for organics. The group owns the Australian Certified Organic logo which is seen on around 80 % of organic food products in the marketplace.

BFA