April 13/00 / PA News
Malcolm Walker, chairman of the Iceland frozen food chain, was cited as
telling the UK trial of 28 Greenpeace supporters accused of theft and
criminal damage as a result of destroying a trial crop of GM maize in Lyng,
Norfolk, in July 1999 that it was almost biologically impossible to
guarantee products free of genetically-modified material because of pollen
contamination, adding, "It is almost biologically impossible for something
to be GM-free because of
cross contamination or cross pollination by birds, bees or whatever. The
public do not want contamination of any degree."
Mr Walker, a member of Greenpeace for 10 years, was further cited as
saying that when Iceland launched a range of supposedly GM-free food, the
chain was careful to label the products "not made with GM materials" adding,
"We were very careful never to say the products were GM-free. It might seem
to be splitting hairs but the issue was contamination."
(posted without permission)
