Toronto Star | December 18, 1999 | Rob Ferguson, Toronto Star Business Reporter
LONDON - Tow-truck driver Derek Stevenson isn't fussy, according to this story, about the food on his plate. Or how it gets there.
Then there's Howard Koch, a dentist, who scrutinizes every bite.
The story says that the two are on opposite sides of the debate over genetically modified foods - also called GM foods or "Frankenstein foods" - that has consumed Britain for three years.
It is an issue just coming into prominence in North America. And it is likely to change the way consumers and farmers think about meals. But in the United Kingdom, the words "genetically modified" are household terms.
Fields of GM crops have been burned in protests and the tabloid Daily Mail newspaper even began a "genetic food watch" campaign. The result: Just about everyone has an opinion on the issue.
The food industry maintains that genetic modification is safe, increases farm yields and keeps food prices down.
But British and continental European food retailers, caught in the middle, chose the better-safe-than-sorry route after February's call from the European Union for labelling of all GM foods and crops.
Tesco PLC, Britain's biggest supermarket chain, announced in April that it is purging genetically modified products from its store shelves despite the company's belief in scientific assertions from the government and chemical companies that GM products are perfectly safe.
Tesco has also formed an anti-GM task force with Greenpeace to get a better grasp of the issue and is asking other European food retailers to join.
Rival supermarket chain Sainsbury's has formed a similar consortium with Marks & Spencer and two other retailers, one French, the other Irish.
In Canada, McCain Foods Ltd. announced last month it would not process genetically modified potatoes.
Like Tesco, McCain says it does not doubt the safety of GM foods.
"We think genetically modified material is very good science, but, at the moment, very bad public relations," company chairman Harrison McCain said at the time.
Labelling is, the story says, not required in Canada or the United States, where GM foods are eaten daily, unnoticed by most people.
The consumer backlash against GM foods began in 1996 after the introduction in 1994 of Calgene Inc.'s Flavr Savr tomato and gained momentum during the unrelated scare over Mad Cow Disease, which left a big question mark over food safety.
Then came the revelation in 1996 that GM soybeans were being introduced into all sorts of processed foods, from pre-packaged meals to chocolate bars, candy, ice-cream, cookies, salad dressing and more.
"People woke up to the fact that 60 per cent of processed foods contain genetically modified ingredients," says Lindsay Keenan, who is leading the UK fight against GM foods for Greenpeace.
"It was no labelling, no choice. That started the consumer consciousness."
The angry reaction went beyond organic food buffs to the broader public and forced grocers into the fight, says Tesco communications manager Alan McLaughlin.
"Customers simply don't want it. This business is only successful if we listen to customers. We can't afford not to."
There's another bottom-line reason for expanding the crusade against GM food in conjunction with other food chains: costs.
"We don't want anti-GM to become a niche market and have our customers pay higher prices. It's about increasing buying power," McLaughlin says.
And it is about having the clout to wield against powerful North American food retailers, who have not joined the anti-GM movement, for supplies of non-GM soybeans, corn and other staple crops.
"We'll maybe be able to turn the tide on our sources and get them to grow non-GM," McLaughlin explains.
The public concern over GM foods in Britain is so high that at least one pet-food maker has banned GM ingredients.
But Greenpeace warns there is a bigger battle to be fought.
That is getting GM ingredients out of the feed for cattle, hogs and poultry.
"If you're taking it out of pet food but still feeding it to farm animals, it's still in the food chain," Keenan says.
North America is a difficult place to source GM-free crops and feeds, because the farmers and feed companies have been rapidly adopting the new technology.
