Groups Want Kraft Change: A coalition of consumer groups Wednesday called on Kraft Foods Inc. to remove genetically engineered ingredients from its products
By Sandra Guy
Chicago Sun-Times, February 7, 2002

The Kraft campaign is the latest in a series of demands from various groups directed at Chicago area food companies centered on their use of genetically engineered ingredients.

Kraft, the United States' largest food company and headquartered in north suburban Northfield, has no intention of doing so because few Americans demand it, and Kraft is confident in the safety of biotech crops, said company spokesman Michael Mudd.

However, Kraft bans genetically altered crops from the products it sells in Europe because of the consumer outcry there over so-called Frankenfoods.

Though the coalition stopped short of calling for a boycott of Kraft or its products, its supporters in 170 cities nationwide distributed leaflets Wednesday to call attention to what the coalition calls "public health and environmental concerns" regarding genetically engineered foods.

The coalition extended its plea to ban genetically modified ingredients to all food companies, saying the U.S. Food and Drug Administration has no power to protect consumers against allergic or other reactions that may result from genetically altered food ingredients. The FDA also doesn't require that foods be labeled as containing the ingredients.

Kraft already knows the risks involved with biotech ingredients because the company in 2000 recalled its Taco Bell brand taco shells, which were found to have StarLink, a genetically altered corn approved for animals but not humans, said Kate Madigan, spokeswoman for the Public Interest Research Group of Illinois, a coalition member.
The coalition found no StarLink in its most recent testing of Kraft products.

Critics say there is no evidence that genetically engineered crops cause harm and that it would be nearly impossible to separate biotech corn and soy from food grown organically in nearby fields.

Nevertheless, Chicago area companies have long been the target of complaints about lax food safety and the impact of mass food production on local farmers.

For example, France's highest court on Wednesday upheld radical farmer Jose Bove's three-month prison sentence for ransacking a McDonald's restaurant more than two years ago in a protest against U.S.-driven globalization.
The militant sheep farmer targets what he calls ''foul food,'' including fast food and genetically modified crops.
About three years ago, McDonald's potato suppliers stopped shipping genetically altered potatoes in North America.
McDonald's also eliminated genetically engineered soy and corn from its menus in European markets because the restaurants use only local grain sources.

Yet McDonald's stockholders have rejected proposals calling on the fast-food giant to adopt a policy to remove genetically engineered crops, organisms or products from all the products it sells and manufactures.

Genetic engineering is so pervasive in U.S. grain that it would be impossible to separate, company executives argue.
"Everything we serve is safe and wholesome and in full compliance with USDA and FDA guidelines," said McDonald's spokesman Walt Riker. "We're in constant dialogue with non-governmental organizations and leading academics and scientists on food safety, the environment, and animal welfare. When people come with good-faith two-way dialogue in mind, and they have sound scientific evidence, we are willing to listen."

Shareholders at Chicago-based Sara Lee Corp. also have turned down requests to remove genetically engineered crops, organisms and ingredients from its products.

That would be impossible, argue Sara Lee executives, because genetically engineered foods are not sold separately from other foods.

Sara Lee doesn't produce its own grains or oil seeds. It buys livestock, meat and poultry products and processed food ingredients from many sources based on price, quality and availability.

However, Trader Joe's, a specialty food-and-beverage retailer with seven stores in Chicago's suburbs, will ban genetically engineered ingredients from its private-label products within the next 10 months.
Products labeled "Trader Joe's" account for 80 percent of the stores' goods.

"Just as our private labels have no artificial colors, flavors and preservatives based on our customers' feedback, this (issue) is the same," said company spokeswoman Michele Gorski.

The coalition protesting the genetically engineered food ingredients, whose backers include Dr. Quentin Young, Chicago-based national coordinator of Physicians for a National Health Program, and LaDonna Redmond, president of the Institute for Community Resource Development on Chicago's West Side, tested several Kraft products and found they contain genetically engineered corn or soy ingredients.

Those products are Kraft's Blueberry Morning breakfast cereal, Lunchables nacho corn chips, Taco Bell taco shells, Snackwell's French Onion snack crackers, Tombstone frozen pizza crust, Boca Burgers soy burgers, and Stove Top corn bread stuffing mix.

Proposal would require telling FDA before marketing

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration has proposed a new regulation that would require companies aiming to market food made with bioengineered crops to notify the FDA 120 days before marketing the products.

Though FDA officials believe voluntary notification now in force is sound policy, people who attended the agency's public hearings on genetically engineered foods said they'd have more confidence in the system if the notification was mandatory, said Dr. James Maryanski, biotechnology coordinator for the FDA's Center for Food Safety and Applied Nutrition.

The FDA is continuing to review comments on the proposal and has no deadline for its adoption.

The agency also is setting up a subcommittee of outside experts to advise it on issues involving food biotechnology.