Business
UPDATED: 08:37, March 16, 2006
Heinz denies GM baby products http://english.peopledaily.com.cn/200603/16/eng20060316_251057.html
Guangzhou-based Heinz (China) Investment Company Ltd yesterday denied the claim by environmental watchdog Greenpeace on Tuesday that its baby rice cereal of batch number 20051212 is contaminated with genetically modified rice.
In a statement released yesterday by Heinz (China) Investment Company Ltd via Burson-Marsteller, Heinz's PR firm, Heinz China confirmed that no genetically modified ingredients have ever been detected in all the recent and past tests by independent international laboratories, including Hong Kong-based DNA Chips Ltd and SGS's China testing institution.
Heinz has sent the related testing report to the relevant Chinese authorities and had already advised Greenpeace's Beijing office of the outcome of its tests' before the latter made the announcement earlier this week.
Heinz China has turned all the media inquiries over to its PR firm. According to Zheng Dandan, an executive with Burson-Marsteller's Guangzhou office, Heinz has always put food safety as a top priority in every step of the production process, through R&D, quality control, suppliers' appraisal and product testing. Furthermore the company has a policy of avoiding genetically modified ingredients in baby foods.
She said that Heinz is always co-operative with the authorities and abides by all the government's food safety regulations.
But she declined to make comments on Heinz's attitude towards the possible action on the part of the Ministry of Agriculture to test the suspected infant foods.
According to a report by Xinhua News Agency, the Ministry of Agriculture is paying close attention to the issue and will soon test the product. She also refused to disclose the volume of the suspected infant food, or whether it is sold outside the mainland.
Heinz's crisis broke out when Greenpeace claimed in Beijing earlier this week that it happened to find genetically modified ingredients in Heinz's baby cereals with batch number 20051212, and urged an immediate recall of all related products.
The product, made by Heinz-UFE Ltd, a joint venture of Heinz in Guangzhou, is reported to be sold in the mainland as well as in major supermarkets and drugstores in Hong Kong.
The genetically modified ingredients found are said to have a type of protein fatal to insects and can cause an immune system reaction in mice. Greenpeace said the discovery was made when it commissioned GeneScan, an independent laboratory, to test 19 food and snack products for babies on the Beijing market.
If it is true, it will be the first time worldwide that illegal genetically modified rice contamination have been detected in baby food. China has not approved sales of any kind of genetically modified rice.
Source: China Daily
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