31 January 2000 - The consumer revolt against genetically modified foods claimed another success today as Sun Valley, Britain's largest chicken producer, admitted that it has banned the use of GM Soya in its chickenfeed in response to public demand.
"This is a really significant victory for consumers, as up until now Sun Valley has been one of the main users of Monsanto's GM soya here in Europe" said Jim Thomas, Greenpeace Food Campaigner (1).
"Sun Valley are a huge player in British livestock production, supplying chicken to such well known companies as McDonalds, Marks and Spencers, Sainsburys and Iceland. Their decision now opens the way for others to also remove GM crops from animal feed - particularly others in the poultry industry who gobble up much more GM soya than anyone else."
The decision will increase pressure on other UK poultry producers to go GM free, following Sun Valley's example: in particular Turkey producer Bernard Matthews who currently use GM animal feed, and also Premier Poultry who supply Kentucky Fried Chicken. Sun Valleys decision to reject the inclusion of 'roundup ready' GM soya in its chickenfeed is also likely to cause particular embarrassment for its parent company, the international grain giant Cargill.
Cargill (the world's largest grain supplier and second largest soya carrier) is a keen proponent of GM food, having produced and tested its own GM crops worldwide. In 1997 Cargill formed a joint venture with Monsanto to create markets and market GM products for the grain and animal feed markets (2).
As recently as last October Cargill Vice Chairman Guillaume Bastaienes stated in an interview with Reuters that, because of difficulties with segregation after production, guaranteeing that animal feed contained only non-GM soya meal would be difficult if not impossible (3) . Yet now they are preparing to do exactly this after one of their own companies felt the pressure of consumer concern.
Sun Valley's use of GM soya in their feed first came to light following a Greenpeace investigation into the GM animal feed trade. This publicised Cargill's central role in bringing GM food into Britain by the back door. Meat, eggs and dairy products from animals raised on GM feed are unlabelled, unregulated and have been the subject of little or no testing.At that time (December 1999) Sun Valley defended their use of genetically modified animal feed supplied by their parent company.
However in a statement given to the Express Newspaper today they now claim that Sun Valley sources only non-GM soya for its animal feed. At present this comes entirely from Brazil. This change of policy has come about in response to customer demand. The move will be welcomed by many UK retailers, who have been seeking to eliminate products fed on GM animal feeds from their stores following customer concern.
To date many have faced confusion over the ability of grain suppliers such as Cargill to segregate GM and non-GM soya and have been told to expect to pay a premium for non-GM soya. However Sun Valley's decision does not appear to be having any effect on the finished price of their products. Greenpeace is now calling on Cargill to make available sufficient quantities of GM-free soya for all food and livestock producers in the UK, not just their own chickens. They could go a long way to achieving this by converting their soya milling plant in Liverpool back to handling only natural, non-modified soya. Cargill's Liverpool Mill is the only soya mill in the country and handles most of the UK's imports of GM crops.
Jim Thomas said, "Cargill should stop trying to sneak GM into Britain through animal feeds and ensure that all the food they import to this country is GM-free. That means Cargill's Liverpool mill must now go GM-free. It is a simple step and clearly what their customers want. If Cargill can go GM-free for their own chickens they can do it for everyone else too."
The development has significant implications too for farmers in the United States where Cargill, who also sell GM seeds, have encouraged farmers to continue growing genetically modified crops. Because of the low levels of unmodified soya currently being grown in the U.S. the Sun Valley decision will involve them switching their source of soya from the U.S. to Brazil. US farmers are already losing important overseas markets because consumers don't want GM soya and corn.
Notes to editors:
(1) Round up ready soya (RRS) is produced by Monsanto. It is genetically modified to be resistant to Monsanto's Roundup brand pesticide and is the only GM soya authorised for use in Europe. In 1999 RRS accounted for 58% of the US soya harvest and was mixed up with unmodified soya. Up to 95% of all soya is used for animal feed of which 60% is used to feed poultry (chickens, turkey and other fowl). Herefordshire based Sun Valley is one of the largest chicken companies in Europe, with plants in England, Wales, France and the Netherlands. It is entirely owned by the US agribusiness giant Cargill Inc.
(2) Source: Reuters report Monsanto To Buy Cargill Foreign Feed Business, 26.09.98.
(3) Guillaume Bastiaens quoted in Reuters interview 'Non-GM Supply Unlikely This Season' - 1.10.99
Further information:
Contact:
Greenpeace press office on: 020 7865 8255
