Associated Press Worldstream
December 5, 2002

Nestle denies reports it broke Chinese GM-food rules

BEIJING

Nestle on Thursday denied reports by Chinese newspapers that the company
broke the country's rules on genetically modified food.

The newspapers, quoting Chinese officials, said Nestle hasn't applied to
label products containing genetically modified organisms, as required by
new rules. Nestle didn't confirm or deny that products cited by the news
reports contained genetically modified ingredients. But a company
spokeswoman told Dow Jones Newswires that China's rules apply to imports,
while "Nestle's products are processed final-use food products and aren't
covered by these rules."

"Nestle's products in China ... are in strict compliance with the Chinese
government regulations," the company said in a statement.

The news reports were based on an announcement by the environmental group
Greenpeace in June that it had found genetically modified ingredients in
six Nestle products. It said they included soy milk and an infant cereal.

China promotes some genetically modified crops for use by Chinese farmers,
but foreign companies say inspection and labeling rules issued this year
could hamper imports.

Soybean farmers in the United States and other countries use genetically
modified seeds. China is a major soybean importer, but the Nestle
spokeswoman said, "99 percent of Nestle's China products are made in China
and use domestic materials."