http://www.smh.com.au/news/0111/15/national/national6.html
Gene labels scare off food makers

By Mark Metherell

Food manufacturers are discarding genetically modified ingredients from their 
products to avoid having to display GM food labels from next month.

Big food companies have caved in to consumer resistance and sought non-GM sources 
for ingredients.

Despite earlier industry estimates that 40 to 60 per cent of processed foods 
included GM ingredients, the largest supermarket chain, Woolworths, now expects 
only "a handful" of its house brands may require GM labels.

The Australia New Zealand Food Authority says some packaged foods containing 
ingredients from GM approved crops are being sold now. These include foods 
containing GM cottonseed oil, canola, soybean, sugar beet and potato.

All packaged food with GM ingredients manufactured from December 7 will have 
to list GM ingredients, with exceptions relating to highly refined oils and 
sugars, and flavours.

Industry sources say the recipes for some packaged foods would have to change 
to meet what are regarded as the world's toughest GM label rules. The changes 
are not expected to raise prices.

Australia's biggest food conglomerate, Goodman Fielder, says it has changed 
suppliers of some ingredients - but not many - to meet the new rules.

None of its brands would require a GM label, Goodman Fielder's corporate 
affairs director, Robert Hadler, said.

The company had checked thousands of sources worldwide to ensure they were non-GM.

"The customer is always right and the customer is concerned about the effects 
of GM ingredients. The major retailers don't want products with GM in them," 
Mr Hadler said.

The 40-60 per cent estimate of GM food was "a worst-case scenario" estimated 
before Australasian food ministers agreed to the label regime in July last year. 
The decision came after a Herald poll showed 93 per cent of Australians wanted 
GM labels.

Sanitarium's technical manager, Dr Greg Gambrill, said his company had done 
"an enormous amount of work" to arrange non-GM sources for ingredients such 
as soy beans.