Posted on 20th November 2001
Supermarket
Progressive Past GM
Auckland 20th November 2001.
Greenpeace today welcomed a statement from
Progressive Enterprises Ltd that will see them becoming the
first
supermarket chain in New Zealand to go GE free in their own
brands.
The policy outlined “the goal of Progressive Enterprises Ltd
that our
Signature Range and Basics branded products will not be sourced
from
ingredients derived from genetically modified crops”. “People
do not want
to be part of a GE experiment that could effect our environment
and our
health, and Progressive has clearly acknowledged this. They
have ensured
that <bold>all</bold> ingredients will be from GE
free sources. This
goes above and beyond the ANZFA labelling laws that take effect
in a few
weeks and is another significant move in the global rejection
of genetic
engineering.” said Annette Cotter, Greenpeace GE campaigner.
Progressive holds about a quarter of the New Zealand retail
grocery
market and operates the Foodtown, Countdown and 3Guys supermarket
banner
groups. Progressive is also the franchise co- ordinator for
the
FreshChoice and SuperValue banner groups. “Progressive have
taken the
lead and are the first supermarket chain to commit to a GE free
policy
for their own brands. Now other supermarket chains like Woolworths
and
New World (Foodstuffs) need to continue the trend and make the
same
commitment,” said Ms Cotter.
This week in the United States, a similar commitment was made
by Trader
Joe’s, the first mainstream supermarket chain in the US to do
so. Trader
Joe's has agreed to ban genetically engineered ingredients from
its
thousands of own brand products. The company stated that ‘the
majority
of our customers would prefer to have products made without
genetically
engineered ingredients’.
Progressive’s policy comes as Greenpeace continues to distribute
the
second version of the GE Free Food Guide, which outlines the
GE status
of food products and companies in New Zealand. The guide is
available on
the web at
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